Chapter 2. Howling in the night
The wolf was howling into the night and I could feel my own wolf stirring inside of me. It didn't matter if it was an animal or a wolf stuck inside a human, wolf was wolf and they were all my kin.
I ran into the dark night as I let my wolf guide me towards the cries of the wounded animal. She was like a compass that directed me straight towards his cries.
It was dark and the night was usually not my friend, but tonight it seemed like my wolf was helping me out and improving my eyesight.
I scanned the white landscape for any movement of the hurt wolf but also for any other predators that might roam this hillside. Pumas were very unlikely, but I didn't feel like running straight into the den of a black bear, even though they were supposed to be our allies. I was sure that would cost me greatly.
After running around in the winter night for almost half an hour, I finally saw a heap of fur lying next to a dead tree. I hastily ran towards it, my heart pounding from my chest as I prayed this was the wolf I was chasing.
It was.
He growled as I approached and it became clear he was distressed and in pain. I held up my hands as I slowed my breathing. I hoped if calmed myself, he would know I didn't form a threat.
His lips curled up in a snarl and he flattened his ears as I approached him.
"Calm, boy. I'm not here to hurt you," I whispered into the cold air, hoping that he would understand from my tone that I was trying to help him.
He bared his teeth at me once more but didn't seem to run away. I wondered why.
A glint caught my eye and I noticed the piece of metal clamped around his paw.
This time I was the one growling. Hunters. And not any kind of hunters, cowardly hunters.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Please stay still," I told the grey wolf, asking myself in how much trouble I could get. If he didn't understand I was trying to help, he would lunge at my neck and with his sharp teeth, rip out my throat. Instead of retrieving the Winter Stone, I would bleed out here, all alone in the middle of the Aladwin Forest, miles away from my hometown.
But if he did understand, I could help him out of the trap and maybe this would appeal to the Great Wolf so he'd guide me on my travels.
I threw another look at the grey wolf and the pearls of blood staining the white snow red and I knew that I needed to take this risk. This was one of my brothers and he was in pain.
"Please don't bite me. I'm here to help," I repeated again, slowly crouched down next to his hind legs. His ears had perked up, but his lips were still curled in a nasty snarl. He seemed ready to attack at any moment, but so far, he was keeping still.
I tugged on the metal clasp and as I felt the wolf stir, I quickly retracted my hand before his teeth found my wrist.
"Calm down!" I yelped as I felt my blood rush through my ears. "I know it hurts, I will be more careful. I'm sorry."
The wolf relaxed and his head fell down as he kept me under his watchful eye. I carefully extended my hand again and clicked the metal pin loose, contracting the beak and teeth of the metal contraption.
The grey wolf quickly pulled his leg out of the trap, a splatter of blood painting the white landscape. He howled in pain and tried to run away from me, but to no use. He jumped a couple of metres away from me, but as soon as he was out of my immediate range, he stopped to lick his wound.
I followed the beautiful beast, my hands out so I wouldn't spook him. "Steady, I'm not here to hurt you. Please let me help you. You're hurt."
The wolf jumped a couple of steps away from me, from the twitch in his right leg, I knew he wasn't going anywhere. I approached him and as he tried to run away, he sank through his legs and fell down on the cold snow. He was panting and his ears were flat on his head. He wasn't just in pain, he was scared. Scared of what I might do.
He must not realise I had a wolf inside of me, otherwise, he might realise I was an ally. If I could let him know I was one of his kind, he might be less reluctant to let me help him.
So I dug deep and channelled my wolf. She was already asleep, so I nudged her.
Yes? She answered and as she did, I could see the grey wolf tweak his ears. I didn't know if it was possible but he seemed to react to my wolf waking up.
I approached him again and this time, he didn't run away. Instead, he cautiously watched me from the corners of his eyes. He didn't snarl when I picked him up, so he must've understood something? He was quite heavy and pretty big, so most of his upper body was resting over my shoulder as I carried him to the camp.
