Stone Circle the voice you're hearing in the hall

@Laurel was gone, pretty much. She told him to go play, she didn't protect him from his siblings anymore. She had loved him, once, he was sure of that. When he was little, he thought she loved him. He only had fuzzy memories of that. Of her doting over him, of her nuzzling his face, of her calling him all sorts of sweet names. But as he grew, she would be nice less often. She would not tell his brothers off as often if they would bother him. She would not care if he showed her something cool he found. It was as if he didn't matter anymore.

Was it because of how he looked different than the others? She had called him ugly once or twice when he tried to bother her to get her attention. She was still his mama, but she didn't want him anywhere near her.

One time, he had tried to snuggle up to her when she was sleeping and she woke up, eyes blazing, and shouted at him to stop touching her. He didn't understand. He knew he was pretty big now, but why did that make things different? Her eyes that day reminded him of something and for a week he had had nightmares about him attacking his mother and his mother tearing him apart. He didn't understand it, and it made him wake in tears every morning.

One time he asked her about puppies and how they were born, and she stared into the distance for minutes and told him to stop asking nosy questions. Charles didn't understand and kept asking and pushing until eventually she shouted at him to leave her the fuck alone.

So he stayed away, most of the time, now. It hurt him to have to, but if mama would be happiest without him in her life then maybe that's what he should do. He just wished that he could make her happy. He just wished that she loved him, like she used to, like he felt she used to, like he sometimes dreamt she used to, when he was little. Little and sweet and cute; not big, floppy and ugly like he was now.

Men are all the same, she said once, although not to him, but to aunt Indra.

Things had changed since aunt Indra died. Things had changed even more since that one wolf was banished from the pack. Charles wasn't sure if it was really those things that had changed her feelings or if it was because he was big and ugly now.

The coywolf had found a stick, and he sure as hell wasn't gonna let @Riley or @Louie get it this time. He loved his sticks, but his brothers would often steal his sticks from him. Charles proudly trotted towards the center of the territory, near the stones, where he could hopefully chew on it and play with it in peace. It was kinda more boring than playing with his brothers, but at least they wouldn't take it from him and tug on his ears.

tags for reference :) for @Kaito !