In my agitated state, I had not noticed the cobwebs amassed on Berke’s tail when he had joined me at the borders of Diveen. It was only now, as my son anxiously attempted to reach around for them that I spotted the clump wound around his tail. I chuckled softly, ever amused by the boy. He brought a joy to my life, all of my children did. To think that I now was the father of four children still baffled me from time to time. Elowen and our kids had given my life new meaning, a purpose besides my ever present desire to fill my father’s paw prints. As I gazed upon my son, a single ear flicked back towards the tree line at the sound of an approaching wolf.

Before I was even able to turn and lay eyes on her, she was upon me. My broad chest embraced her, and my sinewy neck enfolded around her. Breathing her in, I could not help but let a small laugh of joy escape me. I hadn’t realized just how much I had missed her until that very moment. As she whispered to me, I smiled to myself and whispered back, “I have missed you too. So much has changed.” It was true; there was so much she did not know. Things a mother should know about her son! I should have come sooner, and I suddenly felt abashed at the fact that I had not made this trip a higher priority.

As she withdrew, I took a step back so that Berke might greet his grandmother. My chest welled with pride as my first son introduced himself. This was blissful, and I suddenly wished I had brought the whole family. Elowen, Dessa, Ash, Goliath. But perhaps another time, another day. Today would certainly be special for Berke, and important for us both. Someday he would rise to become a high healer, and it was my hope that even sooner than that I would rise to become the pack’s Guardian. “Your grandson seems to have inherited your capacity for healing. He is a medic, a much more likely candidate to take up the family trade than myself, and a more willing student as well.” I smiled knowingly, for my mother had always known that it was my father I had strived to become. Even so, there was no wolf in all of Moladion that I respected so much as my mother. She was a warrior in her own right.