The sun was high in the sky by the time Urgon returned to the hut of his mother. Shular was out and about, but his sister, Kurghal, tended to the fire. At his arrival, she looked up.
“I hear you have been helping Latuhl over at the pen. Is that what you want to be? The new master of wolves?”
He found the question irritating and spat out an answer with a little more venom than he had intended. “Why? Does that bother you?”
“Believe it or not, I want only what is best for you, Brother. We still share a bond, despite that we had different fathers.”
“Sorry, I have slept little.”
“Is something wrong?”
He realized with a shock he had said too much and struggled to recover. “The wolves were noisy last night. As a consequence, my rest was disturbed.”
“Understandable." She sat down on a fur,
