2. Olwydd
CHAPTER 2
OLWYDD
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
The chair creaks ominously under my weight as I bang my head on my sister’s kitchen table. "I just don't get it, Braith. She runs from me like I'm carrying the plague."
My sister slides a steaming plate of gravy-smothered biscuits in front of me. "Maybe you're coming on too strong, baby brother."
I snort, shoveling a biscuit into my mouth. “ Baby brother? I'm a foot taller than you."
"And about a decade younger," she quips, leaning back against the counter. "Now, about this human woman..."
"Bambi," I mumble around a mouthful of biscuit. "Her name is Bambi."
"Right, Bambi. Have you considered that maybe it’s a cultural difference? That maybe humans do the mating thing differently?”
I pause mid-chew, my brow furrowing. "Different how?"
Braith shrugs, her furry shoulders. “How would I know? I’m just saying. Hey, maybe you should ask Gruffydd.”
After all the grief I gave him about Kiki? The mere thought makes me groan aloud, drop my fork onto my plate, and go back to head banging.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
“Hey, knock that off. You’re gonna crack my?—”
Before she can finish, a whirlwind of fur and unbridled energy bursts into the kitchen as my three nephews enter tumbling over each other and chattering a mile a minute.
"Uncle Olwydd!"
“Morning, champ.” I grin as Osian, the oldest at ten, bounds over.
“Hey there, Uncle Olwydd.” Elis, the middle child, looks straight into my eyes as he tries to sneak a biscuit off my plate.
My hand shoots out and catches him by the wrist.
"Nice try, kiddo," I chuckle. "But you’ll have to be slicker than that to pull one over on your ol’ unc.”
Jac, the youngest at five, climbs onto my lap and I ruffle his fur. “Mom says you’re taking us to school.”
I glance at Braith, raising a brow. She has the grace to look sheepish. "About that... Would you mind? It's just, with it being harvesting season in Eden, Gruffydd's working us to the bone, and Amlawdd's on early shift all week..."
Not one to pass up an opportunity, I pounce. "Well, I don't know... It's quite an inconvenience, what with my control room shifts and all..."
Braith rolls her eyes and shoots me a deadpan look. "What do you want?"
"Oh, nothing much," I say, trying to keep a straight face as I tap a finger exaggeratedly against my chin. "Just... maybe... oh, let’s see… your special gravy biscuits for breakfast every morning this week?"
She huffs, crossing her arms. “I don’t have time to cook a big breakfast every morning. If you want that, go to Sizzle.”
Sizzle is our communal dining hall.
“But yours is so much better,” I play-whine as only a younger brother can do.
She shakes her head adamantly. “Really, I don’t have time for that.”
"Well, then I guess you don't need a chauffeur..."
She glares at me through narrowed eyes for a long moment. Finally she throws her hands up. "Fine! You drive a hard bargain, bro.”
I grin triumphantly. "Pleasure doing business with you, sis."
“Boys, go finish getting ready for school. Your uncle is taking you and I don’t want you to be late. As the boys scamper off to finish getting ready, Braith's expression softens. "So, tell me more about this Bambi. You're sure she's your fated mate?"
I nod, my hand unconsciously drifting under the table toward my groin in case my soulstone should start up again, as it sometimes does at the mere thought of her. “Without a doubt. Every time I'm near her, my soulstone lights up like a homing beacon. But she acts like I don't exist."
"That's...odd," Braith muses. "When Amlawdd and I became of age, it was instantaneous for both of us."
"Exactly!" I gesture wildly. "I thought that's how it worked. Soulstone sings, boom, happily ever after."
"Well, it does when you're both Squatches.” Her mouth scrunches as she considers this. "Maybe it's different with humans?"
I slump in my seat. "Maybe. All I know is, if it weren't for my soulstone marking her as mine, I'd have some serious competition among the other single Squatch males."
Braith cups her chin with her hand as she ponders my dilemma for a while. "Have you considered talking to Gruffydd? He and Kiki are together now. He might have some insights on human women."
I’m about to start banging my head on the table again when the three boys tumble back into the kitchen, fully dressed with backpacks in tow. I can't help but feel a twinge of envy at Braith's perfect little family. It’s exactly what I want—a cave full of mischievous, giggly, fur balls.
Ours—mine and Bambi's.
But Hell, I don't even know if Bambi likes kids.
I barely know anything about her, except what I've gleaned from my internet stalking sessions. My blood boils when I think about the so-called "scandal" that dragged her through the mud. Humans can be so cruel. I’m glad she’s here in Grotto now. If I have my way, she'll never leave. I just have to figure out how to make that happen.
I plaster on a grin. "Alright, tiny terrors.” I thrust my arm in the air at an upward angle as though brandishing a sword. “Who's ready for an epic adventure to the dreaded learning caves?"
Osian, ever the ringleader, puffs out his chest. "We're not tiny and school isn't dreaded, Uncle Olwydd. We love school.”
I gasp in mock horror. "What? Love school? Who are you and what have you done with my block-headed nephews?"
Elis giggles, playing along. "We're actually alien body snatchers."
Jac's eyes go wide. "Cool! Can I be a tentacle alien?"
I scoop him up, tickling his sides. "Sorry, squirt. No tentacles allowed in my transport."
"Aww," Jac pouts, then brightens. "What about laser eyes?" Jac starts making 'pew pew' noises and pretending to shoot lasers from his skull.
Osian rolls his eyes in that “I’m too old for this” way that only a ten-year-old can manage. "Uncle Olwydd, we're going to be late if we don't leave now."
I ruffle his fur. "Look at you, Mr. Responsible. When did you get so grown up?"
"Probably around the time you started acting like an overgrown child," Elis deadpans, ducking as I playfully swat at him.
"Oh ho! We've got a comedian in the family," I tease. "Alright, you little smartypants, last one to the transport has to sit in the back with Uncle Olwydd's smelly gym towel!"
The boys shriek with laughter and race out of the kitchen. I grab my keys and follow, but just to rub it in, glance over my shoulder with a shit-eating grin. “Thanks for breakfast, sis. Same time tomorrow!”
As we pile into my transport—a souped-up golf cart—Osian elbows me. "Hey, Uncle Olwydd, bet you can't make it to school in under five minutes."
I narrow my eyes at him. "Is that a challenge?"
"Ooh, do it!" Elis cheers from the back.
"Yeah, floor it!" Jac adds, bouncing in his seat.
I wink at him in the rearview mirror. "Now, Jac, you know your mom would have my hide if she found out I was accepting a speed challenge.”
All three boys groan in disappointment.
"Which is why," I continue with a mischievous grin, "what happens in Uncle Olwydd's transport, stays in Uncle Olwydd's transport.”
Their cheers echo through the cave system as I rev the engine, which admittedly doesn't sound very impressive in a golf cart. "Challenge accepted. Buckle up, boys. We're going to warp speed!"
As we zoom through the twisting passageways, the boys' excited shrieks filling the air, I again feel a pang of longing for a family of my own to both love and embarrass in equal measure.
We screech to a halt and the still giggling kids tumble out, their fur a windblown mess.
"Thanks, Uncle Olwydd!" Jac gives me a hug before scampering off.
I watch them head into the series of small caverns that serve as Squatch School, and I’m about to head to work when an utterly irresistible aroma overtakes me. It’s sweet, intoxicating, unmistakable…
And my soulstone hums to life.