Nova Peak If you must work, work to leave some part of you on this earth

Wylla would find her son sulking, much as he had been since his public spurning. The lanky teen lounged pitifully at the frosted brim of a large pond and stared at his own murky reflection, wondering what was wrong with him. Unable to fathom why he felt so small inside himself, or why he spent so much time regretting nearly every action that he took.

Thade turned his head at the sound of steady approach. When he saw it was his mother, the masked Dirk gave a small whine and rolled to his side in the dirt, entirely supplicant. His tail wagged from between his legs, as a nervous grin twitched up the ends of his mouth. He expected that she was here to berate him privately for his childish behavior at the pack meeting, driving him to act accordingly. On more than one occasion, Thade had gotten the rebellion beaten out of him, and he was a meeker wolf for it.

Not exactly the champion son that he imagined she wanted.