Page 5 of Wolf's Whisper

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.

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