Neverwinter Forest it is where we are

As Cypress and Rannoch grew, Eshe’s role in their lives changed — their need for her did not lessen, but it shifted in a palpable way. In their infantile stages, her boys had required little more than heat and nourishment, but they had needed it constantly. Now that they were ambulatory, they spent a great deal of their free time with each other or on their own, expanding their respective horizons step by tremulous step — and although Rannoch was more outgoing in that regard, seeking company in wider circles than his older brother, both of them were equally comfortable meeting and talking with strangers. Their playful tussles for dominance were more frequent now, setting the groundwork for the wolves they would become; Cypress was learning to use his leaner build to his advantage but hadn’t quite gotten the hang of things yet. It was good to be alive, he felt, turning his face toward his mother, the sun of his universe, with a sleepy smile and an eager whir of his whiplike tail.

Rising to his paws with a soft, slightly wobbly push of his paws, Cypress stretched out each of his legs individually with a stork’s gangly stride and then trotted eagerly alongside his mother, saying nothing — he didn’t want to risk waking Rannoch. The boys loved one another, but cherished any one-on-one time they could glean from their doting parents. “Hey, dawlin’ Mama,” Cypress piped up when they were out of earshot, adopting his mother’s southern charm with ease, “you so pwetty today!” He wagged his tail as he looked up at her, the force of his wriggling nearly knocking him flat in the hindquarters.