Odin's Prize

Mother Wolves (Part 1)

Sound without noise

Grey columns of clouds are gathering, the cawing of crows litter the air with their sound. A hawk screeches through the body of them that are riding high on the thermals scattering them in all four directions.

Fixing their postures, my father and mother take me into their consideration as I walk my path forward towards them.

Their legs shake with the vibration of force that percusses from each footfall that touches the ground. Wolves that I have known all my life turn their shoulders down, even crunch within themselves, becoming smaller, less of a threat.

Obsidian eyes flash from both my parents, the Wilds within taking notice of a daughter's homecoming.

Another step placed deliberately towards them, speaking my volume of who I am.

My mother straightens to her completed full height, smiling without her teeth. My father is watching my movement taking me in, not as a daughter now but as a competitor. The Wild's eyes track his every shift and flex of muscle. She quivers within wanting to say her hello's to her parent's but also wanting to test herself against the Alpha.

He holds my eyes, the burn makes them water, the sharpness of pain shuffles along the length of my spine - it cracks into the marrow of my bones. A compression that is trying to hunch my shoulders to ease the pressure of what's happening inside my spinal column.

A harsh breath out, more of a whimper but I don't look away.

It's just pain.

Except, its too much pain, too much crushing force on a spine that wants to explode outwards to leave you to crumple on the ground in immobility. My mother is shaking at my father's side; she needs to grab onto his arm for support. Her knees are shaking, but she stays standing. I can see the back of her jaw clenching tightening in an agony that she's feeling. Her eyes are watering, a breath out from her before she looks down at the ground. My father does not look away. Instead, he rises to his full completed height. The magnitude of him stenosis my spine so severely that I have no choice but to fold down within myself, he's almost at the level Odin with the strength of will.

Posturing preliminaries completed.

"Charlie," my mother starts to run towards me with her arms open wide. I run into them, hugging her to me, lifting her off the ground, burying my nose into her mother scent. A cry threatens to choke the sound from my throat. She seems smaller to me, more fragile than I have ever remembered her to be. I can feel our tears mingling together, catching a glimpse of Odin from the periphery he's got his hand in the center of his chest, watching.

"When did you become so strong?" Mom's breaking voice in my ear as her arms crush my chest to hears.

"My beautiful, female. We have missed you." Tight words from a throat that seems to be burning with happiness. She places her cheek against mine, and I can hear the hiccupping breath that comes out of her.

My father has come to stand next to my mother, but he doesn't reach for me until she's had her fill. We stay held in each other's arms for a minute or five, just hugging while she tries to contain all her emotions but a sob and a cry slip out, while mine is buried in her neck. Putting her back down on the ground, my father smiles without his teeth.

"Charle," his voice cracks slightly, clearing his throat. My mother nudges me with her nose, the Wild within nibbling my cheek with her teeth. A whimper cries out from the center of her chest.

"You've grown so much," Mom says as she holds both my cheeks in her hands.

"I've missed you. Have they been treating you well?" My father stares directly into my eyes. He could scare off the bark of trees, but I know this is just my dad. Odin comes to stand beside me.