Chapter 82
As the green mist came out of Bryden's body, it coalesced in the air above the huddled pack. Feeling her arms lighten, Nat looked down and saw that it was his body itself that was becoming the mist, not something escaping from it. None of the watching crowd moved a muscle, as they were too surprised at what was happening. Was this another part of bonding? Was it just a response due to their proximity or wishes? No one had any idea, but none were about to question what they were seeing. For as the green mist coalesced, it was shaping to be the same shape as Bryden. As the last dregs of Bryden's corpse turned into mist and merged with the rest, the form in the air started to stir. It looked around, ran in a circle a couple of times, and then dived straight towards Natalie. She was about to raise her arms to block it, when she suddenly felt a strong instinct, coming from deep within her. Following that feeling, she spread her arms out wide, as if she accepting a hug from family she had not seen in years. As smooth as water, the mist form slipped straight into her body, as if her body was not even there. Feeling her Soulscape open up, she turned her view inwards, and was surprised by what she saw happen.
Inside the Soulscape, the green mist swirled around before shaping itself into an almost two-dimensional swirl at ground level. Then it proceeded to move upwards, almost acting like a 3D printer, printing out Bryden's body. As his body started to be rebuilt inside, the mist moved upwards, while slowly diminishing in volume. Natalie watched on in silence as his body was built back up from the green mist, becoming similar in appearance to how it looked before the fight. As the mist finished, Natalie kept watching to see if anything would happen. Was this just a statue? Or was it something even more bizarre. When she was about to move her gaze outside, something happened that made her stop and drop her jaw. Bryden's ear started twitching.
'Bryden!' Natalie called out. Could he have somehow been saved due to the fact that he was bonded to Natalie? She was extremely hopeful, as he had proven himself a good friend, and a great mate to Emily. For her sake as much as her own, she wished that Bryden was alright.
'Ow, not so loud please. That was loud enough to wake the dead.' Bryden deadpanned to Natalie, exhaustion coming clear in his voice. As her face started to tear up, she was about to say something to him when she got interrupted by a guest. Emily had bolted into the Soulscape and tackled into her mate, nuzzling him and checking him all over. Seeing that he was being marauded by his loved one, she turned her view back out into the world. Where she was met by confused faces from everyone, especially Shannon. Realizing she was smiling, she quickly explained what she saw. Upon hearing that Bryden was alive and inside the Soulscape, most of the canines rushed inwards to check on him, leaving just Maia and Kali outside with the two human women.
Both women broke down into tears of joy, with the two wolves nuzzling alongside them for comfort. They had all been so afraid they lost one of their family members, the world had felt more dead for a minute. Slowly, they all calmed down and got to their feet. Shannon broke the silence, "Now, let us get out of this town. We need to set up camp, and then celebrate the fact that he is still with us!" with a cheer from Natalie and a howl from each of the two wolves, the four of them started heading north through the city again, still following the highway. Thankfully, they could already see where Claresholm ended, as the grocery store was on the far north side of the town. They moved together, slowly but surely, along the road.
Thankfully, they did not have to move far. Half an hour later, the small group spotted a large grove of trees to the east. Being on the plains, anything of that sort really stood out among all of the barren fields set aside for farming. Given a couple years though in these conditions, and you almost would be unable to tell that there was even a farm here to begin with. Moving off to the right, they moved into the trees and took a quick look around. There were a couple small buildings, all of which seemed to be abandoned. No signs of any monsters or humans were evident, but that did not give them a reason to be lazy about it. Knowing that they would be staying here for at least a day, due to Shannon's valid points earlier, Nat got around and set up her warning lines around the property. Shannon followed along, because while she did not know the best way to help, she was doing her best to learn. That way, they would be able to do this set up faster.
Once the perimeter was covered in alarms, the four of them made their way back to the center of the area. As the sun was starting its descent towards the mountains, it felt like the day should have been over already for them. The fighting, stress, grief, and sudden turn around to joy had completely drained the entirety of the pack. Feeling their legs about to buckle, Nat sent a plea to the pups still inside the Soulscape. They were the only ones that were not utterly exhausted after all. As soon as the pups popped out with some cushions and mattresses, the two women collapsed on top the comfy implements, narrowly missing the pups that were bouncing around them. Their muscles screamed at them, leaving them unable to currently move. Not caring for the mischievous antics the pups were pulling, Maia and Kali flopped down between Shannon and Natalie, both looking similarly exhausted. The four women laid there for a few minutes, but it was not long before all of them finally surrendered to the exhaustion they felt. Almost in unison, the four of them passed out right there, laying on top of the cushions that had been hastily sprawled out.
Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, 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!