My Uncle Sunny is a werewolf.

The warm morning sun shone brightly down the forest, creeping its way through the vines and bracken covering the entrance to a large wolf den, slowly inwards until it reached the nest, and finally landed on the face of the young puppy sleeping inside.

Tasela wriggled beside the warm fur of his mother, trying to move away from the sun shining brightly on his heavy eyelids, so that he could sleep a little more. But alas, the morning sun had made its message clear, it was time to wake up. Reluctantly, Tasela open his eyes with a grumpy sigh, then slowly sat up. With a big yawn, he stretched his little body, then shook the dust off his fur, fully awake now.

A growl sounded from his stomach. He looked back, and saw the flanks of the giant figure he had just been nestled in prior softly rising and falling. Since Mama was still as asleep, he’d have to go fetch and eat by himself today. With his short little paws, Tasela trodded out of the den, passing through the vines and bracken covering the entrance, and reached the clearing. 

The morning mist had not dispersed yet, and the light of the sun shone through the trees into the clearing, letting wherever its rays touched shine in a beautiful, yellow glow. Some of his tribe mates had already woken up before him, and were walking around the clearing going about this day, greeting Tasela good morning if they passed by him.

Tasela walked around the clearing, trying to find where the food pile was. After a few minutes of pacing, stroking, and sniffing, he couldn’t find it, but he refused to ask others for help. He was a big boy now after all, and big boys don’t ask others for help. He’ll find the food pile on his own, and then he’ll tell Mama how mature he was, so that she’d praise him.

With his little nose on the ground, trying to sniff for the scent of meat, he caught two faint, but familiar scents. Looking up, he saw two figures slowly walking towards the clearing from the trees in the forest. Despite the mist covering their appearance, he could tell who they where. They were his favorite persons, his big sister Nokomis and her friend Cypress. 

Filled with excitement, Tasela raced towards them as fast as his little paws could carry him, his fluffy little tail frantically waving. The two lowered their necks to greet him as they saw him approach. It was a long and tiring run, when he’d finally reached them, he was panting and out of breath. Nokomis, who was holding a piece of meat, placed it on the ground to lick Tasela’s face, her fluffy black tail waving in happiness at the cuteness of her baby brother. He struggled and protested under her sweeping tongue, but it only made her more persistent. Cypress chuckled at the sight, it was always heartwarming for her to watch the two siblings’ cute interactions.

Frustrated by his failed attempts to make his big sister stop, Tasela bared his teeth and tried to bite Nokomis’ tongue. She easily dodged his attack, letting out a triumphant laugh as the sight of her brother, his tail held high, fur bristling, and growling in a high pitch with childish anger. He was adorable. This agitated him even more. How dare his big sister treat him like a little puppy, he was a big boy now!

He looked up at his sister angrily. Being more than twice his age, Nokomis towered over him at almost three times his size. She was a muscular yet elegant wolf with a long, fluffy coat. Her pelt was black, decorated with a ring of silver and white hair around her neck and shoulders, and a white tail tip. Her eyes were sharp and energetic, with a green akin the color of leaves in summer. She looked very much like him, which was why Tasela wanted to be as cool as Nokomis when he grows up. At the moment, he barely even got close to the height of her belly fur, which annoyed him to no end since Nokomis would often use her size to tease him. He couldn’t wait to grow up so he could annoy his big sister back.

With a grumpy sigh, he turned to look at Cypress, who kindly smiled at him as she met his gaze. Cypress wasn’t a wolf; she was a deer. She looked like any other deer, but there was a distinct kindness and feistiness in her eyes that he really liked. She was much shorter than Nokomis, only reaching to half the height of Nokomis’ shoulder.

She was rather new to his life. He’d only met her last year after Nokomis introduced her to the tribe, but they quickly bonded to the point that Cypress was now his second favorite person behind Nokomis, even though Nokomis was kind of annoying. He was used to seeing species other than wolves in his tribe, so he was not weirded out or surprised that Nokomis brought a deer friend to the tribe. It was strange though that a little while before Nokomis introduced Cypress to everyone, she suddenly gained the ability to shift into a deer herself. He’d only seen seen a handful of aunties and uncles in the tribe be able to shift into something that’s not a wolf. He thought it was really cool, but he never knew why or how they could do it.

