Noah noticed Elann’s change of mood as she spoke up, wishing they had done more for his birthday. More would’ve been leagues more than the nothing they didn’t do. The day was during the dead of winter, which was a reason his past three birthdays had been so drab. Winter in Syliras was always a heavy hitter, usually slamming the city with snow, ice, and wind only to linger through the early weeks of spring. Noah hated it personally but did feel all the more guilty that he hadn’t been celebrating three years worth of birthdays, he felt as if he was doing his mother a disrespect seeing as she made sure each of him and his siblings’ birthdays were special.

“How could you think they’re bad?” Aimee question, the statement was incredulous to the wolf. “Birthday’s are supposed to be wonderful and reflective, not bad. Why do your people think they’re so?”

The pitch in Aimee’s voice got higher as she prattled on. She was clearly shocked by the information for her own birthdays were always happy, some of the happiest days of her life. Nothing could bring her down when her birthday was approaching, and the same could be sad for Noah. It was why he insisted Elann celebrate her own birthday, a date he’d never forget.

Elann turned to Noah and attempted to excite him for his birthday that year. It was the mid of spring and his birthday wasn’t until the tail end of winter, something he wasn’t particularly thinking about, nor did he really think about it until the snow fell and the temperatures plummeted. The way she went about attempting to excite him was more off-putting that comforting.

“Too much,” he muttered, lowering his hands to steady over hers. “You can’t do all of that in a day; I don’t want to fight or hunt.” He paused, smiling softly. “You want to go to the beach in winter? It’ll be cold, you hate the cold. The parties are personal, we do whatever we want and I want to eat food and desserts and candies on my birthday.” He shrugged. “Or not, it’s not until the end of the year anyway, I may change my mind.”