A Wolf's Dilemma

by TheWarriorBard

Our father, Jergen, raised us here. -Farkas We were brought here by Jergen. Whether he was our father or not, I don't care. -Vilkas If Jergen was dubiously the twins' father, where was their mother? This story follows Ylwa, Vilkas and Farkas's mother, from before their birth and into the afterlife. Will she find what she seeks, and how much will be lost along the way?

11. Chapter 11

Jergen left Ylwa's pack to go back to his Companions, and before long, Ylwa had thoroughly convinced herself that she didn't miss his company, but was only angry about the loss of his assistance in caring for the pups. She was secretly happy that they would never have the chance to come to love him the way that they loved her, though.

Farkas and Vilkas became more and more independent by the day, but still relied on Ylwa for all of their needs. Her favorite was the closeness that she felt when rocking one small, warm body to sleep and then the next. She couldn't get over the complete and total trust that she saw in their eyes as their lids began to droop lower and lower, and their features melted into a mask of complete peace and serenity, declaring that the pup in Ylwa's arms had wandered off to wherever it was that they went in their sleep. Ylwa imagined them running together through the woods, in wolf form, as she loved to do. She imagined that one day they would accomplish much greater things than she ever would – hunting larger prey, fighting off even the strongest foes and always coming out victorious (making it look like the fight had been nothing, of course), possibly even uniting and leading all of the werewolves of the land. Maybe they would accomplish great feats, such as the ones in the tales that Ralfina frequently told the youngsters. Of course, they would always return back to their proud mother at the end of the day. She would embrace them, and take them into her tent and rock them to sleep… no, it would be best if they never grew up, and stayed her small, loving little Farkas and Vilkas forever. Grand feats of heroics could wait. She relished every bit of love and dependence that she was receiving from them right now.

The months passed. Jergen came by to visit from time to time, as he had promised, but never stayed more than a few days before returning to his home. Farkas adored Jergen, but Vilkas was somewhat more reserved, and never started to warm up to him until near the end of his few-days' visit. Jergen often brought gifts for the boys and Ylwa. He never failed to ask her on these visits to come and live with him in the city with his friends. But after the abandonment she had experienced from him, she never failed to turn him down. His response would always then be to enquire whether the boys could go with him to visit, a request that Ylwa also vehemently denied.