Come meet the puppies! All welcome everyone, as many people as want to join 
Word Count → 642
It was easy to fall into a destructive routine, and as far as destructive routines went, Neela’s keeping herself and the pups hidden away in the house was especially addictive. It gave the illusion of safety, let Neela feel like she was doing the right thing. But enough was enough and even Neela could see that she shouldn’t be keeping them inside any longer, the pups were nearly a month old now, far from the half grown babies that Neela had taken with her when the hurricane had struck; they were active, lively and had grown into their shape and fur almost looking like miniaturised adults. Every accessible part of the house had been thoroughly explored and dismissed as boring by now and the pups were almost frantic with excitement as Neela herded them towards the door; not quite knowing what was going on but recognising the same lure of the unfamiliar that Neela still felt in quiet moments.
The wolfdog that slunk out of the house in her Luperci form was certainly a sight. The month of paranoia hadn’t been kind to Neela and neglecting her own needs to fuss over the pups had taken it’s toll. Neela was sickly looking and thin even by her own slender standards, ribs visible under her long fur if one was to look in the right place. In contrast the four pups that burst out after her were hale and hearty, three plump and happy balls of fur and one thin - yet still happy and active – figure hesitated around her legs for a moment before running on towards a grassy patch when Neela gestured her assent with a twitch of her muzzle. Neela’s eyes trailed on that last figure as she followed the others, lagging behind slightly. Isla had recovered from the deathly sickness that had haunted her earliest days but the effects were still clear, she was thin and small where the others were growing thick and large in varying amounts; Luca was nearly twice the size of his youngest sister!
Still Isla made up for the size difference, and the weakness it brought about, in enthusiasm. When Luca and Callum started wrestling with each other she leapt forwards immediately, landing fearlessly on top of her two larger siblings and gnawing at whatever body parts she could find extending out. Isla wasn’t having much effect but the boys didn’t pay her much mind and let hr join in, unlike Grynn who wasn’t having much luck. Huffing with amusement Neela padded forwards and broke up the tumbling ball of fur with a prod of her nose, sending Luca and Isla squealing off towards something interesting that had caught their attention while Callum started harassing Grynn, starting a smaller and much more one-sided wrestling match.
A second prod later Callum was admiring/tearing apart some pretty looking flowers with Luca and Isla and Neela had Grynn pinned down lightly, alternating between keeping a watchful eye over the other three and licking the dust from Grynn’s fur. A quiet screech above caught Neela’s attention and she tensed for a moment as three shadows descended from the sky, relaxing when they drew closer and she recognised them. Neela hadn’t seen the triplets for quite some time – they had been avoiding her while she was pregnant and shortly after, perhaps sensing her mood – but they seemed to have taken her emergence as some sort of cue. When she made no move to stop them the three landed, Skylar perching on Neela’s back while Oonu and Marahute landed on a post near the pups, looking at them with a mixture of curiosity and protectiveness.
Neela had had a rough few months but here, with all her family except Tony gathered in one place and the sun beating warmly, she felt content for the first time in quite a while.