It was rather strange. From that day on, Nokomis and Cypress became almost inseparable too. He asked Mama and Papa why, but they only told him that he’ll get it once he grows up. It’s so unfair! I really want to know! Why can’t they tell me! I’m already a big boy now, why can’t they just tell me already! He vented, unaware that he was puffing his cheeks. Just as he was lost in thought, a big paw pressed against his head.

“What ya thinking so hard about, little guy?” Nokomis asked with a teasing smile, charmed by her little brother’s cuteness.

Tasela shook off her big paw, and turned to Cypress.

“Big sister Cypress, why are you always going everywhere with big sister Nokomis?” He asked, his head tilted in curiosity. 

Cypress seemed to be surprised by his question. She smiled shyly and fidgeted a little, her short white tail waving rapidly. She turned to look at Nokomis, who looked back at her with a smile of amusement and wrapped her fluffy tail Around Cypress’ flanks. This confused Tasela even more, why were they acting like this? Did he say something wrong?

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Nokomis chuckled, bending her neck to nudge her nose at Tasela’s muzzle. 

“Come on, just tell me! Mama and Papa said I’ll know when I grow up, but I really wanna know!” He howled in protest, his paws trodding up and down in frustration. The duo glanced at each other in amusement before letting out a chuckle at the sight. 

Nokomis quickly shifted into her deer form. Her head changed shape, her fur shorted and changed color, her legs slimmed down and restructured, and her tail shorted. For Tasela, transformations were always a sight to behold, too bad they never lasted long. They were always over in an instant. As a deer, Nokomis was still much taller than Cypress, or any other doe for the matter. She was slightly shorter than her wolf form, but was still much taller than even a buck. Compared to other deer, her pelt was also slightly darker in color, and her eyes were still sharp and green with a wolfish look.

“And I guess you also want to know why I can turn into a deer now?” She grinned in amusement.

“Yes, yes! Come on, tell me!” He exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement. Was she finally gonna tell him!?

Nokomis chuckled softly. She pressed her flank against Cypress' and turned to touch noses with her. After pulling apart, they both looked at each other with a loving smile. It was kind of fascinating to see. It was just like how Mama and Papa looked at each other.

“You see, Olathe and I are in love.” Nokomis explained, her eyes never leaving Cypress. Under her gaze, Cypress turned her head away.

‘Oh shucks, Maple, you’re making me embarrassed!” She exclaimed, playfully bumping her shoulder against Nokomis’. 

“Oh come on, don’t be shy. I know you enjoy it when it when I look at you like that!” Nokomis teased, moving her head closer to look into Cypress’ eyes.

“Ahaha, stop!”

“What’s love?” Tasela asked with a tilted head, interrupting the couple’s conversation. They both looked at him in surprise, a little lost at how to answer his question.

“Love is…..It’s when you like a person really really much!” Cypress explained.

“It’s kind of like how Mama and Papa are. They really really like each other and want to stay together forever.” Nokomis added.

“So am I in love with you, Mama and Papa? I really really like you all.” Tasela asked. Cypress let out a suppressed laugh at his innocent response.

“No, no. The love you feel for family and friends is different from this type of love.” Cypress explained, the smile never leaving her face. “It’s a special kind of love for only one person.” She continued, turning to look at Nokomis. Nokomis leaned her head down to rub her cheeks against Cypress’. Cypress let out a contented smile, and reciprocated the action.

“Loving someone, and having them love you back is the best feeling in the world, Tasela. You’ll know when you grow older.” Nokomis said. Her voice sounded so happy, like she was in the clouds.

Tasela listened and watched in amazement, unaware that his little tail had started wagging rapidly behind him. Love….He didn’t quite understand what it was yet, but looking at how happy Mama and Papa were, and how happy Nokomis and Cypress were, it must be a wonderful thing. His lips slowly raised to a smile. He couldn’t wait to grow up. He couldn’t wait to understand and experience this wonderful thing.