Being Replaced

Part 3

I woke up to a comforting purr. I sighed and snuggled into the blanket more. Suddenly, i felt a small kick to my nose. I blinked my eyes open and met a tiny face with closed eyes facing me. I sat up and looked at the tiny kit laying in front of me.

I sat up, wondering what was going on. Why was there a kit here? I glanced around, seeing Mottle and last night coming back to me. I grimaced.

The smell in here wasn't great.

I groaned and stretched, gently grabbing the kit and setting her back by her mother.

I turned and crawled out of the warm den, pushing the brambles back to exit the den completely. I shook out my fur and started to groom.

I wonder how long Mottle was going to stay, I knew there was room now but as the kits got bigger there wouldn't be enough room.

Evidently there already wasn't enough room if one kit already ended up next to me.

I shook my fur again and stretched good and long, letting off a large yawn and settled into a easy walk through the woods. Maybe I should get some food? I only ate every few days now because I was trying to prepare myself for White-cold. Sava said it was hard to find food when White-cold came and I needed to prepare.

Mottle seemed pretty round though. She might not be used to it so she might be hungry.

With that thought in mind I wandered to the park. I balked almost immediately. There was House-folk EVERYWHERE. I didn't think I could get any food from here currently and I couldn't bring myself to go back through the tunnel and by her home.

With a sigh I turned back to the woods and noticed a bird nearby. Maybe I could catch that? It couldn't be much different than a rat, right?

I crouched and crawled to the bird, just before I jumped it saw me and tried to fly away. I jumped after it and felt my claws dig into the wing before I landed and it flapped up higher.

I sighed in frustration before turning to leave before the bird fell back to the ground and struggled. I perked and pounced, killing it. With a proud chuckle I carried it back to the den
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It's been a moon. These kits grew up fast, and are very rambunctious. Mottle goes out every day to look for something, she hasn't told me what, and usually doesn't come back till noon only to leave again after feeding her kits.

Howl, Poppy, and Alder have been exploring the little bit of woods we have here with me as their escort. I don't have anything else to do and Sava has been busy.

Currently I was stretched on my side as I watched Alder and Poppy play.

They were definitely the more lively two, Howl was smaller than her siblings and I glanced down at her resting between my tail and legs as she watched them drowsily.

"Back off filthy Twoleg! This is my den!" Alder hissed playfully.

I twitched my ears at the strange word. What's a Twoleg? Despite my curiosity I didn't want to interrupt the peaceful moment we currently had. Those two seemed to constantly be bickering. 

I pricked my ears as I heard rapid pawsteps approaching. I felt my heart lurch in panic as I jumped to my feet and grabbed Howl, tossing her into the entrance of the den, quickly followed by the other two. I crouched at the entrance, feeling adrenaline and fear course through my veins as i prepared to defend against what was coming. 

"I found him!! I found someone who knows him!" Mottle called as she excitedly runs up. I felt myself sag in relief

"You scared the fur off me!!" I hissed back. She stumbled to a stop, out of breath.