New chapter! Enjoy!

Today was Logan's day off. Usually, he spent it teaching his cubs something new before letting them have their fun. For now, Logan lie awake on his bed. Mahi was curled in a ball by the pillows. Meallá looked like she was ready to fall off the bed but never did. Speaking of which, she was slightly more than half a year from turning five. She needed to go to school soon. Going to a public school was no option. Logan remembered that his deceased mate said something about a tribal school on the reservation she grew up in. What was it? Something about how it was accepting of differences. For now, it seems like the only option, but it also seems like a good plan. The girls would get a chance to connect with their maternal culture, but it also gave them a chance to learn about their ability to shift into the wolf, coyote, and badger. That ability passed from generation to generation, so they're bound to do it. If they're to go to school there, then they would have to move.

Meallá rolled over to get closer to her father.

Another Place...

Three ferals stopped at a border when they sensed it. The one that was the second-in-command sniffed the area and became uneasy. "This is an alpha's territory. A strong one. Who knows how often he patrols? We should go around."

"You said so yourself, who knows how often he patrols? Let's quickly go through," replied the weakest one.

"We should at least ask permission."

The weakest one turned to their leader. "Alpha?"

The strongest of them stayed silent for a bit. "These are great lands. We should take them. This alpha is strong, in his prime." He smiled. "A great challenge."

The beta shifted uneasily. "Alpha, would it be possible to ask you to reconsider?"

Their leader looked down at him. "Are you scared?"

"This is a strong one. There's a small hint of two young females with him. His cubs perhaps? We should leave or go around. So damn right I'm scared."

The weaker one scratched his chin. "You lost me at 'females.'"

"They're cubs. If he sensed us enter his territory, there no question, he would kill us. Please Alpha, let's avoid a confrontation."

"No."

The beta stood his ground. "I respect power. If you don't realize your mistake, then I am leaving." He quickly left before the alpha could kill him.

The new beta scoffed, "Was all that killing we did together mean nothing?" He looked at his leader and slowly began to question his intentions.

Speaking of leader, he narrowed his eyes. "Let's pass through. Should we see the alpha, then I'll take the opportunity to take these lands."

Back with the Family...

Logan flipped the bacon over and waited for a few seconds before taking it off the pan. He turned off the stove and left everything as it was while taking the plate of bacon to the table. Meallá and Mahi were ready to eat and waited for their father to sit down. After he served himself, he served his children. Ready, he took the first bite and his daughters followed.

Mahi waited for her father to finish before speaking. "Pa, I'm 3 years old. Can we go hunting?"

"Next year."

Mahi slouched in disappointment while Meallá was confused and noted, "But you took me when I was 3 years old."

"You were days from turning four."

She didn't reply. Logan sighed. "But we can go outside. Later."

"Ok."

"Let's clean up and go to the grocery store." Eager that they get to go out, the girls quickly helped clean up and put on their shoes. After brushing his teeth, Logan went to turn on the truck before going back inside. "Ready?"

"Mhm."

"Let's go."

They walked outside to the truck. Logan helped them get in the truck before going in himself. Buckled, he drove out to the roads. On the way there, his cubs talked among themselves, eager to select a food of their choice. Once they arrived, they got out. Meallá was old enough to walk. Meanwhile, Logan carried Mahi before sitting her down on the shopping cart. They had a quiet time there. Meallá was constantly turning her head, looking for what she wanted. Mahi was doing the same. When Mahi spotted what she wanted, she signaled for her older sister to come.

"Turkey."

"I'll ask." She turned to their father. "Pa, can we get some turkey?"

He turned to looked at the sign that said "SALE" before replying, "I'll go check it out."

Meallá nodded and went back to tell her sister, "He's going to check it out. I'll go get some more corn." She quickly went over to the freezer and stopped. The door handle was too high up, and she couldn't open it. Finding a store worker, she asked, "Excuse me, can you open the door?"

"Hello. Of course I can."

After the store associate opened the door, Meallá grabbed a bag of corn. "Thank you." She ran back to find her other family members looking at the turkey. "Pa, I got some corn."

Logan grunted in acknowledgement and grabbed two packets of turkey legs. "Let's finish up."

Everything went smoothly and Logan drove them back home. On the way there Logan asked Meallá, "What do you think about school?"

She got excited. "Am I going to school soon?"

"You're almost five, which is the usual age."

"But what about the humans?"

"You won't be going to a school for humans." He sighed. "Your Ma told me about a school she went to, back where we used to live when Mahi was a baby."

"Oh, back with Néhiyaw(Cree)?"

"Mhm."

"Will we be safe?"

"You are Néhiyaw. I'm sure you'll be accepted more easily, especially since you are from a medicine family."

"Ok. If I have to go to school, I'll go there."

It was quiet for the rest of the ride. Then, together, they took down the groceries and stored them inside their home. It was still morning, so Logan decided to prepare some of their dinner right now (seasoning the turkey and whatnot). Meanwhile, the girls went to play. After Logan finished, he took a beer and sat down to watch TV. At around 2pm, he decided that it was time to go out. He stood up and found the girls in their room. "Let's go out then. No hunting." The girls softly groaned in disappointment but prepared themselves nonetheless.

Meallá and Mahi were happy once they stepped foot outside. Before they started running, Meallá asked, "Where can we go?"

"Wherever you want," Logan replied and finished his beer before setting down the bottle on the porch.

"Let's go back."

The family headed out into the woods. Logan slowly walked and looked around as his cubs had their fun in the snow. When they began throwing snow at each other, he decided to join the fight. He grinned throughout the whole fight. Mahi quickly decided that it wasn't worth being in this free-for-all.

