Chapter 148
Natalie woke up to an unaccustomed weight in bed as the sun rose. Slowly, she rose up to take a look at what it was, before finally remembering the events from the previous day. Sophie lay in between her and Shannon, curled up in the blankets with a small smile on her face. They all went to sleep together last night, cuddling up for warmth and company. Sophie had not wanted to let go quite yet, but everyone was getting sleepy so Nat and Shannon decided to just go to sleep with her nestled in the middle of them.
Being careful so as not to disturb her two sleeping partners, Nat slipped out of the blankets and tent. As she walked over to where the coyotes had set up for the night, she ran through one of the conversations that they had. They had finally confirmed that kids found her eyes scary, as least, that was the main reason that Sophie had ran from her in the gas station. Shannon started laughing loudly, finding out that her guess from years back proved to be accurate was just too much for her. That did not lessen the amount of salt that poured into Natalie's wounds due to the revelation, but at least it gave them an answer after so long. It was always confusing when a random kid on the street would suddenly hide behind their parent after all.
When Nat got to the coyotes, she took a minute to look at the progress the pups had. Or at least, what passed for progress. Copper and Edwin were working with them, trying to help them get used to balancing on two feet, while some of them crawled around investigating the plants and rocks. There was a lot of stumbling and falling over, but it was a start in the right direction. It would be four months till they were at a similar point to the rest of the pups in age, but they would surpass where they are currently in terms of movement and dexterity, possibly even strength. Nat could not help but have her eyes constantly roam towards Edwin though. He always tried to act aloof and uncaring, but he looked like any other doting and over caring parent would while trying to help someone else's offspring learn. The twinkle in Lucille's eyes across the way betrayed how much she enjoyed this side of him as well. She never outed him though, and was more than happy just to let him do his thing. Tin sat beside her, having a similar look upon her mate. Both couples seemed happy, and left nothing but warm feelings when one looked at the interplay between the pairs.
When they finally noticed Nat, there was two different reactions. Lucille and Tin did not change a single thing they were doing, just waving gingerly to her while enjoying the show. The two males however, immediately got flustered. Copper just focused in on the pups, acting as if she wasn't there to stave off his embarrassment at how he had been acting. Edwin quickly lowered the pup he was helping, before standing straight up and looking around them, as if he had been on watch the entire time. All the while a slight blush crept on his face. Nat barely managed to stifle her giggles and act like she had seen nothing, but Lucille let out a short snort at his behaviour, which he categorically ignored, if only for his dignity.
Nat just walked past him and sat between the two females, getting the rundown on the events of the night. As she did, she could see Edwin's shoulders relax, though he did not go back and continue playing around with the pups. Thankfully, nothing seemed to go amiss, and the workouts throughout the night went well. They weren't heavily exhausted, thanks to learning and using the way that Spirit had been using the energy. Overall, they were more exhausted than that little bugger would have been, even if he was doing more. It was likely that he either used it more efficiently or just had a stronger core from use over time. It was something that had to be checked, but it was at least useful to the other canines to be able to move forward at a more efficient and reliable pace.
As they were talking, a loud yet petite yawn spread out across the camp. Looking the direction of the sound, the coyotes and Nat saw Sophie stumbling out of the tent, rubbing the sleep out of her right eye. Seeing Nat sitting on the other side of the camp, she slowly made her way over. Stumbling around Copper and Edwin, she came and sat in Natalie's lap, now rubbing the sleep out her other eye. As she sat there, she slowly woke up, noticing both what she did and where she was. As a slight blush crept up her face, she buried her face in Natalie's shirt in an attempt to block out her memory of what just happened. Slowly, Nat wrapped one of her arms around her, holding her close. While it seemed nice from the outside, Sophie did jump slightly as Natalie pulled her closer. It seemed to be a natural reaction showing both trust and fear.
Unknown to Nat, Sophie used to have a similar experience every morning in the past. One of her fathers would always be awake in the morning before her, sitting on the couch watching the news as he ate his breakfast. She would just come out of her room, sit on his lap and watch with him. It happened so often, that he would usually have her breakfast out there with him so she could join him in eating. As he usually finished first, he would pull her in as she was still eating and lean back into the couch, cuddling together a little bit before both had to go about their day. He sometimes had to work late due to the crunch of the theatre industry he worked in, but he treasured that time in the morning. It was their time to just hang out and bond.
Shannon walked out of the tent as Sophie stifled some tears with Natalie's shirt. Neither one had to say anything, as both of the women had an idea of what was happening. They just needed to let Sophie move through it at her own pace, just as Nat was giving Shannon space to work things out on her own. Most of the time, someone else butting in would be more of a hinderance than a help, but what would sometimes help one move forward is just knowing that help is there and ready should they need it.
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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