Wraith felt bad seeing her mother so sad, but she was still angry at having been abandoned. Wraith didn't care if her mother didn't like Inferni; it was stupid, after all, since everyone here was so nice and fun. Aside from Scary Lady, Wraith liked most of the coyotes here, so she didn't think her mother should have left. Aeron had broken up their family because she loved Io more than she did her own children and Wraith thought this was a terrible offense.
Aeron pleaded, but Wraith was silent and her expression was guarded. She didn't like her mother whining like that. Wraith had said those things because they were true and because she now knew that even if her mother loved her a bit, Aeron still didn't love Wraith as much as stupid Io. Wraith was quite certain that she hated Io now and never wanted to see her again, even if she had pretended to be her stupid mommy when Wraith had been very young.
Wraith also did not care if her mother was perfect or not. Her daddy was often very mean and grumpy, but Wraith knew that he really loved her even though he was so snappy. He was around and he took her on patrols and taught her things. He loved her. Val and Tal loved her too because they helped her everyday.
"What's a real mother's love supposed to be?" Wraith demanded. "You wasn't there. Tal an' Val really do love me 'cuz they didn't leave me! They love me 'cuz I love them and they love me more than you could even though they're not my real mommy! They're better!" Clearly hurting, Wraith sulkily added: "I've got daddy and two mommies. You just hurt me lots."
image courtesy of Erik Yeoh@Flickr; edits by iku; table code by the Mentors!
[/html]