443- The Heat of Summer Storms
POV Thalyndra Moonclaw:
"You are very welcome here, just as your father and mother always were." He sighed. "I invited him to join me many times, but like a good stubborn male, he never accepted."
I laughed, but there was no humor in my tone. Thinking of my father as a memory was still strange and caused uncomfortable reactions in me. A sharp pain struck my chest, making me gasp.
"He liked his students," I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
The truth was that my father had been a very resolved man with his choices. It was his decision to study our origin, even knowing what the consequences of acquiring so much knowledge would be. That's why he never accepted anyone's help, never wanted to involve other people in his affairs. He did it; he would bear the consequences. My mother supported him, never led him otherwise or tried to convince him to join any pack.
The others approached.
"Thalyndra, these are my brothers, Myrion and Aurelka, the youngest," Anton introduced, pointing to the two young ones who were a little behind their parents. "And these are our uncles: Lyris." He pointed to each one. "Celindra, his mate, and Vladren, his brother."
The greeting was simpler, as if they didn't know how to deal with me, whether they should mourn my loss or welcome me.
Aurelka took a step forward, her hands clasped in front of her body, her expressive eyes staring at me intently.
Anton snorted.
"My little sister is eager to meet you. Besides Lana, she has no friends she can talk to for twenty-four hours straight."
The girl rolled her eyes.
"How was it to endure hours beside Anton?" she asked, her voice delicate, light, and calm. "Even sleeping, I imagine sharing time with him must suck."
Myrion laughed, walked over to his sister, and put his arm over her shoulders.
"You forgot to mention that I'm the most bearable brother."
Anton laughed.
"Good thing you describe yourself correctly, Myrion: you're bearable, nothing more than that."
Myrion raised a finger in defiance.
"Still, it's better than tolerable, like you." He winked.
The relaxed way they interacted with each other made me feel a little envious. I never had siblings to deal with, and despite the desire to have had one, my parents never gave in.
"You're going to scare Thalyndra if you keep acting like that, like untrained dogs," said Vladren, tossing the last piece of wood into the middle of the pyre. Despite his serious tone, he seemed to be just provoking the Eldoria brothers.
Myrion shot him a look over his shoulder.
"Go take care of your offspring, Vladren. They must be setting the village on fire and you don't even know it."
Vladren scowled.
"Respect me, pup, I was one of the ones responsible for teaching you how to hunt."
Myrion looked at Anton.
"So that's why my brother is so bad at the task." He curved his lips into a sly smile.
Anton made a sound in his throat and approached me, leaning in to whisper.
"I told you they weren't as nice as me."
I ignored him, keeping my gaze firmly ahead.
Lunara growled.
"Behave. Thalyndra barely woke up and just met us. You must be confusing her and making her uncomfortable."
That wasn't true; I was having fun and envying the camaraderie they had.
Aurelka smiled at me.
"I can show you the rest. And we can get ready together for tonight's party. You'll love Lana; she's also dying to meet you."
Celindra signaled from where she stood.
"She really is. Today at breakfast, she wouldn't stop talking about how eager she was to find out from the new friend what life is like outside a pack, with humans," she confessed. I furrowed my brow. "Lana is my daughter with Lyris," she explained, noticing my confusion.
"I think, actually, they"—she pointed with her chin toward Aurelka, who had her back to her—"just want to know what human males are like," Lyris teased.
I saw Myrion and Anton stiffen.
"If my little sister doesn't want me to exterminate the entire human population, she's going to disagree with that statement," Myrion muttered.
"She's too kind to provoke our chaos; she wouldn't risk it," said Anton.
Aurelka just laughed, ignoring her older brothers' jealousy.
"They only bark, but they don't bite." She winked at me.
"How dare you dishonor us like that? Especially in front of Thalyndra, who barely had time to get to know us?" exclaimed Anton, cuttingly, seeming truly offended.
Lunara laughed heartily and Edric joined her.
"Pups. No matter how many years they have, they'll always tease each other," she said.
"And we raised them well, even if it doesn't seem like it," Edric added.
I was... shocked. I had no words to express how that seemed to me. Of all the books I had ever read about packs, none of them did justice to the truth. They loved each other. There were no obstacles, no barriers, just teasing and affection.
I had expected them to act like animals. They were trained to hunt, lived in the middle of the forest, surrendering to the most primal instincts. But that? There, they just seemed like... normal people, like the humans I had lived with.
Two little girls invaded my field of vision. They were identical. Same height, dark skin, curly hair, and almond-shaped eyes, they seemed agitated. They couldn't be more than four or five years old. I noticed that one of them had a patch of missing hair, as if a lock had been cut off.
Another girl was running right behind them, as if trying to catch up. Her hair was long and curly, falling to her shoulders in defined waves that framed her face naturally. Her skin was a dark brown, her eyes brown, almost black, conveying depth and intensity. She was thin and tall.
"But what?" I heard Vladren sigh.
"I'm sorry, Uncle, but Mira thought it was a great idea to burn a lock of Nerea's hair," said the girl.
Vladren rubbed his head.
"And you let her?" He snapped, narrowing his eyes.
The girl shrugged.
"Can anyone control those two when they come up with something? I blinked, and simply, Nerea's hair was on fire."
Lyris leaned over and grabbed by the arm a girl who was running past him. He held the child and lifted her in the air, analyzing the damage.
"Hair grows back; she doesn't have any burns on her skin."
The other little girl kept running, before being intercepted by Lunara.