Later on that night, you slump down in your new home. Erin has made her den in an old, abandoned mine shaft set into the rocks at the opposite side of the wooded parkland from town. Your night vision picks out the scratch marks on one wall of the entry tunnel, marking the sixty days Erin has lived her lupine life. As your fur gradually drives off from your run in the pouring rain, you examine your sharp claws. Claws that you need to survive as the predator that you now are…
You reach out and scratch a claw mark of your own next to Erin’s. The she-wolf snuggled against you smiles at your action. She is nice and warm, you think to yourself. And Erin will be the first ever girl – well, the first juvenile female – you will be spending the whole night with.
“I guess that you had a liking for wolves, for the book to draw you to that same page as me,” you put to her.
“You are right – wolves are my favourite animals! Of course they – we – are carnivores, but wolves only take what they need to survive. They struck me as noble, beautiful creatures, which pull together like a family should do. They’re better than some humans…”
You take in Erin’s sorrowful expression. “You…didn’t enjoy your human life, did you?” you ask her.
“No. I had no friends at school, and my father…was too much of a disciplinarian, Clyde. He thought I was a dreamer, a weakling. He always wanted me to be the son he never had. And my mother couldn’t stand up to him.”
“Oh, Erin…” Your anger comes out as a growl. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”
“We never got to know each other, as humans – did we?” Erin muses sadly. “But I remember you seemed the nicest guy of your group.”
“Yup, that’s me – nice, but remarkable. Still, we are pack mates now. We stay together, right?”
“Yes. But we can be friends too, surely, Clyde? I want to like you for who you are – not just because of what you are.”
You consider that, and realise the wisdom of Erin’s words. Outside the mine shaft, the rain continues unabated – whilst the two of you keep each other warm in the dry tunnel. “Well, we’re not going anywhere, are we?” You manage to smile. “Tell me all about yourself, Erin – and then I’ll say all there is to know about me…”