Luckily, I could trace my footsteps back into the snow because I had blindly run into the forest without really paying attention to where I was going.
I felt the sweat pearl on my back as I heaved the wolf back to my camp. Once in a while, he yipped in pain, but most of the time, he seemed to be quite happy to be carried.
In my camp, I carefully placed him close to the fire so he could warm up and rummaged through my pack, wondering if I had some piece of cloth that I could miss. Most of the things I brought with me, I really needed, but I decided that the fabric holding my dried jerky together could probably be repurposed. I opened my water bottle, wetted the cloth and carefully tried to clean out the wolf's wounds. He whined in pain but didn't make any attempts to bite me, so I knew he had finally understood I was trying to help him.
He whimpered as I secured the cloth around his leg but after I was done bandaging him, he gratefully licked my arm and I patted him between the ears.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" I grinned as I realised I'd never been this close to a wolf before. Which was ironic, since my whole tribe was centred around the wolf. Heck, we actually had wolves stuck inside our bodies!
"You're a nice little wolf," I smiled and laughed as the wolf growled at me.
"Okay, okay. I'll take the little back," I teased, surprised that he somehow understood me.
He softly growled, but it didn't sound threatening. It was more a happy sound, like the canine version of a purring cat. He gave a last lick at his wounded leg and then muzzled his head on my lap. His eyes slowly closed and I could tell that he was falling asleep. I grinned as this meant that he trusted me enough to let his guard down, so I wiggled my butt down more comfortably as I let myself relax as well.
The flames in the fire were happily dancing as I watched the sparks fly around in the cold air. The wolf cuddled up against me was providing me with an extra, unexpected heat source that I wasn't going to say no to.
I patted the beast against his ears as I studied him a bit further. It was obvious that he was male. I could tell from his flat snout, his broad legs and his wide stance. He had a dark patch of fur that ran down his back and one white paw, like he had fallen in a bucket of white paint.
I knew his eyes were amber coloured and deep and although I might've been kidding myself, it seemed like he understood human language to at least some degree. He stirred in my lap and let out a little whine. Probably a nightmare.
I should probably move myself and the wolf underneath my tent, but it seemed like a cold and wet spot, compared to the dried patch of ground I was sitting on right now.
I cursed at myself for not setting my tent closer to my fireplace. Why didn't I do that? What an idiot. I should probably stay close to the flames so I wouldn't freeze to death.
The furs I brought were lying further away in my little tent, so I laid flat on my back and stretched my arms as far as I could, hoping not to wake up my new companion. I grovelled a little bit on the cold ground and waved my hands in the air aimlessly, until finally, I reached the tip of one of my blankets. I pulled it towards me and nestled myself under it, hoping that my fire would stay lit and it wouldn't rain.
With my new wolf friend wrapped around me, I cuddled under my blankets. I knew I needed to take off at least some of my clothes, but I was just so nice and toasty. So without another thought, I found myself drifting off into dreamland.
The next morning I was awoken by what sounded like barking. I rubbed my fists in my eyes as I wondered who had brought a dog with him and why the hell he was trying to wake me up. I was about ready to throw a stick towards the loud animal as I felt a wet snout pressed against my cheek.
"Ieegh!" I pushed myself up from underneath the furs and immediately regretted not moving back to the tent. The fire from last night was reduced to a barely smouldering pile of ashes that couldn't grill a grasshopper. I should've gathered isolation for my bed instead of chasing wolves into the night.
Priorities, Akira! I told myself as I cracked my stiffened back. I was about to stretch my arms when I felt a rough tongue lick my hand.
"Blegh!" I yelled again as I finally remembered I wasn't alone anymore. One by one, I cracked my fingers as I looked at the dark wolf strutting through my camp. He had a slight limp, but he was definitely in much better shape than yesterday.
