Chapter 74

Shortly after bonding with Natalie, the female of the couple came out and laid her head on Natalie's lap. Feeling what she was wanting, Nat moved her hand slowly towards hers, and slowly began scratching the female coyotes head. While at first, she seemed tense and uneasy, slowly her nerves seemed to melt under the careful care of Nat's hand. Her tongue came out as her tail picked up speed, enjoying the massage she was receiving to her scalp. As their partner came out, he took a mirrored position on Natalie's other side. Quickly sending an apology to Edwin, she moved her hand from his head towards their new helper. He did not feel dejected this time, and almost had a smug aura around him as he watched his fellow coyotes understand the joy of her ministrations. Looking between the two new pack members, choosing a name was proving to be more difficult the more times it happened. The only thing that stood out was he had a more reddish sheen to his fur, while the female's coat was a more matte grey tone.

After a few minutes of thinking and head scratching, Nat finally had an idea. Pausing in her ministrations, which instantly got the attention of the two, she asked, "So, what do you think about the names Copper and Tin?" Since they were still unfamiliar with how the bonding worked and felt, both coyotes yipped multiple times in response. Looking up to Lucille and Edwin, she sent thoughts of asking for a translation.

'They both are fine with it, so long as you resume scratching their heads. They may have become addicted.' Lucille translated for her. With a smile spreading across her face, Nat gleefully continued massaging the two new coyotes' scalps. While they had felt different from Edwin and Lucille's fur, they felt no worse. They still passed along a satisfaction of fluffy fur gently scratching against the skin as her fingers moved through it. Seeing it as a prime opportunity, Nat gave both coyotes a quick look over as she maintained her pace with her hands. Neither seemed to be seriously injured or malnourished. No signs of any infections or diseases. Both of their fur coats were in a decent condition, if not a little dirty. Other than Tin seeming to have a slightly bloated belly, both of them seemed to be in perfect health...

Wait a minute. Bloated belly, at the end of march? This was standard mating season for canines in the wild. And given how coyotes tended to travel in pairs with their mates. Well, what was one more set of pups to deal with. There were already four sets of potential parents at the moment, though it was too soon to tell if any of them were carrying babies. If her math was right, with the whole four times multiplier on how fast time passed in the Soulscape, it would probably be another three days before any of the female canines that had gone and mated would show signs of pregnancy. In any regard, it was easily a problem for another day. Going back and forth, while making use of Lucille's ability to translate for Natalie, numerous things were found out. Tin knew she was pregnant, but was worried about a safe place for their pups. That was the main reason they had bonded with her, it seemed. Family was a respectable enough reason, so that was not a problem at all. What also seemed to be a boon was that they wanted to join Edwin and Lucille as night guards as well. That would hopefully take some pressure off the two of them a little, as well as make it easier to deal with incidents like what happened in the hardware store.

No sooner had they covered that, then did the sound of a tent unzipping come up behind them. Unlike Natalie, it seemed Shannon closed her tent up for the night. As the sound rang out, both Copper and Tin instantly tensed up, before almost immediately melting back into Natalie's hands and lap. Turning her head around, she saw a fully clothed Shannon come out of the tent, followed by a barely awake pair of canines. Upon seeing the new pack members receiving head massages from Natalie, both immediately became jealous and started nuzzling up against Natalie's sides. Laughing, she could not help but mover her hands to start working on Seeka and Scout's heads as well, giving them careful and soothing love. This started a whole train, and Breakfast was postponed for almost an hour as each and every canine that Nat was bonded to wanted to get some of the head scratches. Looking at Edwin, he turned his head away and made what sounded to be an attempt at whistling. Where he had learned that did not matter nearly as much as how much he was going to pay for the hand cramps she was getting. Probably with belly rubs, as Nat was enjoying the feeling, despite the pain that came with it.

Still sore from the week they had been having, neither of the two of them felt much like cooking at the moment. That meant that breakfast was toast, cereal, and some fruit. Pretty laid back, especially considering that the toast came out from the Soulscape as if it had just come from the toaster. Pup hunting practice was done again, with new spectators in the forms of Copper and Tin. They were glad to see that the coyote pups got along with the wolf pups just fine and had high hopes for their own. Hares were hunted by all except the wargs, who just all shared one elk. None of them felt like having a heavy breakfast and decided to keep things light.

Cleanup had become a quick and methodical task. All the big items were promptly stored, and the group just started combing through the area they stayed in, making sure nothing was missed. With how she was feeling, Nat did not even approach the house, and instead just made sure that Shannon was doing alright. When she confirmed she was good, Nat got up to help look around camp before finding that everyone beside Shadow, Ash, and Emily had already entered into the Soulscape without her noticing. Sighing in defeat, she led the three wolves and Shannon out of the property and down the road back westward. With their current destination being in the middle of Calgary, the best route that they could go on was straight up Highway Two. And this was the fastest way to get there. Something about the dreams usually made them time sensitive, and Nat did not want to get there too late to help.

Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, 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 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!