Prologue:
The trees swished lightly as the young child sat on the ground, huddling to keep warm as shiny tears slid down her small face. She was lost. She knew she had wondered further than her mummy told her to, and now she was lost. Her mummy will probably be angry at her when she was found and it was already late. The sun was going down behind the trees and the air was turning frosty, resulting in fierce shivers running through her fragile little body.
Suddenly, there was a sharp crack of a branch breaking, her little head rose slightly to look at who or what had finally found her. Her eyes met with a wolf pup, his fur as black as the small flats she wore and his eyes were a piercing grey. She smiled softly, as it warily sniffed the air before it approached her. His little nose nudged her foot cautiously before he whimpered, and moved next to her shivering body. She realized the presence of the small form and mustered up enough strength to speak to it.
"Hi there little puppy," she croaked, her eyes crinkled as she realized how tired she was, and how dry her mouth was.
The small pup, whimpered and padded closer to her. Its small form sat down next to her, and it licked her face with its tongue while she soaked in his warmth.
It had been by chance that the young pup had come across her; he was playing hide and seek and when he heard the soft sniffles of someone crying, he couldn't help but go in search of where the sound was coming from. The sight that he came upon made him feel so heartbroken, there was no other way to explain it as he saw this little girl, that was about his age, crying and huddling away from the cold.
'Who are you little girl?', he thought, whimpering as he rested his head on her arm, laying across her small delicate body to shield her from the cold. After a while of feeling her shivers subside slightly, he felt her slowly run her hand through his coat. Unconsciously, he started to purr.
The little girl giggled, as she realized that the puppy enjoyed being stroked. The soft purr coming from his throat said it all, and she was thankful he was trying to give her some warmth. But she knew it would not last long. At one point or another, it would grow too cold for him to even be here and his mama would come or he would have to go and she would be cold again. As if reading her train of thought, the pup lifted its head and looked at her, with a small whimper, as a distant, loud howl reached their ears.
'I don't want to leave you here alone', the little pup thought, sadly, licking her face, noticing a light tint of blue on her lips from the frost setting in.
"It's ok, puppy, your mummy is calling. You need to go home," the little girl said, she laughed slightly as the puppy only shook his head and whimpered when she tried to push him away.
'No. You could die from the cold. You're human, you won't survive long,' he thought stubbornly, but he could hear his mother call him again in he distance and knew he wouldn't have a choice but to leave her soon. Then, he remembered something he carried with him all this time. It was a stone wrapped by strings, turning it into a necklace and at the moment he had it around his back paw. His mama had said he should only give this to a person he really wanted to be in his life forever and as he thought about it he knew that he wanted this little girls friendship forever. So, he backed away from her slowly and, with his teeth, untangled the necklace, and dropped it on the ground by her.
She looked at what the little puppy had taken off his paw, and frowned a little as she took in the strange necklace in front of her. It was oval-shaped, with strange carvings on it, but she could clearly make out a 'T'. She slowly reached out to take it and there was another howl in the distance and the little wolf started to retreat. It's eyes never leaving her as she picked up the necklace; relief flooded through her, as a wave of warmth traveled through her body. Putting it around her neck, she looked up and smiled one last time before she saw the wolf fade into the shadows. Closing her eyes she let darkness consume her; the small wolf, glad he could protect her from the cold with his pack token, made his way back home.
