Choosing Life

Chapter Fifty

Estelle sighed as he trotted after one of Mali's pups, the one with the purple fur. He was happy to look after them, he knew she had to go be the Alpha but for the love of the Great Alpha in the sky, did her pups have to run around so much?

At the very least, it'd be nice if they could stay in their den but they were always climbing and and getting into things. Though, Estelle wasn't going to lie, it was nice when the pups stayed human. Human pups were easier to corral than scaly pups or even Cerberi pups!

Whoa! Estelle thought and gently grabbed the collar of the male pup's shirt as he began to make his way down the stairs. It was a good thing Estelle had been there since the way the pup was facing, he would have been tumbling down the stairs head first.

Come on little pup, let's head back to your den with your littermate and Nyx, Estelle thought as the male pup, 'Reese' as the humans called him, chattered away happily; swinging merrily from his spot in Estelle's jaws and his little feet kicking away.

Every so often, one of the humans that Mali called 'attendants' would stop and look at the two of them but didn't say anything. It often wasn't long before the attendants would just walk away. Sometimes Estelle even heard some of them say they weren't paid enough to deal with that.

I don't know what they're talking about, Mali gives me and Nyx a bone each every time we need to watch the pups. If that's enough for us, that should be enough for the humans, Estelle thought as he hopped over the barrier that stood in front of the pups' den.

Oh you found him! Where was he? Nyx thought to Estelle. Honestly it had been a bit of an interesting discovery finding out that Cerberis had the same mental link as the humans that the pack dad would call imbeciles he was unfortunate enough to be related to.

But it was nice to have someone who spoke the same language as you. Plus, even though it was the same style of link, the humans' link didn't interfere with the Cerberi link so there wasn't the risk Estelle would hear Mali's conversation or vice versa.

He was going down the stairs, Estelle thought to Nyx, gently putting Reese down on the floor. At least they're doing it one at a time. Imagine if they decided to pair up!

We do have three heads each, we could handle it, Nyx told him. Just as long as it was just Mali and her mate's pups. I couldn't imagine what it would be like if the other pups were around more than every so often. Despite the fact that they only have two legs, these hairless puppies are faster than you think! And to top it off, no sense of self preservation! I mean the dark furred pup the other day licked cold solid water that just came out of thin air!

But the pups love seeing them and we can handle some rambunctious pups for the next couple of months.

Estelle...I'm worried about the pups. You've been around humans a lot more than I have. Is it...is it normal for human pups to lack self preservation? Even the pack leaders don't seem to realize how much the pups are lacking. Plus...they're rather slow growing aren't they? Pups should be double their size at this age.

The pack leaders don't seem too concerned with the growth of the pups so maybe being slow growing is normal for human puppies, along with a lack of self preservation, Estelle thought and gently licked Nyx's cheek. Besides, this is tame for humans. Mali's pack mate apparently would slide off of roofs when he was bored, according to Mali's youngest pack mate.

May the Great Alpha help us if Mali has any more pups though, Nyx shook her head. These two have been wild enough to last us a lifetime.

Estelle snorted, though if he was honest he wouldn't mind another pup or two from Mali. She only had so long before she couldn't have pups after all and Estelle didn't want the window to catch her by surprise!