Jin has a bemused look on his face, as they gather round a tiny grave in the rose garden. Even Uncle Bob has come out for the ceremony, utilizing his new wheelchair they received in the last supply run. No doubt, a rooster funeral is a first for all of them. Lily is kneeling down and arranging a beautiful bouquet of flowers to lie on top of the grave. Glancing up at Jin, Lily recalls the narrow miss they had this morning.
"Jin NO!! What are you doing?!" cried Lily as she walked into the kitchen.
"I'm making dumplings. I'll have to defrost and pluck the chicken first. Why did you freeze it this way?" says Jin, as he holds the frozen rooster carcass he has just pulled out of the deep freezer.
"That's Henry! We can't eat Henry!" says Lily as she rushes over and takes Henry's frozen body from Jin.
"It's a chicken, it's food" Jin counters.
"No, you don't understand, this is Henry. He was my pet rooster; he was special to me. I froze him, so I could give him a proper burial when the time was right".
So now they are all huddled together in Blanche's rose garden, after burying a dead chicken.
"I'd like to say a few words if I may" Lily says quietly as she stands up from kneeling.
"You go ahead dear, these two knuckle heads will keep quiet, if they know what's good for them" says Uncle Bob as he glares at Jin and Atlas, making it clear that are not to make fun of Lily. Lily goes to uncle bob and holds his hand.
"We are gathered here today, to farewell Henry, who was taken from us far too soon. He was a fine rooster, always looking out for his flock. He especially loved Henrietta and his unborn chick, who were also cruelly taken from us" Lily pauses here and stifles a little sob, Uncle Bob squeezes her hand, encouraging her to go on.
"Henry was brave and crowed until the very end, trying to warn me. I know there will never be a rooster that can replace him, and I take solace in knowing the three of them are in poultry heaven together. Rest in peace Henry, Henrietta and your little chick, we will miss you, Amen".
Altas and Uncle Bob solemnly repeat "Amen" too, Lily glances at Jin who is silent. She can see he has his hand over his mouth, and he is shaking, obviously stifling a laugh. Lily narrows her eyes at him, just as she's about to blast him she hears "buk, buk, buk, ba-gawk" followed by a "cheep, cheep". Turning towards the sound, she sees Henrietta wander into the rose garden, followed by a cute fluffy yellow chick.
"Henrietta you're alive!" Lily exclaims as she rushes over and picks up the hen and nuzzles her "and look at your beautiful baby" putting the hen down, she carefully picks up the baby chick, cupping it in her hand, she brings it over to Uncle Bob.
"Look Uncle Bob Henrietta and her baby are alive! She must have hidden with her newborn chick when the rogues came. What a clever Hen she is!" Lily has tears of joy running down her cheeks.
"She is a clever one alright, always amazes me how resilient mothers are when it comes to protecting their babies. We should probably setup a temporary hutch closer to the cabin, where we can keep an eye on them" advises Uncle Bob
"I'll get to work on making one up right away" Atlas says, as he comes up to Lily and gives her side hug.
"Oh look, she's paying her respects to Henry" Lily says, as she points to Henrietta who is on top of Henry's grave, scratching around in the upturned soil.
"She's looking for worms, because she's a chicken" Jin observes.
"Henrietta is not just a chicken, she's family! And don't you even think about trying to cook her Jin!" Lily can see Jin putting a hand over his mouth again, his body shaking, as he tries to stop his laughter.
***********************************************
Atlas's wolf has fallen in love. He is lying on his back getting a tummy rub from Rose, his tongue is hanging out and he is staring up at the female with complete adoration. She could collar him and lead him around on a leash, and he would still be the happiest wolf alive. They have gone for their daily walk and are lying on a blanket in a grassy meadow. As always Rose has brought her sketch book and charcoal pencils. Rose stops petting him to resume her sketching. The large grey wolf rolls over onto his stomach, and places his head on her lap, nudging her for more rubs. Looking up at her with puppy dog eyes, he has completely lost all self-respect, begging her for any scrap of affection.
"Oh you want more pets? What a demanding boy you're being today" Rose says as she puts down her sketchbook and gives him a good scratch behind the ears.
"What a good boy you are! Are you going to catch me a rabbit today?"
The large wolf raises his head and perks up at the mention of a hunt. If she wants a rabbit, he'll get her a rabbit, he would slay a whole bear for her if she asked for it. He stands up wagging his tail and gives her a bark. Rose laughs "go on then, go get me a rabbit!"
She doesn't need to ask twice, the massive grey wolf bounds off into the treeline, itching to provide for his female.
Half an hour later, the grey wolf comes trotting back to the clearing, with his prize clutched in his jaws. Lying on the blanket, the female has fallen asleep. Placing the rabbit on the ground near her feet, he glances at her sketchbook, what he sees makes him shift.
Atlas leans over Rose and grabs her sketchbook, to stare at the picture she has drawn. Rose has sketched him in his wolf form. She has depicted him standing on a rock formation at the edge of the lake, he has his head thrown back howling. His wolf does like to go to the lake in the evening and howl. It used to be sorrowful howl, mourning their mate, but now it was more of a noisy claim of territory. Atlas had not realised she had been observing them. Her skill level is exceptional, and he is slightly taken aback and how she has depicted him. Magnificent and beautiful is how his wolf appears in this drawing, is this how she sees him? His attention shifts from the drawing to the sleeping she-wolf. Her long chestnut brown hair is splayed out beside her, her breasts are slightly heaving up and down with each breathe. Ripe and large are her breasts, matching her pregnant stomach. Carefully lying down beside her, he places a hand on her stomach. The pup will be arriving soon, and how he wishes it was his pup, that he had been the one to plant the seed in her womb. His wolf already thinks the pup is theirs and is ready to mark and claim the female.