"Hello, boy. I see you’re already awake," I grumbled, annoyed that he didn't let me sleep in. But then again, I probably shouldn't be snoozing in the middle of the forest.
From the moment that I slightly moved my furs, the cold air crept underneath and I shivered as it grazed over my bare legs. I groaned as I stood back up and again, cursed at myself for not taking off my jacket. I had brought enough furs with me to keep me warm enough and sleeping in all my clothes was just a rookie mistake. Now instead of having my vest to put on, I'd have to warm myself up with jumping jacks or another kind of exercise.
A howl pulled me out of my concentration and I briefly watched the wolf dribble through my camp with his snout against the forest floor, like he was looking for something. His adventure seemed to stop at my backpack and with his head tilted and his dark amber eyes peering into mine, he gave me an intense look.
I chuckled and decided that I'd warm myself up by gathering more firewood. But first, breakfast!
Shivery, I bundled up my furs and dropped them near my pack. I pulled open the strings and dug around for a chunk of bread and some of my dried elk. The cloth that usually kept it all together was now wound around the wolf's leg, so I had to dig around my belongings for anything edible.
I conjured a piece of bread and a couple of strips of jerky. I sat back down on my log and chewed on the stringy meat as I stared at what was left of my camp fire. The grey wolf bumped against my legs and let out another whine as he licked his lips, his eyes fixated on the dried meat in my hands.
I counted out all the rations I brought with me and tried to figure out how many days it would last me. I had brought enough jerky with me that was supposed to last me two full months, but I seemed to have slightly miscalculated. Because I hadn’t touched the stinky freeze-dried vegetables and only eaten meat, I had gone through my dried elk twice as fast as I predicted. After only two weeks, more than half of my meat had already disappeared in my tummy. And if I was going to share my rations with a hungry wolf, the rest of my rations would probably only last us another week.
The wolf softly whined again and as his deep eyes stared into mine, I couldn't stop myself from giving in. For as long as I had food, I would share. I knew this was stupid, but then again, I couldn’t get myself to starve another being, let alone another wolf.
I threw a strip of elk at my furry companion and he gratefully jumped at his breakfast. His long tongue snapped it from the ground and with the piece of meat between his teeth, he hobbled away and devoured his share.
The jerky disappeared in seconds and he let out another whine as he eyed my piece of elk.
"Sorry, boy. This is mine. A girl has got to eat," I said, but as he cutely tilted his head, I caved. I pulled the chewy meat in two pieces and threw him the biggest part. "There you go, but this is all you’re getting."
I quickly shoved the last piece of meat in my mouth before he could beg for more and swallowed it with a mouthful of water. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and stowed my metal water container back in my pack.
I dusted off my pants as I stood up and gathered my furs. I approached the wolf to check on his wounds and happily noticed that they had stopped bleeding. I removed the cloth from his leg and he licked his wound a couple of times before looking at me. He looked almost gratefully.
"Come on, boy, go play!" I grinned as I jumped a couple of times up and down, hoping it would encourage him to run. But he just lazily looked at me, licked his paw again and let his head rest on his front legs.
I gave him a little shove, hoping it would make him get him on his feet but with a small whine, it became clear that this wolf wasn't going anywhere yet.
The cold air blew through my campsite and I wondered if he could take care of himself or if leaving him alone would be a death sentence. But as he was still limping around, it seemed unlikely that he’d do well on his own. I threw another look at the hurt animal, cursed at myself, and dropped my furs next to my log again.
Why was I such a sucker? Spring wouldn’t wait for anyone, especially not for me just hanging around in my camp. But then again, I shaved off a couple of days by going over the slope instead of around it. If I didn’t think too hard about it, I could just pretend I was putting those days to another use. And taking care of a wounded animal couldn’t be bad for my karma, could it?
"You owe me one," I grumbled at my companion. He twitched his ear and I swear, it looked like he winked at me.
