Chapter 103: Longing (3)  

Need help? What?

Vikir raised his upper body. There was nothing covering his upper half as it emerged from under the blanket.

Aiyen stared at Vikir like that.

“It’s Bakira.”

“Bakira?”

Vikir looked puzzled.

Bakira was a wolf who had grown up with Aiyen since a very young age. Perhaps because their names were similar, she always found it fascinating that their personalities were quite similar.

Aiyen stared deeply into Vikir’s eyes and said.

“It seems like it’s time for Bakira to find a mate too.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. When males reach a certain age, they need a mate.”

Aiyen paused for a moment in her speech and fell silent.

Then, in a small voice, she added.

“…Females too.”

Vikir furrowed his brow at her words.

He knew that Bakira had entered his mating season.

It wasn’t just Bakira; all the wolves were the same. While males were in a constant state of arousal, females had their mating season about twice a year, with intervals of 7 to 8 months.

Swelling of the genitals and frequent secretion of bloody discharge were common, and lately, whether male or female, they all howled at the sky and couldn’t sleep.

Vikir asked, “But what do you want help with?”

In response, Aiyen nodded her head and replied, “Do you remember when Bakira was badly injured during Madam’s attack?”

“I do. At that time, his right leg…”

“Exactly. He was poisoned by Madam and lost his leg because of it.”

Aiyen let out a small sigh and continued, “Bakira became a hind leg. Not a front leg, but a hind leg. He’s in a state where he can’t mate properly because of how his hind leg turned out.”

“…Is that so.”

Due to the nature of canines, mating is impossible with one hind leg missing. They can’t maintain balance, so unless someone provides artificial assistance, Bakira will undoubtedly decline naturally.

Aiyen said, “I want to help Bakira. Can you help me?”

“What can I do?”

Vikir stood up and shook himself.

Upon seeing this, Aiyen smiled with her face bathed in moonlight.

* * *

With that, Aiyen led Vikir out of the barracks.

After passing through the village fence and wading a bit into the water, they came to an open meadow.

There, standing on three legs, was Bakira, breathing heavily.

And in front of him, a familiar wolf.

It was a young female who often accompanied Bakira on his hunts.

Aiyen looked at Bakira in the distance and spoke.

“‘Bakira used to be the idol of all the female wolves in the village. He was big, He was a good hunter, and his fur was lustrous.”

But after Madam’s attack, everything went to hell.

Bakira lost his right hind leg, leaving him unable to hunt.

But nevertheless, this female was still interested in him.

“……You know the seeds are fine.”

At Aiyen’s words, Vikir remembered her words from the ox bear hunt.“The Ballak warriors’ criteria for choosing a mate is much like the ox bears. An individual with good seed, but young, and if she is wounded and weak, all the better.”

Meanwhile, Bakira moaned softly at the female who had come around him and nuzzled his face.

He licked his tongue carefully over the female’s body.

The female licked his fur in return.

Then they wrapped their bodies around each other in the moonlight.

Bakira moved behind her and placed her forelegs on her back.

But then.

…thud!

One of the legs to support the back is missing, so it just falls to the side.

The female waited patiently with her eyes closed, even as she licked her nose repeatedly with her tongue.

Bakira stood up and climbed back onto the female’s body, but this time, without a hind leg, he lost his balance.

Aiyen, watching from afar, narrowed her eyes.

“He’s been like that since yesterday.”

“…….”

Vikir nodded, too.

He could see what Aiyen was worried about.

Next, Vikir and Aiyen approached Bakira.

Aiyen limped on her right leg, which had been grazed by Adonai’s poisoned arrow.

And Bakira, staggered, having lost his right leg to the Madam.

“Get up and try again.”

Aiyen says to Bakira.

Bakira didn’t seem too bothered by Vikir and Aiyen’s approach.

That’s what it means to be a trusted colleague.

The female was still waiting patiently behind them.

Bakira climbed up behind her again.

Aiyen had cut down a log to make a prosthetic leg.

But Bakira’s movements were too violent for the prosthetic.

Eventually, Vikir had to hold his lower body to support his weight, and Aiyen had to press the female’s hips and legs against his prosthetic to help him get into the right position.

Aiyen slapped Bakira in frustration.

“You idiot! The other side has a mind too, so be more aggressive! Push more! More! You’re a male, you’re supposed to be stronger!”

As she yelled, Bakira’s movements changed slightly.

The female also became more cooperative and receptive.

Eventually, with a scream, the female’s purpose was fulfilled.

It’s a full moon night. Aiyen and Vikir stand below a female wolf and a male wolf making love.

Bakira and the female wolf clung to each other, unwilling to be separated.

And Vikir and Aiyen had to hold them together.

Then.

Bakira jerked away.

Only a few minutes had passed, but Bakira had gotten off the female’s back and was trying to turn around.

Vikir sounded dejected.

“Is it over already? He just put it in”

“No. Watch.”

Aiyen shook her head.

True to his word, Bakira was falling off the female’s body, but it wasn’t.Bakira turned around and butted up against the female.

It was a unique way for wolves to mate.

It was only after this change in position that Vikir and Aiyen were able to pull away from the two wolves.

Bakira and the female were now well on their way.

Neither Vikir nor Aiyen said a word to each other as they watched the wolves’ harsh breathing.

“…….”

“…….”

There was an awkward air between them.

After a few minutes like that.

Bakira was finally separated from the female.

It is Mother Nature’s providence that if there is a union, there is a separation.

So there was no need to be ashamed of the relationship, or regretful about the separation.

They were part of the natural order of things, as natural as the wind blowing, the rain wetting, the sun spinning, the sea surrounding, and the land connecting.

Bakira layed on his belly on the cool grassy floor.

It must have consumed a lot of stamina to stick out your tongue and gasp for not being able to sweat.

The female lay besides him, her eyes glazed over.

” ……That’s it.”

Vikir and Aiyen pulled away from Bakira.

Bakira and the female wolf remained in the meadow, nuzzling each other’s faces.

Vikir and Aiyen walked back to the village, leaving the two newly married wolves behind.

It was just beginning to fog up the dawn.

“……Thank you.”

“……You too.”

Vikir waved off Aiyen’s thanks.

There was a lingering sense of awkwardness in the conversation.

It hadn’t happened in the past two years.

With that, Vikir walked back into the barracks.

He’d been planning to leave, but the thought of it made him feel sick.

The dampness of the barracks in the early morning light felt both familiar and foreign.

Vikir lay down on his straw bunk, but after a while, he couldn’t sleep. Perhaps he would have to see the sunrise before he could sleep.

Just then.

A rustle.

The sound of something moving outside the barracks door.

I look up and see a pale shadow peeking over the curtain.

I can just make out the silhouette now.

Aiyen. For some reason, she hasn’t gone to her own barracks, but is standing in front of Vikir’s, hesitating over something.

“……?”

Vikir considers asking what’s going on, but decides against it.

He was tired from helping Bakira mate, and he figured that if she needed anything else, she’d just barge in like she always did.

But.

Aiyen just stood there in front of Vikir’s barracks for what seemed like an eternity afterward.

……. ……. …….

After what seemed like an eternity, the shadows slowly thinned.

“Was it an illusion?

Vikir peered over the veil through closed eyelids.

The dawn dew slowly dried in the distant morning light. The shadow of Aiyen on the banner had vanished completely.

Vikir was already asleep.