Big Brother Once More

Seeing the excitement and joy in Cerberus' expression and body language made her heart swell and warm with love and joy. She knew that being the oldest amongst a gaggle of younger siblings all from different parents must have been strange for the boy, but he took everything in such stride. He commended them for being beautiful and wagged his tail, and tears began to spring to Aliana's eyes once more. She'd never felt such pure and true joy in all her days as she did watching her family. Yes, she counted Cerberus amongst her family. They were all one big cohesive unit in her eyes, all united by love and familial bonds. "Thank you, Cerberus," she replied softly, leaning in to aim a gentle nuzzle behind one of his ears. Without Viper, Ali wanted to make sure the boy never wanted for anything—especially motherly affection and attention. It felt like the least she could do to honor Viper's memory, by making sure her son was cared for.

While he watched the puppies, one of them began to stir and move, tiny pink nose twitching while it picked up the scent of a newcomer. The tiny bundle of dark fluff that Aliana had introduced as Revenant began to tumble away from the cluster, sniffing out Cerberus with tiny exploratory squeaks for his half brother. Aliana beamed and giggled, watching her fearless son tumble and roll his way to within inches of Cerberus. "I think he knows his big brother is here," he commented jokingly. "They don't know it yet, but they're all going to have the best big brother in the world. Do you want to help teach them to do things like fight and hunt and craft when they get older?"

"Aliana"