Her family unit was growing at an increasing rate lately.
Eli's latest litter were almost fully grown and soon on the way to leaving home to make it in the world by themselves. She suspected most would likely do that and she'd lose contact with them and that was fine. She didn't really hold any more or less love for her offspring as she did many other things. If they choose to return, either for visits or to return home, for whatever reason, she would welcome them back as if they'd only been gone a few days on a hunting trip. She'd taught them as much as she could about the world out there and what to expect from it. If it turned out not to be enough for some of them, well...Such was the way of life. There were a lot of her children whom she didn't know the whereabouts of. She couldn't say she missed them. She had her paws full with the ones that had stayed, anyway.
As her seven cubs grew bigger, one of the twin daughters from her second litter had given birth to eight cubs of her own. The first set of, at least known, grandchildren for the old lioness. And such beautiful little things, too, with more than half of the litter sporting these elegant swirls along their fur. She'd never seen anything quite like it. All her children had more natural patterns, mostly from her own body. Which were beautiful in their own right. She wasn't trying to pick favorites.
Eli was fortunate to have such a big family around her. Grandchildren so soon after her own litter had left her feeling more tired as of late and so she'd sought out a little break away from the high energy that eight cubs and seven hormonal teenagers brought to the group. Where she could relax on a rock under the sun and watch with lazy green eyes all the goings on of the other creatures around her.
Straye
