Chapter 134
The following morning had Nat immediately leaving the tent to check on the coyotes. Right before everyone else had gone to bed, Shannon had run them through a workout schedule for the night to get started on their personal growth. It was tailored so that they could do it while still keeping watch, but had some parts that would be done in a rotating order. This was so that there would always be at least two of the three keeping eyes out and doing their share of the work. After all, it would be bad if they were too engrossed in their exercising to notice anything approaching the camp. As she walked up to the set of trees that the three set up beside, she found that they were all currently taking a rest, though Edwin in particular was panting quite roughly. His rotation must have just finished, meaning that they were most likely done for the day as he was the last one in the rotation. That it perfectly worked out for when she woke up surprised Nat, especially since Shannon always slept like a log and never noticed when she got up. Whether it was planned or not would likely remain a mystery though.
As she came up to the coyotes, she found that they were in fact just finishing their workout and taking a few minutes to cool down and relax. While Lucille went off, giving a report for the happenings of the night, Edwin leaned his head over towards Nat's direction, silently asking for head scratches. Even in his shifted form, the man had a love for getting his head scratched. While she was sure that Lucille gave him plenty, she acquiesced to his request, given that all of them had been very thorough in following the training plan laid out by her wife. She did not get this from Lucille's debrief, but instead the feelings of soreness and satisfaction that drifted through their bond. When comparing the two though, Nat almost missed the feelings of soreness, as the satisfaction to work and move their body was so much more prevalent that it dwarfed any other feelings they had. This just went to show that Maia had been right, and that she had not really been pushing the canines to change in any way. After all, she could not remember ever getting this feeling of satisfaction from any of the canines before.
It took about an hour worth of waiting and scratching the coyote's heads before Shannon finally woke up. As she did, she groggily came out of the tent and walked over to where Natalie was. Seeing the coyotes relaxing there, she told them what they needed to eat before snuggling back into Nat. "Good morning. What are you up to love?" Natalie asked as she was being used as a body pillow.
"I'm charging. Give me five minutes." Hearing this, Nat decided to humour her, slightly. Mentally communicating with Lucille, she got a spring-loaded egg timer to be brought out and set for five minutes. Shannon saw none of this, as her face was nestled in Natalie's chest, so when the timer went off at the five-minute mark, she visibly jumped, briefly letting go of Nat. As she realized what happened, she narrowed her eyes at Nat. All Nat could do at that point was shrug with a smirk on her face. "What? You said five minutes. You know that time is a precious thing after all." Shannon's glare continued, but this time with a message for her beloved. 'I'll get you for this' was transmitted without issue, and Nat laughed it off, until she remembered that the one in charge of her physical training was none other than the person she had just pranked. As a cold sweat formed on Nat's back, Shannon separated herself from the soon-to-be victim and got started warming up.
Taking that as her cue, Nat mentally shouted at every single canine that was going to take part in todays 'festivities'. Instantly, movement could be heard from the two canines inside the tent, as well as shock and confusion coming through the bonds of the ones inside the Soulscape. As they all reeled awake, Nat directed them all mentally to come out and gather. The next part was incredibly draining on her, as she proceeded to get each and every one that came out to shift into their humanoid forms. That was a total of twenty-two canines that got shifted at once. It was a massive drain, so large that even with the reduced cost thanks to the new way of running it through her body, Nat needed help from Shannon to continue standing upright. However, with the barest amount in her left, she managed to get every single canine out and shifted. The sight of all of the one-year old pups trying to stand and walk properly was adorable, but now was not the time to be distracted. After all, every single shifted canine was now looking directly at her, questions floating in their eyes.
"Listen up, it has been made clear to me that I have been slack in my responsibilities. We live in dangerous times, and that is not when the pack should be relaxing and doing as they please. From here on out, all of you are going to be training alongside me. My mate thankfully is well-versed and quite experienced when it comes to training people. After all, she spent just as long learning how to do it well as I took to learn how to become as skilled medically as I am. It will be hard, it will be exhausting, but in the end, it will make all of us stronger, faster and more versatile as a pack. As a family. As soon as those still nursing or recovering in the Soulscape are in a good enough state, they will be joining us. This way, when we run into the next one of those monster freaks that hurt Mike, we can make sure they pay without them getting another one of us. Are you all with me?"
Howls came from every canine in response as they lifted their muzzles up to the sky. The sound was so loud, that it felt as if the earth itself shook for a moment. As their heads leveled once more with their Alpha, the fire of determination was searing through their eyes. Some of them had been feeling as if they were lacking in their ability to protect their family, but were not sure how to grow. Others were just happy to be working towards something together. All of the pups were a little lost, but were happy and bouncing with excitement due to the emotions of everyone around. As Nat finally regained enough energy to stand up straight, she passed the baton off to her wife, who was grinning in glee at the work-in-progress bodies in front of her.
Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!
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