Little Wolf

Ch 3 Connected

Loping back toward home in the pre-dawn darkness, shoulder to shoulder with my dad, gave me a sense of comfort and completeness. We had connected up during the night, getting to know our new neighbors. Dad and I had left the new pack behind, the two of us mock-fighting, hunting for small game and playing together.

Dad and I were so close physically that our shoulders or sides touched most of the time. We would part for the occasional leap over an obstacle then come back together again, both of us needing that closeness. We had the same pace, and similar heights now. Dad was still huskier than me, and I was a bit taller in the shoulder than him. I could only hope that we would be closer emotionally as well. I know he loved me, but the last year, especially the last few months, had been hard and lonely with Mom gone.

Our home was on the outskirts of our little community, right up against a stand of trees. Dad led the way along the row of bushes to the opening in the crawl space under our trailer, ensuring privacy for wolfish excursions. Dad leaped up through the hidden door he had made in the floor of the spare bedroom. He was altering his body even as he made the awkward jump up. By the time I scrambled up and finished shifting in the hall, he was already opening the fridge, shaking his head at its sparse offerings.

"How long was I out there?" he asked, his voice a bit rough from lack of use. He pulled out the remaining lunch meat.

I finished sliding on the pair of shorts I nabbed and threw him his before replying.

"About a month," I answered as I pulled out the bread. "Don't forget the mayo and mustard while you're in there. People were beginning to talk, wondering if you'd be back for the start of classes in a few weeks."

Dad threw me a troubled look but didn't say anything right away. He took the time to set everything on the old pine table, started to close the fridge door, reopened it to grab the milk, before closing the fridge tight. He finally got around to putting on his shorts.

"That long? I'm truly sorry, son. I thought it was only a week at most. You must have thought I'd abandoned you."

There was remorse and pain in his eyes as he turned to me. Since Mom died, we'd continually snapped at each other without meaning to; then we'd trip over each other to apologize. Before long, we would go off on each other again, then apologize, snap, apologize... The cycle had been repeating more often for the few months before his extended run. The thought he caused me pain while lost in his sorrow tortured him.

I quickly reassured him. "Nah, I know you needed some time and a bit of space. I think we both did," I added softly.

I looked down in a bit of shame over our behavior without even thinking. Mom would have chewed us both out for acting like that. Looking back up, I couldn't help but grin. I tried to keep my tone cheerful without overdoing it.

"Uncle Two Feathers had me over often enough for dinner, and even Grandfather invited me over a few times."

Making it sound like my uncle had invited me was stretching the truth a little. Running Elk had literally and forcefully dragged me out of my house, again and again, to join him on his summertime excursions. He hadn't given either me or his parents any choice, maneuvering me to his family's dinner table for most of the last month.

Grandfather, on the other hand, was a touchy subject. The old chief still had mixed feelings about his only daughter's choice of spouse, even after all this time.

Grandfather saw my dad as a stranger, not of the people, and only tolerated because my mother loved him. That my father was bound to the wolf, as my grandfather saw it, caused a bit of awe mixed with concern. As much as I knew my grandfather loved me, I think the old man also resented my very existence. He never liked the changes my mother desired to be able to give birth to me.