Sephtis

9. The wolf growls

I do not move. The big male runs towards me a little way, sniffing, then stops. He is a massive beast, almost as high my shoulder, and longer than a man is tall. His ears move back, and he thrusts his great head forward. His body is stiff and aggressive. He pulls back his lips in a warning snarl exposing his teeth. His growl is a savage rumble coming from the depths of him, from the core of the ancient earth itself.
He steps towards me, then stops, all his body telling his fury. I anger him, but I do not know why, and, as if sensing my inexperience, he halts his attack. I am afraid, not of him, but of myself, because he is communing with me and I do not understand, and my ignorance could be fatal. I am in awe of him. His presence overwhelms me, seems to fill the forest and block out the moon.

Somewhere in a far part of my mind is a voice screaming at me to run, but in a another, quieter part is the awareness that to run would mean certain death. It takes all my strength to stand and look into his eyes and then I realize: it is by staring that I challenge him. So I do what the cubs do, when they appeal for tolerance. I kneel on the ground in front of him, my eyes narrowed and turned aside, my face against the earth. The growling changes, becomes low and soft. I feel the wolf come close, hear his massive paws shifting in the leaves and dust.

A hundred moons I wait. All my life hangs in his power, swinging between his wildness and his restraint. I know that if he were a warrior, and I his enemy I would have been slain by now without mercy. Yet still I live, and though the wolf growls, I feel no hate in him.

"I trust you with my life, great chief," I say. "I have no argument with you."

The wolf stops growling. I feel his breath on the back of my neck, and he sniffs my wrists and hands. I have no fear, only a sense of wonder, and a deep respect. Bygone memories flash across my mind: a hole in the ground; the remains of a rabbit; and a wolf close like this, though they are not mine, and I tremble with an even greater respect for this mighty beast. Without raising my eyes I stroke his chest and the pale fur of his chin. He takes my hand in his mouth and chews it gently. He does not hurt. I dare to look up, and see his eyes near to mine, brilliant, overpowering and all too human. I cannot look at them for long. He releases his hold on my hand, and we sit together. Peace washes over me. I feel as if he knows everything about me and excepts me completely.  There is no judgement, no prejudice, I feel cleansed. And when the wolf leans his head against mine I weep for sheer joy, and know I have at last found a true home.

When he stretches out to sleep, I lie just beyond his shadow. The moons light is on my face, and my new kinsfolk lie about me dozing in the cool night air. I open my eyes a slit, and look at them.

The she-wolf watches me, her nose on her paws, but she is relaxed. The other female rests in the thick shadows of a crumbling wall, and every now and again she opens one eye and looks at the cubs. Exhausted at last, they sprawl on their backs with their little round bellies exposed to the moon, legs splayed. Compared with their noble elders they are ridiculous, and I love them.

I begin to sing them all a song, a song of happiness and home-coming, and of peace, their ears moving as they listen. Then I lie in silence, and think of names for them.
The cubs are easy I call the male Akar and his sister Orbah, which are are are our old clan words for trouble and trickery. The she-wolf I call Zahar, which means brightness, because of the life in her eyes. The younger female is Shamar, because she is the keeper of the young ones. And the chief wolf, the one whom I entrusted my life, I call a name which means hope and blessings, Kavah.

(Hey guys another's authors note, Uhg I know.  Just letting you know that the names Sephtis has chosen for the wolves are in fact Hebrew, and each have a special meaning related to each wolf's personality, and the names (well most of them haha) are not just made up words I plucked from the wilderness of my mind ;)
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