Little Wolf

Ch 60 Epilogue

The man sighed, the once noisy home empty and silent again after everyone left. It was the silence that ate at him. The forest was never silent.

He smiled slightly at the heavy thumps across the back yard.

"Yo!"

"Come in Mac."

The big man stood uneasily, somehow more comfortable around dozens of unknown werewolves than he was alone with this one.

"Have a seat," the older man commanded. "I want to show you something."

The old leather couch creaked under the big man's weight.

The werewolf turned on the old vhs player, checking the tauntness of the tape before feeding it to the machine. He came over and sat next to the other man.

"What, no popcorn?"

The werewolf ignored the man, not caring that the big man was uncomfortable.

The boy on the tape positioned himself in front of the camera. His eyes were red and puffy, and when he started to speak it was through the last of his tears.

"This is a message for all of you wolves out there, the ones who have journeyed with me through my childhood. I wanted to let you know that there will be no more stories about Little Wolf. For two reasons really."

The boy paused, fiddling with his hands, where claw tips were visible.

"The first reason is I'm not a child anymore. The stories about Little Wolf were about my childhood. I've been debating what my grown-up name should be. There's one waiting for me."

He smiled slightly, straightening up as if he really was a man and not an overgrown boy. The tears were not far away.

"The second reason has to do with the author. Listen well now, for this is River Woman's final story."

Fur moved ripples along the boy's shoulders as his eyes closed. His eyes stayed closed as fur sprouted to cover his chest. His voice took on a sing-song quality.

"Long ago, there was a young girl who looked up at the sky, taking in its depth and width stretching above the wide earth. She had seen in a vision how the life that filled the earth was connected, beyond what most people could see. She saw her part in that flow of life, knowing the pull of life's current was not always smooth.

She embraced that current, knowing that once she stepped into it, her fate was sealed. She took the name River Woman to signify her acceptance of all that life had, including the River at the end of life that all must cross.

She met a man who was touched by the Spirit of the Wolf, and fell in love with him. Their love was true. She embraced the wolf within him so much so, that Spirit Wolf reached out and touched her as well.

You know what happened after that, gentle readers, because you've shared in the stories of her life.

Brother cougar watched the two become three, and became jealous of their happiness. He did not think Spirit Wolf should have gifted them like he did, with the ability to live as one with the wolf. He had wanted the woman to embrace the cougar and not the wolf, for the woman was the daughter of Brother Cougar.

Brother Cougar decided to end the wolf within them. He forgot how all life was tied together. The Spirit of the Cougar honored his brother's request, attacking the woman, ending not just the wolf within her, but her life as well.

'NO!' Brother Cougar cried out! He had wanted to end the wolf, not his daughter! The Spirit of the Cougar wanted to teach his brother how wrong his request was, and remind him how all life was connected.