章 4: Anything for Family

The hunt took over four hours and by the time it was over with, everyone was exhausted. Either her age was really starting to affect her, or the deer were getting smarter each year as she didn't remember it being this hard to hunt last year. Despite all their teamwork, they had hardly managed to snag enough food for everyone to be able to eat and have something leftover that they could take with them while they moved around again.

The larger wolves all shifted to their werewolf form once hunting was done, doing so made it easier to carry the food back to where the other members would be waiting for them. Apryl was happy that she was not tasked with this job even though she was slightly larger than many of her other sisters who were in the pack. She couldn't stand the fell and smell of blood getting in her fur, it would take hours of constant grooming to be able to get it out and even then her coat didn't always go back to the way it was before.

One the way back to where her mother and the others were waiting, she stayed close to her father, she noticed the concerned look that as on his face after they had finished hunting and had learned to understand that this would lead to a conversation that her parents had been having recently- moving in to live among humans.

The idea wasn't one that any of them much liked, but they were also aware of the fact that as the months went on, food was getting harder to come by. While they certainly could go days and weeks without eating and didn't need to have consistent access to meat in order to survive, the increase in humans hunting their primary source of food and other packs moving closer in was creating a shortage of food that everyone was suffering from.

Her mother had been the one to first propose this idea, as she was concerned that her younger pups were not all going to be able to grow up and have the nutrients that they needed in order to be healthy as they got older. She had distant relatives who had successfully assimilated to live among humans without having to discard their werewolf part of their identity and they had always told her if the time ever came where she changed her mind and decided that she wanted to join human life herself that they would be happy to help her get setup and learn how to interacts with humans in order to avoid problems. They had even successfully setup a nursery were werewolf pups would be able to safely hid and be taken care of by the small community without worry of humans finding or hurting them.

Her father had never really been fully against the idea like his younger brother her uncle had been, but he couldn't deny that the idea of living among a species that had little respect for even themselves didn't sit well with him. If it turned out to be the best option for his family though, he would try his best to do it for their sake.

"You're thinking about whether we should go live with the humans again, aren't you?" She finally asked her father about halfway through them trotting back. The only good part of hunting in the spring compared to winter was that there was much more coverage for them to be able to hide themselves in to avoid being sighted. She bumped her nose against his face when he didn't reply right away. Brazen made a noise that was probably a huff but come out as a snort through his muzzle. It was hard to miss the increase in the graying hairs that were appearing around the sides of his mouth against his darker coat, age had been wearing on him as well.

"Your mother thinks that if we are going to do it, it would be better before the summer and before she gives birth in the few weeks." Apryl froze briefly when her father told her this, she hadn't considered the fact that the change would be happening so quickly. Sure, it made sense, but that would be quite a rush to get everyone to go along with the plan and figure out what that would look like. "You don't have to come with us if you don't want to, I am sure one of your brother's would be happy to welcome you in their pack if you decide you don't want to stay with us and leave with humans." He father assured her, tilting his head slightly as he glanced over at her.

"I want to stay with you guys, I just hadn't considered that we would be having to move so quickly." Apryl shook her head, her ears pressed against her head as she replied. She knew it was an option to stay if she wanted to, she was certain that was the choice her uncle and his mate were going to make, she however was not yet ready to leave her family so suddenly and get used to the dynamics involved in another pack. Her father sighed.

"I know, but It's less risky than trying to hide six pups than for someone to know that your mom is pregnant, people view pregnancy negatively." They were almost back home which meant that the conversation was going to have to be cut short. It never went well to have this talk around her uncle and his mate. Apryl was also aware that some of her year younger siblings were also considering staying either wither her uncle or moving to their older siblings' packs rather than living with humans. It would be sad to see their family downsize so quickly, but it would probably end up being necessary if everyone wanted to manage to stay alive.

She was also worried about how Timid and Oreo, the two omegas they had with them would adjust to human life. Although not related to anyone in their pack, they loved their place in the pack so much that she doubted they would choose to leave them if given an option. After all, not all packs would as kind to them as her father had been. They may have been considered the lowest rank in the pack, but they more akin to family and often helped take care of the pups who quite enjoyed their timid nature as they knew they wouldn't be hurt around those two.

There were too many other things that needed to be thought about as well within this plan, but tonight Apryl and her father knew they needed to set aside such worries and enjoy the food they brought back from the hunt. Everyone would be happy to eat since it had been a few days since their last few meal. Deer were less common than rabbits and similar small woodland creatures, but unlike deer it took quite a few for any type of decent meal to be made for the pack.

Apryl also decided that after everyone was finished eating and they made to shift far enough away from the carcasses of their kill least they ended up in the same space as unwanted predators, she would go spend more time out in the fields, there would still be some time left before the sun came up. If she was going to have to leave this place to go leave with humans, she wanted to take as much time to enjoy the wilderness before she would have to adjust to hardly been able to do such things in either of her wolf forms.

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