hustling for the good life

Avantika was out on patrol, breathing in the warm spring air like the sanctuary it was. Having so many puppies running around was exciting and definitely welcomed and loved and all that, but it could also be overwhelming at times. There were only so many lessons the Hallows' first Commander could teach before she began to run out of things to say! She hadn't been so social in probably her own life and while she wouldn't give this feeling of family up for anything in the world, she also needed her quiet time sometimes.

While she wandered over the familiar path of the Hallows' borders, she wondered how everyone else was dealing with the influx of little lives underfoot. Her brothers Rudy and Art were both parents now, as much as she still sometimes thought of them as the boys she'd first learned to love. She was growing up too, and someday she would probably have her own litter of kids -- if she could convince anyone to have them with her -- and she wondered what it would be like for her. These new nieces and nephews were good practice. She wanted to get to know them too, to help them grow into the adult wolves they would someday be. She had a responsibility to teach them, but she had a determination to know them as well.

"Speech"