Chapter Text
Jolene woke up with a startle, sitting up in her bed. Her forehead was sweaty and her heart was beating like drums during a rock concert. At first, she couldn't recognize where she was. Fortunately, after a while, she remembered the nice wolves from the night before who'd let her stay with them. The nightmare from only a minute prior was fresh in her mind. The memories of her parents last moments alive were engraved in her mind. There was no way to erase her memories from her mind, or at least to her own knowledge.
Deciding that she didn't want to wake Griffin or Charles up in the middle of the night, she sneaked downstairs to drink directly from the faucet, too shy to allow herself to use one of their regular glasses. She turned on the faucet and clean water started to stream out of it and into the sink. Standing on her tippy toes, Jolene managed to bend over the sink and drink the water.
"What are you doing up this late at night?" a voice asked from behind.
Jolene gasped as she swallowed, causing her to almost choke on the water. She coughed as she turned the faucet off and turned around to see Griffin in a nightgown.
"I- I'm sorry. I just... Had a bad dream..." Jolene tried to explain herself.
"Oh yeah? Well then, let's get you back to bed, shall we?" she offered and Jolene merely nodded, wiping her mouth on her sleeve before she took Griffin's hand and let herself be led back to her room.
She got back into her bed and Griffin tucked her back in, making sure that Jolene would sleep all warm and snuggled up through the rest of the night. Still, Jolene didn't look happy. She looked upset.
"Is there anything more you need, Jolene?" Griffin asked tiredly.
"I... I miss mommy and daddy..." Jolene whispered, sniffling as she tried to hold her tears at bay.
"I know you do, which is understandable. We're offering you a home here with us, but for you to be able to keep going, you've got to let go", Griffin told and Jolene nodded, wiping away the tears covering her cheeks.
"Mommy used to play with my hair when I couldn't sleep", Jolene mumbled, trying to offer the idea to the wolf without making it too obvious what she wanted.
"If I put your hair up, will you go to bed faster?" Griffin aksed, raising an eyebrow.
Jolene nodded enthusiastically and Griffin sighed, leaving the room to get two hair ties and a brush. Jolene was sat up on the bed, her back turned towards the door. Sitting bak down on the edge of the bed behind the child, Griffin picked the brush up and started to brush through Jolene's tangly hair. It took a while, but she managed to put Jolene's afro hair into two big buns on top of her head. Jolene was completely relaxed by the time she was done, yawning softly as she fought to keep her eyes open.
"Get to bed, you have a long day ahead of you", Griffin whispered and Jolene laid down, letting the adult wolf tuck her under the covers.
Jolene was out like a light almost immediately, her breathing slowing down as she snuggled into the blanket. Griffin watched the child for a minute before getting up and walking back to her bedroom where her husband's was still awake, waiting for his wfie to return.
"Has she finally gone to sleep?" he asked, not even glancing at her as he turned to another page of the book he was reading.
"Yes, she asked for me to put her hair up", Griffin explained herself, clearly annoyed with the task.
Charles snorted, putting the book down on the nightstand on his side of the bed.
"She'll be a lot of work", he commented as Griffin sat down on her side of the bed.
"I know, but she'll be a good way to train our children to hunt prey of their own size. It will be worth it if they get stronger."
"And if they don't?"
"We won't have to hunt our prey for a night", Griffin grinned and Charles returned it. "Let's get some sleep. We'll need it if we're going to 'take care' of her."
Charles turned the lamp on his side of the bed off, turning his back on his wife who did the same to him. They fell asleep, a plan in mind for how they would train little Jolene into becoming just as strong as their own children. As long as it benefited her children, Griffin was ready to do whatever it took for them to grow into strong predators. She couldn't let this chance go.