I threw one of my furs over him and decided to not stray too much as I gathered anything that I could use as tinder or firewood. The first snow had buried most of the dead branches under a wet bed, but luckily, I managed to find a couple of logs to burn and an ugly looking mushroom that could serve as tinder.
It took me at least twice as long to get a fire going, but my effort wasn't in vain as a small whisper of smoke rose from our campsite once more. The wolf opened his eyes, inspected the fire I made, and went back to sleep. Lazy bastard.
"Yeah, don't help me," I scoffed at him, kicking some snow out of the way angrily. It was his fault that I needed to stay another night here, instead of travelling further towards the East.
But if I was staying here another night, I was definitely moving my tent and setting it up with a proper bed.
I remembered seeing a fallen pine tree not far from where I found the dark wolf, so I traced my footsteps back to that site. Next to the abandoned metal trap, there was indeed a whole heap of spruce branches. I grinned as I hacked down with my knife.
They were prickly, but at least they would keep me off the cold frozen ground at night.
Back in my camp, I decided to move my tent closer to the fire. If I managed to move the wolf inside the tent and make myself a bed with the spruce tips, I would have a relatively comfortable bed.
"Thanks for watching the fire for me," I mocked the wolf who was still sleeping next to the fire pit. He opened one eye, threw me an unimpressed look and went back to ignoring me.
I shook my head in dismay and decided to spend my energy on my temporary home. The whole tent came down with just a simple tug. Pathetic.
The wolf was lazily lying on the ground as he watched me reset my camp and only got up somewhere in the late afternoon.
With his nose on the ground, he traced his steps back to my pack and loudly sniffed it. As expected, he was hungry again and seemed to remember where I kept my elk meat.
“You’re right, it is time to eat again. I’m quite hungry myself," I agreed with him as I had just finished a drying rack for some of the wetter branches.
I threw a dried piece of jerky at the wolf who was quite patiently sitting a couple of meters away from me. He cautiously sniffed at the meat before hungrily chewing down on what was supposed to feed me tomorrow.
"Idiot... Feeding strays instead of yourself... You’re never going to make it to the East this way," I mumbled under my breath as I watched the flames of the fire dance in the cold night.
But then I looked into the amber coloured eyes of the canine and felt the wolf inside me nod in content. Of course, we were going to take care of a lone wolf. How could we not?
"Here, boy," I smiled as I poured some of my water down on my plate and carefully pushed it towards him. He looked at me with his dark eyes and I could swear he was saying thank you.
I briefly touched the amulet hanging around my neck. It was warm under my touch. My mother had carved it for me on my fifth birthday. That was the day I found out I was the only one of my brothers and sisters that had inherited the wolf from my mother's family. As the youngest of the family, I was already the apple of their eye, but the wolf gave me an unfair advantage.
That was the last day my oldest brother let me ride on his shoulders. My sister had shoved me down in anger and I could still hear the harsh slap my mother had given her. She later told me she heard ringing in her ears for two more days.
When I turned nine, my grandparents took me in. They both possessed the wolf, but neither of them had had the honour of releasing him. They only had two children and both my mum and my uncle possessed the wolf as well. My mum had feared that after her first six children, her bloodline would die out with her. And then I was born.
She always called me a gift straight from the Great Wolf and had named me Akira in his honour. Both my grandparents cried the day the Elders announced that for the 34th Winter Cycle the honour would befall on me and my family. Their wolves would stay locked up, but if I became the Winter Wolf, I'd be able to communicate with all the wolves in my family.
And once I mated, I would be able to talk and listen to the wolves of my mate's family as well. It was the greatest honour. This would make me an invaluable pillar in our community. And a well fought over treasure.
I already heard my father whisper about whose family would be the most beneficial to mate with. My mother tried to shush him by explaining that only my wolf could choose the right partner for me.
