A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing-Chapter 636 - - A mother’s feelings

After releasing Leila, Runa chuckled and walked back over to Erik. "I'm glad to hear you two are getting along…"

When she arrived before Erik, she looked at him with a meaningful smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Now, you'll treat her well, won't you? I like her, so make sure you give her exactly what she wants, okay…?"

With obvious smugness, Leila looked at Erik, her chin turned up in a mocking gesture. Her interpretation of Runa's words was clear: Erik was supposed to pamper her. Her confidence rose as she believed Erik would certainly obey his mother.

And he would… but his interpretation of her words was vastly different. Seeing the playful, yet meaningful smirk on his mother's face and the twinkling in her eyes, he immediately realized exactly what she meant… and his anticipation rose.

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"Of course I will, Mom," he chuckled, matching his mother's expression perfectly. "On my pride as a man, I'll definitely satisfy her."

Seeing that he understood what she meant, Runa's grin widened. "Good boy! Having met your wives, I've no doubt you have what it takes to give her what she truly wants."

They looked like they were in their own little world, and their words were full of subtext, but Leila only received an inkling of it. She looked at them strangely. "What are you two talking about…?"

But neither of them was listening. They'd fallen silent as they looked into each other's eyes with heavy gazes. Slowly, a gentle smile spread on Runa's lips, and her eyes started getting wet.

Erik's eyes widened. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen his mother cry, and two of those times were tears of laughter. He reached forward. "Mom! Are you—"

But Runa interrupted him by lunging forward. She wrapped her arms around Erik's broad chest and hugged him tightly. It wasn't a soft hug like he usually got from his wives, but a hug that could have crushed a weaker man.

Runa, much like Katya, was just as tall and well-trained as Erik. Her casual clothes exposed her abs, and her arms, while distinctly feminine, were built like small tree trunks, ready to crush or intimidate any man who dared underestimate her.

Of course, she was only a second-ranker still. Despite the fact that Runa looked no weaker than her son, the latter still endured her hug with relative ease. With a hint of surprise, he quickly hugged her back.

He was still getting used to this side of his mother. In his youth, their relationship had always contained a hint of awkwardness. Erik never used to take after her teaching, after all. He could see his mother's enthusiasm about fighting and physical exercise, but he could never match it.

It'd always been his father who handled the emotional side of things, with his mother being a little more awkward about displays of affection. She wanted her son to become more interested in these things, and somehow, she thought showing too much weakness would hurt that effort.

Yet, ever since they reunited, she'd clearly forgotten all about it. Which, to be fair, was understandable. The relief of seeing him again after eight years had broken many barriers that seemed so inconsequential now.

She was happy he'd become much more like herself over the years, but that wasn't as important as having him back.

"I'm alright, Silvy…" she muttered emotionally. A broad smile graced her lips, even as tears streamed freely from her eyes. "It's just… I— I spent eight years thinking I'd never see this day, you know?"

She sighed with a soft shudder, a surprising sign of vulnerability on her powerful frame. "I lied to myself a lot, you know…?" she continued without waiting for an answer. "I told myself you'd return, because I wanted to believe it. But all I had were the vague promises of what I thought was a spirit of some kind."

She squeezed him tighter, her tears flowing across the soft, magical material of Erik's outfit like it was plastic. "Deep inside, though… I didn't think I'd ever see you again. I went after Edda on my own, because it was the only thing that stilled those thoughts for a while, but…"

Finally, she broke the hug. Her hands were gripping his shoulders as she looked into his eyes, her broad smile contradicting her wet cheeks. Erik looked at her with gentle warmth and didn't interrupt her.

She sighed, a whole host of emotions contained within that one gesture. "…but there were always moments where I couldn't stop myself from thinking about all the things I'd miss. Sometimes, I would cry myself to sleep, thinking about all the hugs I hadn't given you… How I'd never see you become an adult… and— and how I'd never see you get married!"

Her words stirred Erik's soul, but she wasn't done yet.

"It felt so stupid!" she chuckled and cried, shaking her head. "I'd never cared before! Certainly not about the marriage! Even if I wasn't the best at showing it, I just wanted you to be happy! But then, when you weren't there anymore, the fact that I'd never meet your wife suddenly became a big issue!"

She looked at him with a hint of self-mockery. "Isn't that stupid?!"

Erik smiled at her. He could see she wasn't actually self-conscious about this, she just thought it was funny… so he responded appropriately.

"Very stupid, Mom…" he smirked at her, despite feeling a lump in his throat.

"Right?!" she laughed cheerfully, chuckled, and cried, all at the same time. "And now I've turned into a blubbering mess because it's actually happening!"

She sighed again, shaking her head before wrapping her arms around him again. "Anyway… I just wanted to say that I'm happy. And proud. And… also sad your father can't be here to see it. I love you, Silvy…"

A little overwhelmed by his mother's feelings, Erik could only nod and hug her back. "I love you, too, Mom," he muttered hoarsely, his eyes closed.

Then, they fell silent. Time seemed to stand still for a while as they simply luxuriated in each other's presence. Both of them had suffered a lot over the years, during which each thought the other was dead, and while they'd dealt with some of those feelings over the past few months, they clearly had a ways to go still.

Meanwhile, Leila had shown a somewhat surprising level of social awareness by making herself scarce…