Chapter 25: 24

Happy new year! So with the results I am seeing in the poll, people seem to mostly like the current release schedule. This means that I currently plan to stick to the same release rate that I have been. For all of you who wanted the longer chapters, all I ask is to be patient. I have just started with writing and to keep myself growing, I will eventually push myself from writing 1k words a day, to 1.5k, to 2k and on. This is going to be a process of me getting better and more comfortable with writing as I go. Hopefully you all continue to enjoy the series, and have a great new year!
Setting up camp was took the same amount of time it used to for Natalie. While her multiple wounds slowed her down, her enthusiastic helpers helped her get everything done. Most of the wolf pups bounced in and out of the Soulscape, getting what Natalie needed to get everything settled. Rogue, true to her inquisitive nature, just followed Nat around and watched as everything was put together. She did not help with the set up of camp, but she always made sure to stay out of the way of the rest of the group. First they set up the tent, which Nat decided to just put her mattress in there with a bunch of blankets and pillows all over the place. This was followed by the fire pit, which Spirit lead the group to take care of with haste. In his excitement, he had gotten all of the pups to dig a little too much and got them all trapped in the hole they just dug.
After rescuing the excavation team, Nat set up some logs and tinder. Thankfully, the parking lot at the overlook was just cleared off dirt, so there was no risk to set any periphery grass on fire. It had been a dry winter, and if technology was not working, then a grass fire could become a major issue. Fire fighters would not be able to deal with any blazes that came up, and so entire ecosystems would be at risk of being destroyed. After getting the fire started, she surveyed the little camp that they had made. It was simple, with nothing around to tie the warning bell's she had on, but the wolves had proven themselves to be quite light sleepers. The tent looked the comfiest and coziest way Natalie had ever camped before. While looking at it, Kali came out of the Soulscape and plodded down on it. After enjoying the comfort of the few dozen pillows and the couple blankets that were in there for a minute, she looked dead at Nat and said, 'This great! Need more for inside.'
Shaking her head, Nat peered in to her Soulscape to see what the other wolves were doing. Bryden was lounging by the water, having a nap. The way that the Soulscape reduced the amount of pain he was in made him want to stay there for a while. Feeling sorry for the wounded wolf, she took a look at the other four. As she switched to view them, she saw them hunt and take down a copy of the elk that she had gotten in there the day before. As she watched them tear into it, she noticed Emily tore off a sizable piece of the elk and carry it over to where Bryden lay resting. Dropping it front of him, she nudged him with her snout to wake him up. Lifting his head slowly, the first thing he saw was the elk meat sitting in front of him. Slowly, he started eating the meat, savouring the taste while trying not to over exert himself and stretch his wounds.
Knowing that they would have to hunt another elk to be able to feed all of the pups, Natalie made a request to the wolves inside. 'Can you guys bring me out some of the meat? I would like to cook some up for myself.' Before any of the other wolves could even react, Maia was tearing a sizable chunk of meat off the rump of the elk. Seeing what she would be dealing with, Nat asked Kali for help with getting the supplies she needed. After a light grumble about losing her recently found comfort, Kali quickly went back into the Soulscape and got a meat tenderizer, a large cutting board, a frying pan, and the set of knives that they had grabbed from Nat's house. "Thanks Kali! I just did not want any of the pups handling those knives at all." looking back at Kali, she noticed that she had already re-positioned herself back into the giant pile of pillows.

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As Maia brought out the slab of meat, Natalie got to work. First, she pounded the venison with the meat tenderizer. Thankfully, she was right handed as the injury on her left forearm was still sensitive. When she was satisfied with how tender the meat was, she then pulled out one of the knifes and started trimming any excess fat that she could find off of the cut. The slab of meat turned out to be fairly lean, as barely any fat was found. Natalie followed that up with cutting it into steaks. When she looked down to grab the salt, pepper, and olive oil, she noticed that she already had an audience. All of the pups were watching her intensely. Spirit kept looking at the fat cut offs, but whenever he tried to move forward, his sister Rogue kept bopping him backwards. She did not want anything her brother would do to disrupt what Nat was working on.
Chuckling to herself, Natalie lightly seasoned the meat with the salt and pepper, then rubbed it into the meat with the olive oil. Confident that it was fully covered in the light seasoning, she threw the steaks into her frying pan and put it over the fire. Watching the pups, she noticed that all of their tails started wagging incessantly after the steaks started sizzling. The smell of the meat reaching their noses and filling their minds with the image of the tantalizing meat. Knowing what was coming, Kali's five pups started hanging their tongues out of their mouths and focused directly on the frying pan, wondering what the taste of this creation would be like. Spirit and Rogue however, had still not even tried the hare that had been prepared before hand. Spirit was sitting still for once and mirrored his sister, both of them looking on at what Natalie was doing with curiosity.
When the steaks were cooked to medium rare, she took them off the fire and put them on a platter. At this point the pups kept trying to get closer to try out the new creations. "Hold up. You can not eat them yet. They are not ready yet." Hearing this, the pups went back to sitting down, though whines escaped their muzzles as the smell was driving them crazy. After ten minutes passed, Natalie had Maia take the finished steaks into the Soulscape so they could be recreated at will. Seeing where they went, the pups were led by Athena into the Soulscape. As they got there, Maia sent some steaks back out to Nat as they summoned more for the pups. They tore into the steaks with reckless abandon, and the more that they ate, the faster their tails wagged. Seeing the satisfaction that they had from the food, Nat turned to her own steaks, and dug in.
Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

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