He’s been missing for days, despite my efforts to lure him back to the village.

My family tried to stop me, talking about the dangers of the dark woods and that he wasn’t worth it… but I knew he was.

So I left the village with a bag about my shoulders and worry wriggling in my chest. I navigated using the stars and looked everywhere he could hide, but there have been signs and I know that he is nearby.

That was three weeks ago, and I still think I’m on his trail. Half eaten prey, claw marks on towering trees, even cold dens lined with familiar fur.

My beard has grown and my joints ache. Maybe I should turn back, I’m running low on rations and I’ve nearly been killed twice.

But then I hear a whimper.

My heart races and I scramble over shrubbery and almost fall over the wolf that is caught under a fallen tree. It isn’t my dear wolf, but she looks so exhausted that she doesn’t mind me getting close and finding a branch to lever the trunk from the ground.

She crawls out, weakly snarling. Once she’s free I step back and pull out rabbit jerky.

Her eyes lock onto it but she doesn’t move.

Putting the treat down and stepping away I can see she’s still wary. But she eats it fast and walks away, limping slightly.

I’m watching her leave when something heavy slams into me and I’m on the ground as a slathering mouth licks my face -

“Rufus!” I shout delightedly, hugging my wolf as he wags his tail hard on the ground.

Then smaller mouths nip at my shoes and I can see wolf cubs sniffing and chewing curiously.

“Oh, are these…”

The female wolf has suddenly appeared close by again, and the cubs rush at her, a scramble of soft fur an big paws. Rufus gives her a hearty lick too, leaving me alone and damp.

I camp nearby as the wolf family seem to recover from the mothers accident. Any extra meat I catch goes to them and as night falls I find the tiny family across from my orange fire, curled up as the stars shine above.