Coming back into the campsite, the three of them were swarmed by the canines. Apparently, the only thing holding them back from nuzzling up against them had been the smell for the past while. As they ended up in the middle of a massive dog pile, warmth and love was felt among all. Though the weight made it difficult for anyone on the bottom to even move a finger. Not that they cared, as they were inside of a giant pile of fluff full of family members. Trooper, Kali, and Maia were by far the strongest competitors among the canines, as they tried to be the closest to Nat the entire time. No one judged them though, as they had all been competing hard since Trooper had been picked up at the Calgary Zoo.

It took a half hour before the canines started breaking off to give them space. Shannon was the first to stand up, quickly brushing herself off before getting ready to start on dinner. Tonight's plan was to have grilled cheese, with varying types of meat and cheese baked into the sandwiches. Sophie, her valuable assistant, took a bit longer to get up. She was freed at the same time as Shannon, but she had gone into a bit of shock when they were suddenly swarmed. The follow up actions by the canines just had confused her even more, leaving her unable to process what had happened. To make the most use of this time, Shannon just got straight to cutting cheese and meat, preparing for when Sophie would come over to help. While she did, the fire slowly got started up by Sierra. The young warg had wanted to take into practice some of the information she was getting through reading a survival guide. She was still spotty on a few words, but her vocabulary and knowledge was increasing by the day.

Nat on the other hand had the most issues getting up. Kali and Maia had settled for a second place, latching onto each of her sides in an embrace, while Trooper laid on top of her, hugging her torso. At this point, she was not able to shake any of the much heavier and stronger canines off, even if there had been only one. She still had quite a distance to go when it came to getting into her top physical condition. That, and with how fast their tails wagged, she just did not have the heart to try and extricate herself from the entanglement. She vowed right then and there to try and take far more regular baths from now on, if only to keep this from happening in masse once more. After all, she still had to do her evening stretches before dinner.

Eventually, Sophie regained her sense of self, and shot upwards. With a light teasing tone, Shannon asked her, "If you are done lying there and staring at the sky, do you want to come give me a hand with dinner?" Sophie immediately got up and went over to help out. There, Shannon walked her through everything she needed to do to make grilled cheese. From the buttering of the bread, to how they layered it onto the sheet of metal they were cooking upon. She followed the instructions as best she could, and even got to try flipping some of the sandwiches. Sure, the first few attempts were total flops, but she did not lose her determination. If anything, Sophie just got more fired up in the cooking, focusing to get it right. It took a few more tries, but finally on the eighth sandwich, it landed in a stack on its opposite face. Sure, it was the leaning tower of cheese-a, with the top piece of bread as well as the cheese being half-off the now bottom of the stack, but it was still a successful flip. At least, compared to the other ones. The second one she had done flew across the camp and landed on top of Ash after all. She didn't care though, glad to have an early snack before dinner.

It took a bit of time, but eventually the sandwiches were all finished. There were even a couple that were usable that Sophie had flipped as well, which she was quite proud of. After getting the piping hot sandwiches duplicated, everyone took the time to eat them. Everyone enjoyed it, but a single issue coming up from Nat had Shannon realizing she made a mistake. She was so focused on helping Sophie get used to the process of cooking grilled cheese that she forgot to make some soup to go with it. This would the first time in weeks that she had not made a fully balanced meal for the pack. However, Sophie did not seem to hear Nat, as shown by her proud smile as she watched everyone enjoy the grilled cheese. They decided not to ruin her success, nor the feelings she got from it. It just meant that next time was going to be a lesson in how to make some delicious soup, perfect for dunking the grilled cheese in.

After dinner, Shannon leaned hard onto everyone at the camp. She decided, that if the smell before had been such an issue, then everyone had to take part in taking care of themselves. Thus, she made everyone who hadn't taken a bath before to go take one, as well as getting everyone to brush their teeth and floss. When some of the canines tried to protest this, she basically held Sophie in front of them. If they wanted her to be strong and healthy, then they all had to set a good example for her to learn from. Begrudgingly, everyone acquiesced to her demands after that. Though, the parents seemed to be satisfied immensely by seeing their own children follow in what they did. After all, most of them did it with far less complaints then some of the adults did. After that, the camp seemed to settle down, with everyone getting to bed earlier. For the first time in weeks, Maia and Kali came in and cuddled in the pile with the three humans, making it a warm but comfy group. As Nat was fading away into sleep, she thought she saw a sliver of green energy going into Sophie.

Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, 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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