The Wolves

Night

Ulf walked into the forest and after about an hour and a half he exited, Luke still speaking with Audrey as she told him of many things. Luke looked at Ulf as he walked around the yard, the sky was starting to darken a bit. Audrey noticed Luke looking at her brother.

"Be quiet and watch him... He may seem like a bad guy, but watch what he's going to do, he's different... more than you can imagine." She whispered as he didn't quite understand at first but as he watched he soon saw.

Ulf walked as he seemed to make graceful movements as he walked around, his hands moving as though he was forming something. The Luke saw a spark grow from in his hands and grow into a bright flame that only grew stronger as it's size grew.

A wing came from the flame and his hair flew behind him, resembling flames as well. His arms lifted the flame to the sky it changed from flame to white powder. Snow rained down around him as a grin came to his lips. His head went back as he changed into a wolf. As he was now a beast he swayed from side to side and opened his eyes to look at the house. He saw his sister and as he walked over to her and placed his head on her lap he saw Luke was still there. He placed a massive paw on her lap as to protect her as he bared his fangs to the boy.

"Oh hush you big baby." She said as she tapped his noise lightly. His head rested on her lap.

"I've been telling him about our gods... he seems to like them and he said he was sorry for what he said. He's never met anyone like us that's why he said it." She said as Ulf crawled over his lap and laid across them.

"This is weird..." Luke said as he was now faced with the fact that there was a huge wolf on his lap that had been another boy just moments ago.

"Yeah... He's not always all there when he does that. Usually he'll talk your ear off, but when he does something like that to get rid of baggage, he tends to shut down a lot." She said as she scratched along his back as he melted onto them. Luke couldn't to help at the stupid face the wolf made as she did so.

"He's like a big dog..." He said as he was cautious about touching him.

The twin's after walked outside and looked at the three of them, he cleared his throat as Luke looked back as Audrey then did the same.

"It's getting late, you might want to start walking back to town..." He said as Luke got to his feet.

"Ah... yes sir. It was nice talking to you Audrey, maybe I'll see you at school some time?" He asked as she looked back at her father who didn't know for sure when they would go back either.

"Maybe... Oh by the way, you can't tell anyone about what you saw here tonight. It's our secret, family means a lot to us and we'd like it for us to stay hidden as best as possible... Do you understand?" She asked as he nodded.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I'll see you around." He said with a big smile as he started his walk back down the hill into the small town.

Her father looked down at her as she still had the problem of her twin brother laying across her lap. The sound of his snoring was something that her and father could both hear a loud.

"I got him... You open the doors." He said as he bent down and picked up his son. The giant furry creature twitched as he whimpered. He didn't want to leave his sister. Audrey quickly got up once she received blood flow back to her legs and opened the door for her father.

"At least one thing will never change about him... He's a lot less trouble when he's asleep." He said as he walked into their shared bedroom and placed him on his pile of blankets. He buried himself in them as his leg twitched and he whimpered. His father ruffled his fur as he then gave him a good pat.

"Night Ulf." He said as he went to leave the room and gave his daughter a kiss on the head.

"Night Astrid, make sure he doesn't go outside later tonight... I heard there are hunters in the forest looking for a wolf... He's the only wolf in that place. I don't need him being mounted on the wall." He said as she nodded.

"Alright, father... good night and sweet dreams." She said with a smile.

"I love you two." He said as he walked down the hall.

"We love you too." She said as she turned out the light and laid down next to her brother. She felt him roll over and the next thing she knew she felt his arm wrap around her. He had changed back in his sleep, she hadn't seen him do that before but this was also the first time she had laid next to him when he was asleep.

"You're an interesting brother... but I wouldn't have anyone else, we're stuck together." She said with a yawn as she laid her head down.

" . . . Well even if you tried . . . You couldn't get rid of me... you love me too much." He said in a sleepy tone.

"Yeah... I guess I do love you . . . But you're annoying... now go to sleep or I'm going to my bed." She said as her eyes were cold as she looked over at him, his eyes never opening as he spoke.

"I just miss when we were kids . . . do you . . . do you remember?" He asked as she noticed he was more asleep than awake. She brought a hand up and pet his hair as he drifted off without another word.

'I miss when we were kids to... you weren't that much to deal with . . .' She thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep as well.

Their father opened their door a bit the next morning to check on them before he went to work and he couldn't help but smile as he was brought back to a simpler times. He remembered when they lived much farther away from here, when their home was a shack compared to this cabin. He smiled as he remembered their mother tucking them in together to keep them warm in the winter weather. He and her would then take the places on both sides of them, keeping their family warm and safe. He then remembered when she died and left him alone to care for them. He had used so many blankets that winter out of fear that they would freeze. That winter was harsher, longer... his children still small and didn't have their mother to keep them warm as their father tended the fire. The twins had shared a bed for so long during the winter that now if they sat next to each other for a while, they would both fall asleep faster than anyone could believe.

Their father then went to work as he spent the day remembering his children with their mother.