She had not been asleep, curled near the edge of the pile half dozing in the way young children did drifting in and out while the sounds of the den washed over her. There were shifting paws and the steady rhythm of tiny bodies pressed together. Where once she had lost everything, overnight she had a family again. The cry brought her rounded ears to lift, and the frightened sound tugged at something within her.

Slowly, Stellara lifted her head and blinked sleep heavy eyes toward the unfamiliar. She spotted the pale pup beside Isabeau and froze for a moment surprised for she was certain she had never seen her before. How strange. Pushing herself upright she made her careful journey across the pile of her new siblings, and unlike her younger sisters determined charge, Stellara moved with the caution of a cat placing each oversized paw with exaggerated concentration until she reached them.

She would lower herself beside them without a word, tucking herself against the other side of the pup she created a clumsy wall of spotted fur as her tail curled around the group. It's ok...mandia already said you can stay judging by the way her sister was slobbering all over their newest denmate, there was no arguing it.

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