Then Logan caught an unfamiliar scent. He stopped and stood up. "Girls, so back home."

Meallá took a bit to understand and prevent herself from becoming disappointed. She grabbed Mahi's hand. "Let's go." Mahi looked at her father, who was staring at a specific direction, and felt her sister pull her. They weren't walking, but they weren't jogging either.

Logan kept walking northwest. Once he caught sight of the intruders, he stopped and waited for them to approach him. The two ferals stopped meters from him. Logan spoke first, "Get out of my territory now."

The other alpha smiled a bit. "I thought we weren't going to see you, but this works. I want these lands."

"Look somewhere else."

"I challenge you for these lands."

"You don't want to do that, bub. Trust me."

The weaker one of the strangers looked uneasy. Their ex-beta was right, this was a powerful one. He reeked of power and authority. But if he ran away now, his alpha would kill him. His alpha said, "Don't worry. I won't kill your cubs."

The Wolverine didn't like that and showed his claws. The new beta took a step back and saw metal on this alpha's claws. This was odd. The intruding alpha sharpened his claws and growled. He told his companion, "Go." The Wolverine didn't like that order a bit and attacked with a growl, but the challenger stopped him in his tracks to fight.

. . . . . .

"Come on Mahi! We're almost there. See! The house!"

They ran inside and locked the door. Mahi was scared. "Where should we go Meallá?"

"Let's go to the closet."

They went to their father's closet and hid there. The closet was filled with their father's scent, bringing some kind of comfort. Somewhere else, the weak intruder easily followed his targets and stopped before their door. He sneered, "Did this alpha teach his cubs nothing?" With no effort, he broke the door handle and walked inside, sniffing. "Come here cubs, we won't kill you, just kick you out of our new territory." Although the house was just three similar scents mixed together, he easily knew where the girls hid. Meallá put Mahi in a corner and covered her. The door opened and they looked up in dread. "There you are. Out."

He grabbed them by their coats and pulled them out. Mahi tried making herself small out of fear. Meallá growled and tried breaking the intruder's grip. They noticed that they were being taken beyond their home territory. Meallá tried crazily squirming out of his grip. Their captor shook her and growled, "Enough! Or I will eat you!" Meallá stopped at the harsh shake. Mahi took the chance to scratch herself out of his grip. The strange feral growled and held her up. "I'm going to chase you like prey." Meallá grew angry and roared while desperately scratching her way out of his grip. For some reason, her hands started to hurt. Their captor growled in pain and dropped her before looking at his hand. It started to bleed. "That hurt cub."

Meallá stood up and ran towards him, arms out like her father, and roaring, "Let her go!" Then she stabbed her own claws in his leg. He growled loudly in pain and dropped Mahi, who scrambled to stand. "Run Mahi!" Meallá pulled her claws out and looked at them, stained with blood. Mahi ran behind a tree, not being able to leave her older sister.

The new beta growled, "So you have power, eh? Pretty young aren't you? Let me show you what real power is." He showed her his claws on each finger. Meallá became uneasy. He swiped down, but Meallá dodged and kicked his leg. He howled in pain and pulled back. Meallá fell back and stared at her foot that had a claw out.

There was a growl. The girls turned to see their father and breathed out in relief. The intruder stuttered, "P-please. I'm no alpha. I surrender." The Wolverine growled at how close the intruding feral was to his cubs. The feral yelped and started to run. The Wolverine ran after him, meaning to deal with him.

Meallá turned to call out, "Mahi!"

Mahi ran towards her older sister, sobbing. "Are you ok? Are you hurt? Don't leave me Meallá!"

Meallá awkwardly stood up. "I'm ok, Mahi! I'm not hurt." Slowly her claws retreated. She mumbled to herself, "They're like Pa's." The sisters hugged in the cold.

. . . . .

The Wolverine pounced on the feral with his claws aimed at his throat. Soon, he was dead. Still very animal-like, Logan took care of the bodies and marked his territory again before going back to his cubs, who were on the front porch. They stood up as their lips trembled for their father, who stood before them. He grunted and opened the door as his cubs clung onto his legs. "Go shower."

A Few Showers and a House Cleaning Later...

Meallá and Mahi climbed onto their father's bed. Logan threw his clothes in the dryer, glad that the intruder didn't leave any mess besides his footprints. His scent would be gone in days. Then Logan climbed onto his bed. His cubs closed their distance with him. He eagerly welcomed them in for a hug. "It's alright," he soothed. No ferals would enter their territory anymore. These intruders were unusual. Ferals usually respect power and would leave once they smelled the alpha on this territory. Once the girls finished expressing their emotions, Logan pulled back and looked at them. "Meallá, I know about your claws. Nothing is wrong about having them at your age. I'll start teaching you soon about how to control them."

Meallá replied, "But they're not like yours, Pa."

"Claws are claws." He thought that she must have activated them due to emotional distress. "Don't be afraid of them. It only makes it worse." He offered his hand, keeping most of his weight off because of his adamantium skeleton. Meallá took his hand and turned it to see his knuckles. There was no proof of his own claws present. "The both of you and I, we're the same in many ways. You both will learn to control them perfectly, unlike me. I'll make sure of it."

Mahi questioned him, "But yours are shiny, Pa."

"Yeah. Yours won't be like that, ever."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you when you understand more." He grabbed his oldest's hand and rubbed her knuckles. "Are you scared?"

"Of what?"

"Of them."

"They helped me save Mahi, so I'm not scared."

He gave a small smile. "Good."

Thanks for reading!