Chapter 147
The spoon in Sophie's hand fell, clattering against the ground as she slowly turned her head towards the pair. She couldn't believe her ears, not after seeing people kill one another for scraps of jerky in the streets. Not after people were burned out of buildings because they wouldn't split rations. The whole idea of being welcome with these two was nothing but a pipe dream. Something that she would have wished was real, but never would have the chance to. As her young mind worked to understand, one idea popped up on what they meant. "You mean, you both would become my moms?"
Her voice was filled with confusion, throwing Shannon and Natalie off. Shannon spoke up quickly, hoping to defuse the situation, "We would never dream of trying to replace your mother. But we would treat you as family."
"That's okay, I've never had a mom before. All I had were my two dads, before the... Wave." Sophie responded without hesitation. Though as she finished, tears started to well up in her eyes. This was the first time since everything went to shit that she had time to reflect, to think on all of what happened, and most importantly feel. All at once, the dams burst, and she started bawling. Unlike the tears of relief and happiness earlier, these tears were stained with misery and filled with mourning.
Natalie and Shannon did not need to hear anymore after the waterworks started. They just moved quickly and hugged the sobbing girl. The stuff she had seen would never be unseen, and may haunt her for years to come, if not her whole life. However, what they could do was to move on from the loss. Not to forget it, as to honour the memories of her fathers, but to grow past the loss and sadness, and be able to look back on the times of joy and happiness with fondness. It was a hard road, one they were already experiencing with Shannon, as trauma had a nasty habit of sticking around far longer than anyone wanted. They just needed to be patient and caring, and show that there still is light in this world.
The feelings of sadness rippled out from the three, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and come join in the huddle. Soon, there were seventy-two bodies all huddled up in a giant, warm hug. The only ones who did not join in were Seeka and her pups, as they were in the middle of feeding. Seeka sent her thoughts out to be with everyone involved though. It was just minutes, where one person was sobbing uncontrollably, while the rest all did their best to provide comfort and support.
It was almost half-an-hour before Sophie finally came back and regained control of her face. As she did, and looked up from her tear-drenched hands, she felt the warmth of all the bodies around her. She noticed Shan and Nat immediately, as they were on either side of her, and probably hugging the tightest. Beyond them was a wall of fur, impossible to see past. It didn't feel constricting or claustrophobic, but instead it felt like home. Like when her fathers had held her in a blanket when she had a nightmare. The sadness in her melted slightly, giving way to a small bit of joy as she hugged back the two women just as fiercely as they were hugging her. "If you don't mind having me, I would be fine having you two as my mothers!" Sophie cried, as tears of joy fell once more. Shannon and Nat just hugged her harder, almost squeezing the air out of her. Sophie did not mind one bit though, as that was the only answer that she needed.
Slowly, the wolves peeled off the pile one by one, leaving the three in the middle hugging one another. They stayed there, hugging and crying in the arms of one another as another person was added to their family. While it wasn't the first time that Sophie was adopted, it was the first time she remembered. She had been too young to remember when her fathers had adopted her, but this memory would stick with her. When the whole world went to shit, the people she would see as mothers came by and picked her up, full of care and worry.
The canines all got back to cleaning up and evening stretches. They did not want to ruin the moment between the three, and they still had plenty of energy to spare now that they were doing the same thing that Spirit had been. They worked through stretches before finally calling it a night, sleeping together with their families. The extra energy meant nothing in the face of mental exhaustion, as the energy only really helped to recover from physical exertion. That was probably one of the few things keeping the canines in the pack from just training all of the time in the Soulscape. Their bodies still had some of the functions that they needed before they bonded, but they didn't even think that way. They just felt tired and the sun was disappearing behind the horizon, so it was time for most to close their eyes. All that stayed up were the ten coyotes that were taking care of night guard. There were no issues the night before, even if their watch was cut short, so the pups were outside training and helping with the watch, albeit as much as their tiny bodies were able to. The pups were basically toddlers in their shifted forms, and had issues crawling, let alone walking on two legs. It would probably take quite a bit of practice before they were able to stand without assistance.
As the sun dipped down and the rest of the camp went to sleep, Shannon, Natalie and Sophie all finally stopped hugging. Even if the only reason they did so was to go to sleep. Sophie may not have been awake for long, but the plan was to get her on a similar sleep schedule to majority of the pack, so as to make it easier on everyone. They had so much to teach her about the Soulscape and the energy, not to mention they wanted to take as much time as possible getting to know their new little girl.
Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, 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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