Chapter 136
The next day saw the entire canine pack feeling the exact same way, tired, sore, but ready to do it all over again. However, they could not stay in one spot for too long. After all, their current goal was to get up north to find Natalie's parents, and every day had a higher likelihood of them moving further and further away. At this point, Nat was thinking the only way that she would see her parents any time soon would be if they randomly met up somewhere on the road.
Her parents were very adventurous, to the point where they went stir crazy if they stayed in one place longer than a month. Despite being the pairing of a massive nerd and a hunting fanatic, they both had the similar spirit of enjoying wandering. The amount of times she had been left on her own while her parents went out for an adventure was ridiculous, but she was more than happy to stay behind. After all, the two ran a animal rescue operation, and it was all based in the wilds. It was mainly to deal with issues such as the outbreak that Maia, Bryden and the rest of the group she had been working with prior to the event had suffered through. The two went through the wilds, giving medical help to animals while they were on the go, everything from checking to make sure that rabbits were not breeding out of control, all the way to broken limbs on bears and mountain cougars. However, some of the creatures they helped got quite affectionate and followed them home. The house was always lively because of this, even if they left for months to go through some forest.
Since she was used to her parent's antics, she had given Shannon a one-day break to work and get started on getting the training started. Now it was time for them to continue northward, to meet up with the two family members that had the highest flight risk, maybe literally. After all, great horned owls can carry up to three times their body weight. If they had managed to find a group of them, then her parents could already be long gone. There was nothing to worry about with the house, as everything was self-sufficient for years. The more she thought about it, the more Nat was convinced that all they would find at her childhood home would be a note saying that they had left on another journey or adventure.
That was not a terrible thing though, and Nat would never try to tie the two down to one location. After all, they had never stopped smiling as long as she had known them, and the main reasons that they had fought were for what would be the best things for animals or her. Not once was blame thrown around, nor did it ever feel as if her family would drift apart. As Nat got out of the tent and sat beside the coyotes who were in the process of stretching their muscles after their night, the only thing she truly wondered about with her parents was what kind of animal did they bond with. After all, this event seemed to be perfect for the two of them, who could survive for months in the wilderness before the Soulscape was even a thing.
Shannon came out of the tent shortly after, groggily walking around the large number of unconscious canines as she made her way over to Nat. When she did, they started having a bunch of scrambled eggs together, while at the same point she had the three coyotes show her their progress. Surprisingly, the three were making good progress, but had a few mistakes that would need correcting. Not nearly as many as the adult wolves had been making the day before, which was neat considering they did not get the assistance of dedicated oversight from the person training them. Shannon had them finish their stretches before sending them off to sleep and for Copper to spend some time with his family. Edwin and Lucille were happy enough seeing their children sleeping with a smile on their face.
One by one though, the canines slowly woke to the smell of scrambled eggs. This was a batch that had three different kinds of meat mixed in to the eggs, making the smell extremely delectable to the carnivores. Slowly, each and every one woke and shuffled towards the smell. Humouring them, Nat quickly got Lucille to help her get a bunch of eggs out before she went to sleep. As the pack woke and ate, Shannon took a look at the map they had. Judging by their usual distance travelled each day, she guessed that they would be sitting on the outskirts of Red Deer by the end of the day tomorrow. Then it was just a case of either finding a map or sticking to the main highway for the rest of the way north. While that was dangerous in its own right, it may end up being their only option. After all, a clear path to follow would be better in the end compared to hopelessly walking in circles following random back roads that seem correct.
After everyone had eaten and was ready to go for the day, they started off with some basic warm-ups before the group that was travelling for the day was decided. Usually, some of the canines just joined without Nat saying anything, but from here on she decided to do it differently. She called Kali, Maia and Scout to stand beside her. "I will be travelling with these three for the foreseeable future. The reason is not favoritism, but for survival. After all, these three have the best handle on their shifted forms and will be the greatest help in any fights. Anyone who wants to travel out with us in the future must be in their shifted forms, as well be physically capable to stand toe to toe with her." As she finished her speech, she pointed towards her partner, who just waved with a grin on her face.
None of the pack threw out any complaints. Instead, you could see them eyeing up their competition. The fire in their eyes as well as the determination sent through the bond showed that most of them wanted to usurp the spot held by the three standing beside their Alpha. But to do that, they would need to be faster, stronger, more capable in the face of hardships. As they disappeared into the Soulscape, they immediately started working, focusing on getting familiar with their shifted forms as well as working on being stronger or faster. Funnily enough, Bryden decided to work on it by farming with hand tools, manually using a hoe to start prepping another field.
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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