The river that was near the Rock Mountain Wolf Village was dotted with fish traps that afternoon. Small, medium, and large. The rivers edge was littered with failed attempts too. Traps that were too loosely woven, ones that had been too tight that they had broken the reeds used, half finished attempts from the males who had eventually given up, and lots of still unused materials. A few males had even ended up trying different shapes, these being the males that Chiaki noticed a brighter blue glow from. They had been given a new idea and were already innovating it! So far the group had made traps in four different shapes along with the three sizes. They would check back each day to see what type was doing the best.

"I can't wait to get home and rest."

"I can carry you?" Skye offered and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Well-ep!" Chiaki yelped as her mate scooped her up in his arms. Then she started laughing. Skye was by far the smallest of her mates when it came to height and shoulder width. Only Jiu Ruan was close in size, but still won. Skye holding her in his arms looked mismatched. "Skye!" She laughed more.

Skye was strong though, size not mattering when it came to the black panther. He was far stronger than Chiaki even if they were close in size. He showed this as he easily carried her home, light of his feet with feline grace.

They arrived home, both laughing happily together at the picture Chiaki painted in their minds at how they must look. Skye though also thought of all the eyes of the males who could only wish they had a mate to carry around and pamper. He didn't care if they looked silly, he would eventually earn a stripe and with it a boost in his physique. He could still show others what a good mate he was to his female. He placed her down gently.

Dinner was much calmer than the day before, with no extra company. Just the seven adults and two children. "Mama! I taught Copper about spar today!" Kimba announced proudly to his mother.

"You did?" She asked curiously.

Copper who was eating a few minnows that had been caught between the weave of the fish traps nodded.

With a raised eyebrow or two, the family watched as the tiny snake counted the spar his father Curtis had placed in-front of him. He was even able to show how many clear spar was equal to a light blue spar! His father looked proud at the intelligence of his offspring. Copper couldn't use the common language yet, but said the numbers in snake tongue correctly.

Beside Curtis, Qianhuang was just as proud of his own offspring. Kimba had been taught numbers and counting, but his willingness to pass these important lessons to his younger sibling was just as impressive. They hadn't thought to include Copper in the lessons just yet due to his young age, but both brothers had proved their family wrong.

"Well, I think that Copper should be taught along side of Kimba from now on." Curtis said, sounding pompous. Despite Curtis' tone, the others had to agree, the young snake was ready to be taught.

Copper happily basked in his mothers attention as Chiaki cupped him in her hands and rubbed her nose to his snoot. Mother was the best!

"Me too!" Kimba said as he put his paws on his mothers leg and his face beside of her hands. "My nose to mama!"

Chiaki laughed and rubbed noses with her cub. "My baby boys are the best babies!" She told them.

That night, the whole family slept soundly, Kimba curled up with his papa and Copper wrapped around the warmest body he could find. Curtis watched the group sleep, in his fully snake form he could encircle the whole family and keep them safe. This offered him comfort. He'd watched his offspring with Chiaki and could see no hint that Copper held any feelings besides that of a child towards her. Still he wondered if Copper being able to count at such a young age was because of his Legacy. He wanted to ask his offspring, but worried that he might cause unwanted memories to surface if he spoke of the Legacy to the little snakeling. In the end, Curtis decided to keep quiet and watch for any changes. By morning, the thoughts had drifted to the back of his mind.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"These ones didn't catch anything, I think the placement was bad?" A male asked as he gathered a few empty traps from the river.

"Maybe?" Another replied. "Because that type of trap caught mud fish close to the river edge."

"Mine all broke." A third said mournfully.

The results were... a mixed bag. Some traps did well in one area and not in another, some caught nothing, some broke. Others hadn't been properly placed and couldn't be found at all. The rest though had some level of success. Roughly half the traps that were recovered whole had caught at least one fish or other water-based creature.

"This would be so much easier if we could lure the fish into the traps instead of just hoping they go in." One male added in a grumpy tone. He was completely drenched from collecting a few traps that had sunk to the deeper parts of the slow moving area of the river. Chiaki saw a spark of a blue glow around him. She had to look away quickly though as he stripped out of his wet wrap.

She really wasn't use to completely unknown people running around her naked. Her mates were one thing, that was different. She'd had to get use to that too, she had spent many a minute staring at dicks swinging in the breeze and asses swaying as they walked away. It could be quite distracting.

Winston sniffed the air, the water and fish were strongest, but there was the undertone of his mate becoming aroused. He stepped closer to her, what had caused that reaction? Was she looking at any other male in particular?

Chiaki though was looking at her hands, clasped before her. Winston placed a hand on hers. "Chiaki?"

She looked up at him, face dusted pink from her thoughts. "Yeah?"

"You are... distracted?" He said awkwardly.

"Uh, just some memories." She replied. He was very close to her and the memory changed to be one of Winston in such a state of undress. "Let's leave this group to finish up." She said softly.

The two disappeared off together for some alone time. They returned home, the strong scent of arousal filling the noses of the rest of Chiaki's mates. Curtis made a face at the mixed smells. A couple of them drifted towards the bed room, only to find the door wouldn't budge. Eventually, from the sounds and the bumping against said door, they realized Winston had sat down in-front of the closed door with Chiaki in his lap to make love to her.