Storm

It had been a few weeks since the light grey female had taken Falcon up on his offer to join him at his home. So far her wounds had been healing nicely and despite the fact that she hated to admit it she was thankful for the male’s help in providing food for herself and her pups. Of course she would never willingly admit to needing the help and was still quite sure she could have done it on her own if she had needed to. Though, her thankfulness was not something that she hid since she did not want to appear ungrateful to the only canine who had ever even tried to befriend her or anything else.

The pups were growing up quite nicely, being about four weeks old now and growing quite chubby with the good meals they had been receiving since their arrival here. Of course, her young ones knew nothing aside from being within the pack lands with Falcon helping to look over them since they had only been not even a day old when they had come here. Storm sure remembered the stray life, though. She really did not miss the solitary life of being a stray. She wouldn’t admit this, though since that would mean that she would have to admit that she was wrong. And that was something that Storm was not very good at admitting. Falcon had become someone she had learned to depend on for company as well as depending on his assistance with the pups.

It was late morning now when she exited the area that she had been taken when she had first arrived here. Falcon had already left the den and she was not sure where he had gotten off to but she was sure he would be back soon. It was high time that her rowdy litter had some time to run off their energy. She watched as Caine, the largest of the litter began to sniff around, obviously looking for some mischief to get in to. Chianti, the little steel grey female with rust markings along her flanks and shoulders followed after her brother, nipping at him to try to get him to play. Cascade remained back closer to her mother, her light grey body was held with a certain amount of pride as she attempted to mimic her mother’s stance. Her darker grey face and tail was kept slightly lower as she had seen most others in the pack doing.

Falcon

Falcon had left near dawn, planning on being back before the pups and Storm woke up. However things hadn’t gone as planned, since his hunting trip hadn’t been as successful as soon as he planned. The snow had driven everything into the ground or deep into the bushes it seemed. By the time the grey, with white guard hair, brute caught a barely plump rabbit and a few voles it was approaching midday. He kept the rabbit after depositing the few voles. Audra stopped him briefly to tell him about a hunt they were going on after awhile. A nod was all he gave as he headed toward where Storm was with the pups.

The adult female’s wounds seemed to be healing quite well. Cascade followed after her light grey colored mother, who also bore a light grey coloring other than her darker markings. It was cute the way she tried to copy Storm and was already adapting pack etiquette. Brown orbs moved on to Caine and Chianti, who seemed to be looking for fun but were more likely to get themselves in trouble, as he got closer to the small group. While passing the two mischief makers he made to tease them with his banner to try and move them back toward their mother. I thought you and the pups might be hungry. His lyrics hit the air shortly after he laid the rabbit down near her. His gaze went around the pups again as he smiled. They seem quite rambunctious today. He sat down as he gave this observation, before his gaze inspected her healing wounds with a questioning look. If she was okay enough he would offer her a chance to go with the hunting party as well.

Storm

Storm kept a watchful eye on the two mischievous pups as they made their way away from her. They knew better than to go far since their mother had made it no secret that she did not yet fully trust the others aside from Falcon and that they were not to be straying far from her at any time unless it was accompanied by the previously mentioned male. And they knew better than to directly disobey their mother. So, she did not worry about them going far but she still wanted to assure their safety as they bounced through the snow that had fallen the night before.

Soon the familiar scent of Falcon caught her nose, he was returning. This caused her tail to wag slightly. She then spotted him and the animal that he carried in his jaws. He had taken it upon himself to keep them all fed and Storm had probably put a few pounds onto her skinny frame because of this. Though, with her thick coat the lack of fat on her body would probably not be noticeable to most in the pack who were not near her. She watched as Falcon attempted to get the two pups back to where she and Cascade sat, only to have Caine jump up and try to grab the older male’s tail in his jaws playfully. Meanwhile Chianti continued to bounce around it the snow drifts, not feeling too hungry at the moment and enjoying the new plaything that she had found.

She heard the words that the male spoke after laying the rabbit on the ground for them. Her head was nodded and she spoke Thank you. It was a simple statement, though that matched with the gratefulness in her icy yellow eyes would show him just how thankful she really was. Storm never was one to be good with words or emotional gestures. Loners usually didn’t learn those skills. Cascade was the first one to the rabbit and quickly tore into it. Once again Storm heard Falcon’s words. Yes, they seem to really be enjoying the snow. She wagged her tail slightly as she spoke of the young ones. Her wounds had probably healed well enough to be able to participate in a hunt, and she would love to begin pulling her own weight, though then that only left the question of who would care for her pups in her absence?

Falcon

Falcon nearly dropped the rabbit when little Caine caught his flag between his jaws. His eyes twinkled in laughter briefly as he continued on towards Storm, his snout aiming to guide Chianti, with her toy of course, along the way. Caine was hopefully following after his tail.

The titan knew she was grateful but the thank you got a smile anyways. A brief nod was given as well, to show his acceptance of her words, as he watched Cascade go for the prey. He wondered how much longer until they could practice their own hunting. His soul gates saw her tail wag and he was glad that she was happy. Falcon would love to help teach them; in fact the male had taken an instant liking to all of the pups and was constantly trying to help Storm with their teachings.

I’m going with the pack on a hunt, if you don’t mind my sisters watching the pups then you can come too.

He waited for her to decide if that was okay or not. His gaze moved to all of the pups as he kept an eye on them while talking to their mother.