Unlike his wolf, Atlas has conflicting emotions about his feelings for Rose. Is he being disloyal to his dead mate by falling in love with Rose? He still very much wants to know the identity of his fated mate, and to find out how she died. And what of Rose's feelings? He doesn't know if she sees him as anything more than a friend. What of her mate, he still knows nothing about him? Rose refuses to talk about him, but Altas knows he is out there somewhere. How could any male stay away from such an impossibly beautiful and sweet natured she-wolf? If she were back at Redwood, he would be having to fight off every unmated male in the pack to earn a place by her side. As he gazes at her his cock begins to twitch and thicken, he has become erect. Involuntary erections around Rose were becoming an increasing problem. He was trying to be respectful of the she-wolf, but he was a hot-blooded male, and his attraction for her was growing by the day. Not to mention his damn wolf was egging him on at every second, growing impatient and agitated at not having claimed her yet. He gently rubs circles on her belly, wondering about the pup within. Will it be a boy or a girl? He hopes it will be a little girl and look just like Rose. Looking up at her face, Rose's eyes are open, she's awake and watching him.
"Sorry Rose, I was just admiring you while you sleep. I hope you don't mind me touching you like this?" Atlas says as he pauses rubbing her. Lily glances at his naked body, normally he doesn't shift during their walks, he stays in his wolf form the entire time. Her eyes slowly lower and she spots his stiff rod, pointing straight at her, she blushes and quickly diverts her eyes.
"You don't need to look away Rose, I am not ashamed of how attracted I am to you. You must be aware of it by now" Atlas grabs Lily's hand and places it on his chest, across his heart. He knows she can feel his heart thumping, his heart rate increasing at her touch "you can touch me if you want?"
Rose tentatively strokes his chest, he has a smattering of fine hair across his toned chest, and she seems to like touching it.
"May I kiss you?" Atlas says as he stares at her beautiful plump lips. Rose hesitates and looks up at him with those large brown doe eyes, then she nods shyly. Leaning down he presses his lips to hers, they feel so soft and full, she opens her mouth slightly and he pushes his tongue in, deepening the kiss. At first he engages in a gentle, soft exploration of her mouth, tasting her is heaven. As their make out session continues, he begins to get more excited. Grasping her jaw he angles her head, so he can plunge his tongue into her deeper, he wants to devour her. Moving his hand lower, he grabs her neck in a possessive manner, and he feels her instantly stiffen, he quickly recoils.
"Goddess Rose I'm sorry, I got carried away. I didn't mean to scare you. Were you thinking about those dead rogue scumbags?"
"I really try not to, but every now and then I get flashbacks. I'm sorry" Rose says looking ashamed.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. Can I try something with you? I want to replace those bad memories with good ones?"
"Ok, but please don't grab my neck again" Lily looks a little uncertain at what Atlas is about to do. Atlas brushes a stray lock of hair out of her eyes, and tucks it behind her ear.
"Trust me my darling, I would never hurt you" he says as he gives her a gentle kiss on her forehead, then a kiss on her nose, and then along her jawline.
"Every time your mind starts to wander, and you begin to think about them, I want you to think of me instead. Think of this moment in time, and nothing else" Atlas continues moving downwards, laying soft kisses carefully around her neck, making a necklace of sweet kisses.
"Any time I touch your neck, I want you to think of my kisses, and how much I adore you and nothing else" he gets to the other side of her neck, and kisses her earlobe and then gently sucks on it, then he moves back down her neck kissing her more passionately, swirling his tongue and sucking her skin, making little hickeys on her neck. Rose gasps and grips his skull. His hair is growing out, but it is still too short for her to run her fingers through it.
"I'm going to mark your neck with my own love bites, and this will be what you'll think of when I touch your neck from now on" with that he begins to suck a little harder, making Rose mewl. Her noises are driving him crazy, and he presses his erection against her side.
"Do you know how beautiful you are Rose?" Atlas's hands begin to explore, and he gently cups Rose's breasts, softly squeezing them. They are so large and soft, they feel good in the palm of his hands, how he would love to see them naked. He got a little glimpse in the hot tub, but it was not enough. He wants to see her entire body naked; he could stare at her all day. Moving lower he caresses her baby bump, suddenly he feels a kick. Atlas freezes, and presses his hand to her belly again, and then he feels another even stronger kick.
"Rose I felt the baby kick!" Atlas looks at her in awe, he has never felt a baby kick before.
"Oh baby is awake alright, and baby is kicking up a storm!" Rose laughs. She puts her hands over his and manoeuvres them into position to where the baby is kicking the strongest.
"Wow the baby is really strong! I want it to be a girl and to look just like her pretty mama" He says as he stares at her intently. Rose blushes at his sweet words.
"I think it's time we head back to the cabin, I'm getting pretty hungry, and I think so is the baby" Rose says as she pushes herself up and begins to gather up her sketching tools. Atlas helps her up, and grabs the blanket, wrapping it around himself. He's a little disappointed, he was hoping to make sweet love to Rose, but he will try again later. He has no doubt in his mind that he is completely aligned with his wolf, and has fallen hopelessly in love with this little she-wolf. The only question on his mind, is how does she feel about him? And how can he make her feel the same way? He is now certain Rose is meant to be his, he just needs to convince her of that.
Happy New Years everyone! I hope everyone has fun plans for new year's eve? Who wants Ava to be with Atlas and who wants her to be with Caden? Any predictions of what will happen? Also I've been thinking about the baby, do you think it will be a boy or a girl? Baby name suggestions? If you like the story please follow me, vote, and comment - so I know to continue – I really appreciate your support :)