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He was the youngest in the pack, youngest of his litter. He was smaller than anyone else in the pack. He heard the world runt thrown around about him.
At least he was pretty sure it was about him.
He was the last in line for food, even though his brothers and sisters were first.
He was always on the outskirts of the piles they got in to stay warm.
He didn’t understand, he was hungry and cold but when he cried out, tears or merely yipping and whimpering, no one did anything.
His mum brought him with her on a hunt one day, something that none of his siblings had gotten to do yet.
She told him, “You keep watch from these bushes, watch for wolves and dog or wolf hybrids. I’ll come pick you up later.”
He’d nodded and took his task seriously, maybe if he proved he could behave, could be useful, they’d let him be in the middle of the pile, to eat more than scraps.
He sat there as the sun set and the stars came out.
His mum didn’t come back at any point during the night and he was pretty sure he’d fallen asleep at some point because the next thing he knew, having been awoken by his own shivering, the sun was out.
Had she forgotten about him?
He let out yips, whimpers, whines, and howls alongside simply calling for his mum.
She didn’t come, no one came for a long time.
“I told you that they were going to abandon the little one,” A female’s voice sounded.
“I had simply hoped they had moved on from that,” Another female voice sounded after.
“They’re strays who refuse help,” The first female voice sounded again.
“Yese, now where is that little one,” The second female voice said.
Strangers were dangerous but not a single member of his pack had come for him. There was a small feeling in his gut that he wouldn’t see his pack again and he was so hungry and cold.
He let out another little yip.
“The bush,” The second female said.
Footsteps approached and the bush he was hiding in parted.
He blinked up at the couple, both had dog ears that matched their hair, black for one, light brown for the other.
His blue eyes were wide as he looked at them, brown and green eyes stared back.
Finally though the spell broke, “Hello there little one my name’s Emerson and this is my wife Rosabella. We’ve very sorry you’ve been left behind by your pack,” The second woman, who had light brown hair and green eyes, said.
He whined quietly.
“You got a name pup?” The first woman, black hair and brown eyes, Rosabella, asked.
He hesitated before whispering, “Ren.”
Emerson smiled, “Hello Ren, it’s nice to meet you.”
He couldn’t say the same.
Rosabella spoke again, “Will you come with us pup?”
“We’ve got some warm food,” Emerson prompted after he was quiet for too long.
Warmth and food the two things he wanted, he nodded.
Rosabella reached down and picked him up and soon they were walking out of the woods and towards a house.
“Robert!” Emerson called once they arrived, “Time for lunch.”
Another dog hybrid came down the stairs, he had brown hair and ears and darker blue eyes that reminded him of some of his siblings. The boy blinked, “Who’s that?”
“Robert this is Ren,” Emerson said.
“You found him in the woods.” It wasn’t a question.
“We did,” Rosabella agreed.
Robert looked him over again before asking, “What’s for lunch?”
And that was it, he got his own bedroom but was included in piles, he was always fed, he got warm clean clothes, he got to bathe whenever he wanted to, he got to go to school.
Rosabella became Mama Rosa or just Mama and Emerson became Mum. Robert took to being his big brother and once he hit his teens started to go by Bob which was certainly a choice.
When the pack that abandoned him came back around when he was seven he felt no want to return to them or each seek them out for answers.
Now on Hermitcraft with a pack bigger than he could have imagined he didn’t often think of his birth pack, the packs he’d found were so much better.