Prologue

Dreaming of Wolves

It was close to midnight, and there I was sitting under the stars off of a river bank. The moon was shining bright off of the water making everything seem like it was glowing. I had my feet slightly in the river; the cool crisp water felt good against my skin.
Right next to me was a grey wolf. He was bigger than normal. He had beautiful grey eyes that shimmered in the moonlight. He had a thick coat that could keep him warm throughout the winter. The color of his coat was dark and light grays, with black here and there. His under side, legs, and markings on his face and snout were a dull white; almost a light grey with an occasional patch of dark. He was beautiful; not only that, but he was my friend. Well at least he seemed friendly enough.
We were surrounded by a forest of pine, conifer, and deciduous trees. The smells of the trees was simply enjoyable, and the sight was unbelievable. I don't know if he enjoyed it as much as I did, but he seemed content.
It was very peaceful and relaxing, I just wished I knew why I was here. Was there a purpose? A meaning? Why would I be sitting with a wolf off of a river bank?
I wasn't going to let my mind wander about what all of this was about. So instead I enjoyed myself and let my mind, body and soul enjoy this moment of peace. I say mind, body and soul because being here with this wolf seemed like a spiritual gift of some sort.
He looked over at me, eyes still glistening in the moonlight. I sighed in happiness that I was able to be so…connected? How was I able to feel such a strong bond between me and an animal that could simply rip me to shreds if he wanted?
By the size of his teeth you could tell he could easily bite through flesh with ease. But he didn't and that's what made me feel safe.
Howling from other wolves started from the Far East then soon south. His ears twitched now and then listening to the howling. Maybe he was listening to them; who knows what was going on? Maybe they were planning a hunt of some sort; I kind of got paranoid.
His gentle eyes met mine and I regained my confidence. He seemed to have some sort of relaxing power over me, because when ever he would look at me all my worries seemed to just fade away; like I said before, some sort of spiritual thing.
The howling continued and he was on guard for anything, well I guessed he was. He then stood up next to me, his ears straight up, and he gently whimpered. A slight breeze kicked up, causing goose bumps to rise along my skin. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms to get them to go away, which caused him to look over at me once more. I guess he sensed that I was cold, or close to it. So he moved closer to me. It kind of made me uneasy, but as soon as our eyes met it all melted away once again.
He looked over back into the woods; his eyes seemed to travel deep into the forest, seeing everything I couldn't. His ears still stood up straight; they twitched at a sound that even I could hear. My guess was a deer, or some sort of animal wolves preyed on. Maybe my prediction about it being some sort of hunting party was right. But when I looked over at him, his eyes were worried. Were they worried for me? Was he worried that I might be the prey for his pack? Or was it some other type of danger that worried him? All of these thoughts at once, but not one of them made sense to me.
He took a step forward, as if guarding his ground. He then moved in front of me. Was I right about him being worried for me? It was odd how animals reacted when one was in danger. But were we in any danger at all? Still, I had not one answer for any of these questions popping into my mind.
He was in front of me now, guarding, like my life was in danger. He hunched down, the hair on his back was now standing up. That couldn't be a good sign. Then I heard low growling coming from the back of his throat. What could possibly be going on? I was left in the dark, clueless to what was about to happen.
His growling got louder. I started panicking; was it because I knew I was in danger, or that I didn't know why he was so defensive? Then I heard a second growl. It was coming from the woods and whatever it was, it was too far back for me to see.
It was deep in the shadows of the woods. What was it, another wolf? Maybe a bear?
The growling wasn't loud enough to be a bear though. So I assumed it was another wolf; maybe one from another pack that wasn't welcomed onto his land. He didn't seem to like whatever this creature was though; it was very obvious that he was upset.
He was slowly moving closer to the edge of the woods, still growling. I heard a twig snap.
The creature was moving closer? It's amazing how all of your senses heighten when you're in danger.
I looked back over at the wolf I have come to love; he made one final deep growl and lunged into the forest. Did the unwanted visitor get too close for comfort? I didn't know, all I knew was that I was scared and alone. Nothing but the sounds of snarling and whimpers came from the forest.
I was afraid for the wolf that was my friend. I was afraid that he was getting hurt, all because of his need to protect me. I would feel terrible if something happen to him. Would it truly be my fault though? That I didn't know.
I heard one final snarl. Who had won? I found out soon enough. I heard his proud and strong howl, and I knew it was him.
It was then was I able to wake up in relief