But that just sent him into another blind rage because it reminded him of my mum's wolf as well. My father loved my mother with all his heart and even though I knew my mum loved him, he was not her mate. He couldn't be because he possessed no wolf. And he knew that if the day ever came that her wolf found her rightful mate, she would leave him in a heartbeat.
But I didn't want that. I just wanted my mate and nobody else. If my wolf ever got released, there was no way I could mate to someone that wasn't meant for me. It would be impossible. I would either find my soulmate or remain alone for the rest of my life. And if I did, my family line would die with me.
I twirled the amulet between my fingers as I watched the grey wolf stare at me. He seemed rather curious and not at all afraid. I wasn't sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult.
"Where is your pack?" I tilted my head as I studied the beautiful animal. But the wolf just blinked and twitched his left ear.
"Alright then, be that way." My body was growing stiff from the hike and the cold. I stretched my limbs, threw on one more log for the fire, and grabbed the fur for inside my tent.
"Goodnight, Wolfie." I waved as both I and the night fell.
The next day his paw looked much better and he obviously felt much better. It was quite clear as he ran circles around me, happily yipping at my pack for more meat.
"Shhh!" I shushed the noisy wolf, hoping he'd stop barking at an old tree. "You'll chase all the animals away!"
But Wolfie didn't care. He just cheekily jumped up and down as he started to chase his own tail.
"Should've never fixed your damn paw," I grumbled as I heard my stomach rumble in hunger. The wolf had turned out much hungrier and needier than expected. We only had a couple of measly jerky strips left and I couldn’t afford to eat them all just to still my hunger. Even my latest calculations had been off and I could almost see the meat disappear in thin air. Except that it disappeared into our stomachs. Well, mostly the wolf’s.
I knew I still had a whole bunch of freeze-dried vegetables in my pack, but I wouldn’t touch that stuff unless absolutely necessary. I'd prefer to have a mouthful of meat than a plate of cardboard mush, and would only force it down my throat after ran out of meat. But at the rate this was going, that would be much sooner than anticipated.
The only way I could prevent myself from eating mushy vegetables was by adding more meat to my rations. But that meant going out on a hunt on my own.
Of course, I had hunted before. How could I not? But then again, I'd never gone out hunting in this state. Without the safety of home a few miles back, without hunger clouding my good judgement, or without anyone to guard my belongings.
I listened to the forest, but it was so dead quiet. The snow isolating and muffling all sounds definitely didn’t make it easier for me to gauge how many animals were in my perimeter. With the night falling quicker every night, the amount of daylight I had was limited. And I desperately needed that daylight.
I wondered if I trained the wolf, he would help me hunt. It might give me a slight edge over the other animals or he could help me track. I had always been lousy at tracking, even with footprints in the snow.
I felt my stomach rumble again and as it did, I stared hungrily at my pack. There was enough meat in there to still my hunger now or last me a couple of more days. It was obvious which choice I should make, but I could already feel the hunger cloud my mind. That was what hunger did.
I knew that well enough. It was one of the things my grandpappy had always warned about. If I went out on a hunt now, I might stray too far from my camp and get caught in the night without a fire, I might jump off a ledge to chase an animal and break my legs, or maybe run head first into a tree and knock myself out. It all sounded like stupid things to do, but with my stomach driving my body instead of my head, it all sounded far too plausible as well. Hunting was a tricky business.
I pulled up my nose at the thought of cardboard vegetables, but decided to refrain from going out on a hunt. It might just be the last thing I did. And honestly, I didn't feel like killing myself just because I was too stubborn to eat my vegetables.
I threw a dirty look at the grey wolf jumping up and down in the snow. "Doesn't mean I’m not in the mood to kill, though." I pulled up my nose as I polished my bow.
Instead of going out for a hunt, I decided to collect some fallen branches from around the camp. I could stand the hunger for a while, and I didn’t mind having to share my camp with a loud wolf, but I'd be damned if I was cold.
When I returned to my camp, there was a chiselled, naked man casually lounging around. What. The. Hell?