Sometimes, it's pain.
Fangs puncture, sink and slice into his skin. He is voiceless and immobile as the pack tears him apart. Fur flutters through the air as blood spreads in the snow. And he's dead, fading, lost.
A yelp sounds as he wakes from a dream within the dream. A foot slams into his cheek and he shifts until he falls comfortably between his sisters. Recall's snout pillows on his tail as she dreams, paws twitching against his back. Cherished is a ball of fluff, curled tightly, as his face burrows beneath her neck.
There are other wolves here. A mass of warmth and family. It'll hurt that much worse when he wakes... And he doesn't care about anything but being here. Ensconced and safe, like he was a lifetime ago, he has a piece of happiness that smothers the feeling of want and need, of loneliness and heartache...
He's afraid that he is not enough wolf. That his sisters will turn on him. That he will never find another wolf, one like him, that he can serve and love.
Another yelp; he struggles to his feet and snaps his teeth at his sister until she releases his tail. He whines, pitifully, until his sisters seem to notice. Recall, the biter, sniffs at him before launching at him like a mountain. She's all action and he ends up sprawled out, indignant, at her absurd happiness.
Cherished only watches; she's far too refined for this nonsense.
And so it continues on. Heritage pined, still not quite right in a wolf's body. Still missing something, someone.
