Walking down the highway, they ended up having to move somewhat slowly for the first fifteen minutes. Kali and Maia were still unused to walking in their shifted forms. Thankfully, the two of them were quick learners, and most of their issues were resolved as they pressed forward. No better way to learn than by doing it, they became a physical embodiment of that saying with their current actions. Where the days prior they had been stumbling about, almost falling over with every movement, now, they became more and more fluid walking as time went on. It was still an awkward set of motions from the two of them, but with Shannon guiding them through and pointing out how and where they could improve was helping them get used to it so much faster. Her work as a physical trainer and physiotherapy was paying dividends right now, helping get the two female wolves moving better with each step. Neither talked back, or argued with Shannon and her directions. If anything, they just kept asking questions, mostly 'why?' like a toddler who was learning how to walk would. Sol walked by them, paying attention to all the details that Shannon brought up while also doing his best to maintain his vigilance. And Nat was still working on her control of her power.

The energy felt almost as if it was a mix between electricity and water. It was fast, powerful, and loved to go the way of least resistance, but also flowed and pooled. This was what made it so hard to have a thin and even veil laying underneath her skin. There were some spots that the energy did not want to go, and others where it just wanted to collect and sit. Moving the energy around such spots seemed to be reducing the resistances she had in moving it, probably due to exposure. At this point, she was adequately able to have her entire torso filled in with a layer of energy, but that was about the extent she could manage. When she tried flowing it out into her limbs, she either had some explode out of her skin from lack of control, or it would be stretched too thin and separate, causing a whole new slew of mental strain. The pack oved down the road, all trying to either learn to have better control of their bodies, or pass along knowledge that may help. Shannon had even said some things that helped with Nat's progression, despite not understanding why.

After two hours, neither of the wolves felt confident in their ability to fight in the current form, but could tell that they had far greater stamina and strength in it. Unsurprisingly, their quadrupedal form was far superior in terms of speed and agility, but that could just become a matter of time. Without more info, it was hard to tell if the new forms were completely superior, or if it was just in certain areas. Regardless, they were now all on edge as they came across the small town of Stavely. While it had been almost two weeks since they had last entered a town, the last one had left them on a sour note. Remembering what happened to Bryden, all of them steeled their gazes and kept a watchful eye out, both on the buildings and their feet.

Leading up to the town, it sat on the east side of the highway. Unlike the previous towns though, the highways seemed to split a bit just for the length of the town. One set of lanes ran right beside it, while the other ran a block away from the closest buildings. If they had not been paying close attention to the buildings on the edge of town, the group would have played it safe and went along the outer road. However, one building stood out to both Natalie and Shannon. The building apparently was an auction house, purely for the sale and exchange of livestock. With their current set of resources to hunt and cook, Shannon asked if they could make a quick detour in. Since it sat at the end of a road on the far outside of town, everyone else agreed, so long as they all left at the first sign of trouble. Because while the chances were that all of the animals they may find there would have passed on, the ability to store their dead bodies and have the canines hunt them as a renewable source of food could prove invaluable. After all, different kinds of meat had different effects on health and wellbeing.

As they approached the auction grounds, the smell of decay and rot flooded the party's nostrils. Knowing that led to their goal, they followed the scent and walked up onto the grounds. Most of the land was covered with outdoor pens, with a couple barns located here and there. From what they could see, it was all large animals such as horses and cattle outside, leaving the smaller livestock such as chickens and rabbits. The wolves kept a watch for them, doing their best to ignore the smell that was coming from all around them. As far as Nat could see, most of these animals seemed to have died of dehydration. With that most likely happening three weeks ago, the corpses of the farm animals had already started smelling and attracting all kinds of bugs. Nat and Shannon started going around, pen to pen, trying to find other animals they had not gotten yet. There was quite a variety of animals there, giving them the opportunity to get a couple sheep, some pigs, and even some bison. Thankfully, through the help of Bryden and Scout, they confirmed that the animals that were now spawned in the Soulscape were not rotting or decaying, but seemed healthy and looked quite tasty. Once they had went through every outdoor pen, they both walked up to the front door of the barn. Having a good idea on what to expect, they both braced themselves as the wolves took a step back. When everyone was prepared, they opened up the door.

As the door creaked open, a wave of warmth and pestilence flew out to great them. Leaving the canines outside of the barn, Nat and Shannon made their way inside the barn using spare shirts as an impromptu mask. The barn was filled with chicken coops, rabbit cages, and a couple pens. All were filled, with both their animal occupants and the bugs that were feasting on the decaying flesh. Continuing with the help of Scout, who only stuck a paw out of the Soulscape to make as minimum contact with the foul air that filled the barn, they managed to get some chickens, rabbits, and a couple goats. There was even a turkey in one of the pens, making the new supply potential of meat to grow almost exponentially in size compared to the choices they had before. Once satisfied with their haul, they left the barn as quickly as they could. After all, the shirts could only stop so much of the smell.

Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, 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 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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