The Good Ol' Days

Surreal smiled gently at the quivering breath she heard from Epiphron as her sister began wagging. The joy at seeing her sister mended a bit of the emptiness she’d been hiding since so many of her siblings had departed, some never to return. ”Time flies, indeed.” She smiled as Epiphron began a run-over of the children she’d had. So many nieces and nephews. ”I’ve met Arian.” And remembering what Arian had said about Epiphrons fall out with Azalea, Surreal omitted mentioning the fiery auburn headed Adravendi. Here was not the place, nor was it the time, to open old wounds. While she felt that it could have been handled better, especially away from the eyes of Isardis Armada, she could understand how Pip had seen Azaleas actions as a betrayal.

”I’ll have to meet the rest of your kids, too.” And vice versa. Her head lifted a bit in motherly pride under her sisters congratulations. ”They will be yearlings this fall. Their names are Regulus, Zuriel, and Faite. Their father… I couldn’t have asked for a better mate… He’s been through a rough patch, though. When his sister was abducted by Arcanum, he got a wild, brotherly hair to go to her mates challenge to get her back. He ended up being taken, even as Sibelle was freed. I have to say… I did lose my temper with him when he finally was freed and came back. Only then, I didn’t know… They blinded him, Pip… But when he got back, he could still see.” Her ears fell against her skull.

A heavy sigh rushed from her lungs as she thought about what he had lost. He’d lost his confidence, his sight, and so much strength. But he would gain it all back. She wouldn’t allow him to wallow in self pity. She just wished he would be able to see their future children. And their childrens children. ”Those bastards are holed up on Valhallan lands.” The rumbling growl that mingled with her words started from deep in her breast, rising to flash around momentarily bared canines. Lands she had grown up on and patrolled every day. Lands where Valhallan dead were buried. Where the Great Cairo rested. The den she had been born in, and where her mother had cared for so many sick wolves during the plague.