Kyrios was over the moon about their venture to Hearthwood, which did not surprise him. He was, after all, his mother’s son. It was a constant struggle to keep him restrained to the den site, for he had a bad case of wandering paws. Karina certainly had her own paws full and XIX was grateful to her for taking in the twins. The ghost wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to repay the Baranski for her selflessness. She was truly an exceptional mother.

Just as little Ky approached the mouth of their den Atropos finally decided to grace them with her presence, in all her sleepy glory. A smile rolled onto his maw at her appearance, and he pressed a quick lick to the top of her forehead before nudging her forward. “Time to get going, little Stark,” he cooed affectionately in encouragement as he stepped away from the den. The twins would be perfectly fine on foot — maybe a little slow due to their short attention span — but they were more than capable of walking themselves. Bennet swung slowly from her mother’s jaws as they started toward Hearthwood, Lachesis following close behind.

Just like Karina, the healer had planned for their excursion to take up the whole day. It was an opportune time for the pups to explore some of their home with their parents accompanying them. It was slow, as expected, but the ghost did not mind. Truthfully, he had missed spending time with his former apprentice. As a result of a series of unfortunate events, the pair had been put together once more — plus three energetic bundles of fur.

The breaks, though frequent, were received warmly. Even Lachesis’ oversized paws were aching due to the distance they had traveled; he could only imagine how the children were feeling. Karina’s words spoke the truth — they were almost home. The river was pulsating in the distance, welcoming the mod podge family to Hearthwood.

The group piled into the den with weary sighs of relief. It had been a long day for the children and their parents, and Lachesis was thankful that it was coming to a close. His nostrils twitched at the coppery smell and just as he was about to fill the den with his voice Karina beat him to it, a smile pressed to her lips. He nodded softly, mimicking her smile with one of his own: “I’ll go grab us some.” Without hesitation the ghost spun on his heels, following the scent outside. Although he wished he had brought the deer himself, he was grateful to whoever had left the gift for them. With a smile falling onto his pale maw Lachesis went to work on the deer’s hind leg in order to separate it from the rest of the body. There were five mouths to feed after all.

Trotting back to the den with deer leg in tow the ghost clambered down the entrance of the den, his chartreuse gaze fixated on the oddball family. Setting the leg down Lachesis fell back onto his hindquarters and motioned for Karina to eat first.

While Atropos would have been keen on wrestling her brother for the rest of the morning, the beckoning grunt of their provider forced her to attempt to wriggle out from underneath his weight in order to follow. She gave his cheek a tug as she attempted to pull him along with the rest of the family, never entirely sold on the ending of play-time. She was not certain why everyone was out here, but it was very exciting nonetheless, and her tiny tongue lolled out of her mouth as she released her brother to gallop forward beneath her parents' legs.

The trip began as entertaining and automagical as the little Stark could ever have dreamed up, and everything and anything she could find ended up getting smelled or chewed.. including the tails of her siblings whenever they made the mistake of coming into her vision. While Bennet was typically kept out of reach, the pale girl did her best to make her feel included with nose bumps and tail nips along the way. She started out the adventure enthusiastically, bounding back and forth along their path, in between legs, in and out of tall grasses, and tackling her brother for good measure. However, her parents insisted on walking forever forward, and after a while, the tiny girl did not have the energy to upkeep anything more than simply following behind their tall legs. As the sun waned overhead, she was thankful for the stops for milk and rest, but by the time the shadows grew long and the heat dissipated, her paws and muscles ached, and adventure had been lost to fatigue.

It seemed unending. When the adults walked into a tall bush, and into a large, dark opening, it momentarily encouraged Atty's drive for adventure once more. She padded after her brother enthusiastically inside, wishing to explore its corners, but all thoughts of that disappeared once the peppered woman laid down and offered milk to them again. Stopping mid-trot, she completely diverted her path over to Karina, thankful for the opportunity to release her muscles of strain and to fill her belly with milk. She plopped herself down against the new-smelling ground, and buried her face into the comforting fur until she found a teat. Her eyes closed, passively feeding until fatigue collapsed her entirely into sleep. She wished desperately that this time no one would pull her from it.

It did not surprise him that the children were fast asleep by the time he returned to the new den. It had been a long journey for them and if he was exhausted he could not imagine how they felt. Rest would be good for them, and come morning he would give them a little tour of their new home. It felt good to have them within reach instead of trekking across the territory to visit his children. They were all he had left — they were his future; his legacy — and he did not want to be an absent father. XIX also wanted them to love Hearthwood just as much as he did, even if they did not decide to stay once they became of age. As long as the river wolves reigned there would always be a place for them among the cedars.

A smile rolled across his pale {blood stained} maw as the blue-eyed Baranski thanked him, his tongue pressing against the back of his teeth as he searched for remnants of deer. He pressed his nose to her cheek to show his silent gratitude. Lachesis would forever be grateful to the silver girl; tending to another wolf’s children was not an easy task. He could remember the day that Anastasia had agreed to taking care of Shade’s children after his mate had disappeared, which had secured their positions in his pack. The Slayer children had never felt anything but love and appreciation for their ‘adoptive’ mother and XIX hoped that his own children would feel the same toward Karina. He waited patiently for the pale wolf to doze off before he slipped out of the den, not wanting to disturb the hodgepodge family. Though he was physically exhausted his mind was not; he was in pursuit of the river bank so he could soothe his thoughts and allow his head to clear before attempting to fall asleep.