“Lex, when’s your birthday?”

Mom asked while she hung laundry on a line. I stopped to think but I don’t remember exactly when it is. Come to think of it, I’ve never celebrated my birthday even with Ellie.

“I don’t remember the exact date but Ellie said flowers were blooming when I was born…”

She continued to hang the laundry while I hand over clothes based on color.

“It’s around springtime then. We should celebrate!”

She turned to me with a smile while patting my head.

It became a habit now, every time mom pats my head, I can’t help but smile back happily.

As we continued to finish our winter chores and prepare for spring, a howl resounded very loudly deep within the forest.

“Oh, it seems like they’re back.”

Mom smiled and since it was almost lunchtime, she immediately started cooking. Mom is very particular with what I eat. She makes sure that I eat on time and have snacks in between. But seeing her carry slabs of meat into the kitchen made me wonder if I would need to finish them all.

Are we expecting guests then?

While she cooked lunch, I helped set up the table. Should I also set the table up for the guests? But mom didn’t tell me to prepare… So, is it fine to set it for the two of us…?

While deep in my thoughts on how to do my chores, another howl came from the forest and this time, it sounded much nearer.

“Hmm, I guess they’re almost here. Lex, can you put away the cloth and yarns in the living room?”

As soon as I finished setting up the table, I went to the living room. It was the widest room in the house. Tall glass windows covered the walls while a fireplace facing the windows continued to burn warmly.

It’s the first place I met mom and where dozens of finished clothing, cloth and yarn littered the floor which she used for winter crafts.

I picked up each cloth and folded them neatly as I could. When I reached for the blue knitted cape mom made for me, a huge shadow loomed over behind me.

“Wha--?”

When I turned around, I saw a huge white wolf with its yellow beady eyes stared at me. I know that things seemed bigger to me because I’m currently small in comparison, but the wolf seemed to grow bigger as it stared, eyeing me as its prey.

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Grrrraaao..!

A snarl came from behind and another wolf came to bite the other wolf’s neck. In return, the yellow-eyed wolf whimpered to turn towards the front door.

Following behind, the other wolf that had the same white coat but with clear blue eyes looked back at me.

“Thanks?”

I said, confused at the interaction.

“LEEEEX! COME!”

Mom?!

When I heard mom yelled, I dropped the cloth and ran out of the living room.

Running and almost sliding on the polished wooden floors, I quickly made my way to the front door as fast as I could.

“Mom?!”

I saw her figure sitting down, giggling happily. As soon as I got a full view of the door, I saw the two wolves licking mom and happily wagging their tails.

“Hehehe… Let me introduce you to my best friends.”

Both wolves stared at me warily, they stood still with their tails up high.

“Oh shush, you two. Stop being wary.”

Mom petted their heads and pulled me to sit in between her legs. Curious of the tiny being sitting in the middle, they sniffed me.

Soon, both wolves started to lick my face vigorously and end up placing their heads on each of my legs, or rather, my mom’s.

“Hahahaha! He’s my son, so you better love him as much as me, okay?”

We had our fill of rubbing their fluffy white coat.

“Look Lex, they have the same fur color as your hair. You guys are now a set!”

Saying so, I realized that my hair did match their fur, and since our eyes had different colors, we are now a set with colors: red, yellow and blue.

“The yellow-eyed one is Skoll while the blue-eyed one is Hati. Skoll is a boy while Hati is a girl, but Skoll is quite silly so you can often see Hati scolding him.”

Mom hugged Skoll while she rubbed his fur.

Is that what happened earlier?

“And Hati is a very responsible lady, no? Yes, you are, my cutie pie!”

Mom started talking to Hati with a high-pitched voice while she responded with a furious wag of her tail, almost to a point where her body shook with it.

“Well then, let’s eat?”

Together in the kitchen, we had steak for lunch. The two wolves ate mountains of meat. I prefer mom’s fried chicken but her steak is very delicious too!

“Hey, eat more veggies you three.”

Mom scooped some peas and potatoes on our plates, I hate peas but I promised that I will eat everything mom makes…!

Chomp!

The warm creamy peas and potatoes filled my mouth. Mom’s cooking is always delicious making my heart full and warm.

“Good boy!”

She patted my head while the four of us happily ate her cooking.

“Well then, since it’s almost spring, we should at least visit the town while there’s still snow to use a sled.”

She then continued.

“Skoll, Hati, you’ll help us right?”

As if to understand her words the wolves howled happily to mom in consent.

“Let’s leave tomorrow then!”

That afternoon, we pack all the essentials in a bag and mom took out a sled from the shed. While mom looked forward to visiting the town, I felt conflicted with the thought of visiting a place with a lot of people.

Am I feeling scared?