This time I was smarter.

“Boom!”

The deer leg I had stolen from the village storage landed on the other side of the fence with a loud thud. Equipped with an offering, I was hoping to get the wolves to see that I meant no harm. I quickly scaled the fence and lifted the frozen piece of meat. Swinging it over my shoulders, I struggled to cross the grass field to reach the cover of the forest trees before anyone from the village saw me. The ten pound deer meat was no easy feat for the tiny frame of mine. In the end, I settled for dragging it as I made my way back to the same pond.

Which turned out to be such a bad idea.

I had neither the skills nor the experience in the forest to guide me. As the meat defrosted, it left behind me a trail of animal blood.

And that attracted the wrong kind of animal that I was seeking to find.

A cougar.

I heard no sound that gave way the trailing cougar behind me. So when it pounced on me about ten feet away from the pond, my heart got caught in my throat. I heard a shrilling scream that hurt my ears and then I realised that that sound was coming out from my mouth. I was screaming at the top of my lungs for dear life.

The impact of an attacking cougar could be compared to that of a sack of coal falling on me from the roof of the tallest house in the village. But unlike the sack of coal, the cougar was designed for that, and the impact was just the beginning.

As I fell to the ground and rolled on my side from the impact, my hands lost grip of the deer leg that I had so painstakingly dragged through the forest. The cougar hesitated for a split second, slightly undecided on whether to go for me for the meat. In the end, it seemed he chose the one with fresh blood flowing through veins.

Me.

A sense of dread swept over me as I watched the cougar turn towards me. Even though I had escaped death in the face of twelve wild wolves, I had no confidence or hope that I could survive this cougar’s attack. My eyes zoomed in on the claws that were now extended out of its paws and a lump in my throat didn’t go away no matter how many times I swallowed.

The cougar lowered its body to the ground and with a power push its hind legs, he sprung up into the air above me. I held my arms over my face to shield myself. My eyes were slammed shut as my entire body quivered in fear.

Then suddenly, a loud roar resonated through the forest. I didn’t feel the pain that I had expected to experience from the cougar’s claws piercing my skin. I lowered my arms and opened my eyes. With my back to the ground, the first thing I saw was silver glass. Was I in heaven? That was my first thought. Wow death sure was quick and painless. Then I realised it wasn’t grass that I was staring at; it was silver fur.

Silver fur.

Silver fur.

SILVER FUR!

My senses came flooding back as I took in my surroundings. The big silver wolf was standing over me as I remained very still between its legs. I wasn’t dead! I was alive! I turned my head to find the cougar, only to see it standing directly in front of the wolf. Open, bloody slashes covered its face and back, but is showed no loss of strength as it stood its ground, growling and gnashing its teeth.

I didn’t dare to move.

This was not a fight I wanted to be in.

The wolf, too, did not back down but stood its ground over me with his head hung head. It was bigger than the cougar and its entire posture screamed dominance. They had a staring match before the cougar realised that it was no match for the big wolf. Eventually, it gave up and retreated. It even tried to grabbed the deer leg on its retreat but was forced to give that up too when the silver wolf snapped its teeth at it.

Only when the cougar was out of sight did the wolf step away from me.

It then turned to face me.

Ironically, I was presented in the same situation as before, only now it was the wolf instead of the cougar. Any rational person would feel the same fear if not more. The wolf was bigger and more powerful than the cougar. It might have just protected me from the cougar but any sane person would say that it was fighting over a piece of flesh, fighting for food.

But instead of fear, all I felt was gratitude and a sense of calmness.

Its curly silver hair spread over its majestic body in wavy chops like choppy storm waves on an ocean. Its fluffy rose colored lips glistened. Its eyes golden yellow and almond shaped set deep into its face and yet when it looked at me with those same deep set eyes, it felt like they jumped out, speaking to me.

Before I could even get up from the ground, I heard a chorus of growls from behind. My head whipped back in shock as I came face to face with more wolves, baring their teeth at me.

Not again.

I almost rolled my eyes in exasperation. I counted the number of wolves in my head. Eleven. So they were a pack of twelve wolves and a boy. Oh yeah, where was the boy? I scanned the pack for him and finally found him on top of the same black wolf. The black wolf which was growling the loudest. There I laid, in the middle of a pack of wolves. One big silver wolf in front of me and eleven other wolves behind.

Peeking back at the wolves behind me again, I noticed that their postures were not in the attacking mode. Sure they were crouching low and slowly inching forward but there was something different as compared to the last time I saw a wolf on the hunt. Heck, their eyes weren’t even on me. Instead they were growling at the silver wolf! The silver wolf which just stood there unwavering and staring back at them.

What the hell was going on?

Just then, the silver wolf gave one sharp howl and started growling as well. The eleven wolves stopped in the tracks and continued growling lowly. The atmosphere was tense and loaded. Something important seemed to be going on. Something too complex for my simple human brain to comprehend.

All of them were still growling and snarling. But the higher the silver wolf hung its head, the lower the other wolves crouched down. Every step the silver wolf took forward, the other wolves inched backwards. Eventually, the silver wolf was standing over me, with his entire body casting a shadow over mine.

Suddenly, it bent its head down and I felt its head at the crook of my head. I didn’t dare breath or move. My heart was pounding wildly and my hands started to tremble again. I felt its teeth on my shoulder and I started to doubt the sense of calm I felt earlier. Maybe the rational person was right.

And its teeth sank into my shoulder.

I screamed at the sharp sting that followed and the ground started to spin.

And then, almost immediately, it released me from its bite. It wasn’t a deep bite although it drew a little blood. My head spun as I struggled to grasp what was going on. The growling had stopped. The wolves were no longer crouching. The atmosphere was no longer tense.

The wolves tentatively walked up to me as the silver one walked away. Their wet noses prodded me and some me. On my face, on the wound on my shoulder, on my hands, everywhere.

Then it dawned on me.

I had just been accepted.

The wolves were all eagerly welcoming me.

Only one wolf kept its distance.

One particular black wolf.

And a boy.