What do you know?

after listening to what Oreo had to say, Apryl had a hard time settling down to think about sleeping. Even though she was with her family so she could keep an eye on them and with it being rather late as well, it was hard for her to keep her eyes closed to sleep.

Every tiny sound was also a problem for her. She knew that the room was completely sound proof which meant she couldn't hear any noises outside of the room but each time there was a noise she didn't recognize, it put her own edge.

To try and help herself sleep, she decided to snuggle up as close as she could to her mother and new siblings. They seemed to appreciate the warmth as they were quick to snuggle closer to Apryl.

She had no problem with this and it in fact made her rather happy that they were content to snuggle up against her. She nuzzled gently against them to let them know in her own way that they were safe. She was going to do her best to make sure that it stayed that way as well.

Apryl hadn't realized she'd fallen sleep until sounds indicating moment began to wake her. Half a sleep and uncertain of where they came from, she let out a low growl of warning.

"Since when did you start growling at your own mother?" hearing her mother's voice even though she wasn't fully awake immediately calmed her down.

"Sorry, I didn't know the noise came from you." she apologized as her ears twitched. It felt nice to be able to sleep in her wolf form again. She relaxed more when her mother bumped her head with her muzzle.

"Why were you sleeping here last night in the first place?" her mom asked knowing that there must've been a reason for it since her daughter usually slept in her room even when she decided to sleep down here.

"Lydia told me about what you said and I was worried and knew that I wouldn't sleep well unless I was down here with you and them." Spryl replied as she looked at her small siblings.

"Can you tell me the reason about why you're not comfortable with Brian not being near them?" she asked softly, not sure that Summer would actually tell her what was going on. The silence that followed made her think that was the answer her mother was going to give her until she decided to reply a few minutes after tending to her pups.

Seeing her face in wolf form, it was one of the few times that Apryl really realized how old her mother was getting when she saw the gray hairs on her face and muzzle mixed in with the rest of her coat.

"I didn't want to say anything since he kindly took us in and hasn't done anything unjust to us or my other pups, but he's a wolf who smells like he has blood on his hands." she explained looking over at her daughter.

"You never had to experience it in your life because our family had already put some distance between us and other packs due to the fear that there wouldn't be enough food for everyone." she continued to explain.

"But there were times when packs would fight over space and food and when one wolf killed another in the same pack or attack to kill for no one, there's a certain scent about them that never goes away."

"You think he did something bad to someone in his own pack?" Apryl asked wanting to further understand what was going through her mom's mind.

"I don't know that much, I can just tell that there's something about him that isn't good." Her mother replied nudging one of her pups closer when it ended up rolling and fussing because it was too far away to keep eating.

"I asked Lydia, but all she could say was that she didn't know much of anything about his past beyond the fact that he wasn't from around this area." She told her mother as she stood up and stretched.

"I am going to ask Keith about it today at school since I think he might know something he didn't want to tell me. He was acting odd after he saw my uncle with me on the day that I got my ID. Oreo also said something about knowing about at least a wolf named Brian from where his pack originally came from, but he's not sure if it's the same person." Apryl had thought ahead to bring her clothes with her the night before so she didn't have to worry about how to get back inside either in her wolf form or without any clothes on. They were an annoyance but necessary for the time being.

"Until I know anything for sure though, I won't say anything to him or Lydia about it further. She wants to make sure that you're comfortable since it wouldn't be possible to move very far as it is since you just gave birth and they're not yet old enough to handle such a major shift."

"If your father was still here with us, I'm sure the situation would be a bit different and we could handle things better." Even though her mother never said anything out loud, she knew how much Summer missed her mate and how hard it was with it only being a few weeks since she disappeared without any idea as to what happened to him.

"I know, but we'll make something work out with just us, even if it isn't an idea situation, we'll make it work." Apryl assured her mother as she shifted into her human form so that she could get dressed. She would probably need to help feed the rest of her siblings with Lydia since Brian wouldn't be coming down and she doubted her other older sisters would be able to handle it. They had been acting a little off as well she noticed since Summer had the pups.

In all honestly Apryl really had no idea how she would make everything work out if it came to having to move her family somewhere else. They didn't have any connections with anyone else in this werewolf community and she wasn't sure she would know who to turn to in the first place since she didn't have any money with her.

After she had finished helping with the morning chores and made sure that everyone had some food and would be safe and comfortable while she was at school, Apryl decided to get ready to leave because she wanted the chance to talk with Keith as soon as possible. She had asked Oreo to keep her mother's phone in case any of them needed something or she needed to call to relay anything that Keith had told her. She also made sure to text him to let him know that she was on her way to school and expected him to available to talk.

"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" He asked hardly seconds after she had entered the admin building and come to the area on the first floor where he worked. Apryl wasn't sure if what he was displaying with concern or anxiety in the tone of his voice and expression.

"I know that I asked you this before, but this time I need to be one hundred percent honest with me. Do you know my uncle and if so, what do you know about him? I wasn't that pushy about it before since it seemed like you didn't want to talk about whatever was going on, but now it's starting to potentially involve my family, thus I want to know what you know about him or think you know about it him." She replied cutting straight to the point and catching him slightly off guard. He hadn't been expecting the matter she wanted to talk about to come back around to being about her uncle again.