Soft howls float through the air, calling me.
As quietly as I can, I exit the cabin into the cold and turn the corner into the clearing.
A white wolf sits at the edge of the trees.
My chest stills to see it.
I would know that white pelt anywhere.
I can hardly speak. “Kori?”
The wolf rises up onto its feet and that’s when two more wolves step out of the shadows on either side of it.
One is a mere pup, darting forward and frolicking around the first wolf.
The third wolf moves more slowly and its coat is thinner and duller, slightly grayed.
But of course.It’s been ten years.
The first wolf and the pup are too young to be Kori.
I take a knee and wait for the older wolf to reach me. “Kori.”
He stops in front of me, but his head swings slowly from side to side, looking past and around me, as if he’s searching for something.
Someone.
I close my eyes and bow my head. “Thoren isn’t here.”
Kori gives a soft whine.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I couldn’t keep him alive.”
Tears drip down my cheeks and onto the snow, the first I’ve shed in this place.
Kori’s body nudges up against mine and he rests his chin on my raised thigh, his faded eyes raised to me.
The way he looks at me, it’s as if he already knew, because if Thoren were alive, he would never have abandoned Kori.
I stay like that for a long moment while the pup bounces forward, full of new life, scampering around me.
“You made a family for yourself,” I say to Kori.
He gives a soft growl.
At which the spaces between the trees fill with wolves.
It’s the largest pack I’ve ever seen. Most are white, their pelts clearly visible in the moonlight, although some are a pale gray.
They look strong and well-fed, which tells me there’s enough food in this forest to sustain them. Which also tells me that the ecosystem must be repairing itself, for both predator and prey to flourish.
A resurgence of life to heal this forest.
A little more of my heart mends to see them and hear their chorus of soft growls and snarls, the yips of their pups, and the way they seem to defer to Kori.
He slips away from me, lifting his head, giving me a fierce growl, lips drawn back from teeth.
I answer it, giving him the respect he deserves, a deep snarl in the back of my throat.
