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The Wolf Shows Out
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THE MINIATURE WOLF Wolf In The Smoke
I knew Dad disapproved of me grabbing Mac's bottle. Dad's philosophy, understandably, was one of choice. Mac stood in the doorway and looked as if he wanted to tear into me.I had a feeling it was my dad standing at his shoulder that kept Mac in place. He didn't need to worry, though, either of them. I'll give the bottle back in a minute.I dug through my saddlebags to pull out Auntie's jar of salve. I set it on the bike's seat. Auntie was a great herbalist and used a combination of essential oils and witch hazel that helped with aches and bruises. Then I dug deeper.I pulled out the brown paper-wrapped package Grandfather had given me. It was time.I heard Dad's sudden indrawn breath. He nudged his way past Mac but stopped after a few steps."You'll need a fire."Dad came over and took the box of wooden matches from me. He headed toward the back yard.I looked at Mac, holding out his bottle to him. The big man came over slowly. I could tell he was thinking about asking, but my dad's
THE MINIATURE WOLF Date Night
"Dad!"Derrick snickered as my dad fussed over me."It's a date, not the prom! You weren't this bad when I went to prom!""That's because your mother got to fuss then. Hold still."I tolerated his tugs on my dress shirt and his hand through my hair, knowing Dad thought Mom would do such things. I finally met with his approval, except for the one question he just had to go and ask."Did you grab some of the..."I rushed out the front door, then had to go back in to grab my keys out of his hand. Derrick was busting a gut laughing. I didn't bother risking any more of my dignity with a single word.I was glad Derrick had loosened up with my dad. When I went to put my pipe away after the smoke with Mac and Dad, the guys had respectfully parted for me. Mac poured the third bottle into the ground. I had urged Mac's men to go to him. Let them blame his crying on the previous two bottles of booze if they wanted to save some sort of face; I didn't care.By the time I was rubbing some of Aunty's
THE MINIATURE WOLF Yard Party
I woke Dad up with my vacuum in the living room."Does this mean the date went badly?""Mahina's coming over for dinner tonight."A long pause. The vacuum stopped. Dad had unplugged it."Son, it's not even six in the morning. Have you slept?"I shook my head no.Dad came over, putting his forehead against mine. "There's time. You need to sleep, Son. If you are anxious in your own home, how do you think Mahina will feel? You need to relax."Derrick chose that moment to drag himself out of his room, looking at me bleary-eyed. Apparently, I woke him up as well."Why don't you go for a run with Derrick? Pound some of that anxiety out with your two feet."Dad threw a look at Derrick. "If you don't mind? I'll put some coffee on for you."Derrick gave a yawn but nodded yes and headed back to his room to change."Son, it is the man experiencing tension. The wolf is fine; trust me. Keep yourself all man."I only nodded as Dad pulled the vacuum from my hands and wound up the cord.I thought abo
THE MINIATURE WOLF Forest Fire
Derrick and I were heading from one kind of fire to another.The party had ended well. The fire pit had been a huge success. There was enough firewood stacked behind the old shed to last all winter and half of the next summer.Chani had taken a liking to Derrick, at least for the night. The two of them had spent some time kissing. With Dad acting as a chaperone, you can be sure nothing else happened.Dad did swap out a few drinks from our younger guests, giving them a fresh can of coke. I grinned, thinking that no one could make a better guardian at a party. Wolf nose could smell the alcohol easily. Wolf hearing would know if anyone snuck off. It made me realize how easy Dad had been with me on occasion, saying nothing about a few of my teenage exploits.I could bet Dad got little sleep that night, patrolling the tents. He gave his truck keys to Running Elk when they headed out Monday morning.Derrick and I were in a truck now. It was heading in the opposite direction, though. We had
THE MINIATURE WOLF Man-instinct
I was drawn to my bike. Some people were nearby but no one was too close. I sniffed the air. Something told me I was safe to shift. I dressed out of habit. I slid on the heavy yellow jacket that identified me as someone helping to combat the fire.There were noises, words. I knew what they meant. I headed over. Someone had been hurt using a chainsaw. I picked it up. It was easy to spot the man in charge, yelling directions to various workers."Where?" Again, my voice came out using wolf sounds to make human words."You know what you're doing with that saw?" He had his hand on my arm as he yelled the question over the noise around us.I nodded.He pointed me in the right direction. There was a line of men cutting down a row of trees. The idea was to keep the fire from jumping from treetop to treetop, so it wouldn't spread further.I worked with the men a few hours before we pulled out. Someone took the chainsaw from me. I went back to my bike. I could picture Derrick in my mind. I kne
THE MINIATURE WOLF A Visit Home
Dad was there the moment I got off the bike."Where's your phone?"I pulled the long dead device from my saddlebags. Dad handed it to Derrick, motioning toward the house.I never made it to the house. Dad grabbed me in a wrestling move before I got halfway there. It ticked me off. I wanted to sleep in my own bed, not fight on the front lawn with people watching.At least it didn't develop into a fight. The wrestling hold turned into a big hug. Dad kept telling me I wasn't supposed to be stupid. I didn't think he was going to let go for a second.I hugged him back. I was looking forward to telling Dad my story, at least the part with the wolves and how I rescued the kids from the fire. I knew the story of the elders around the fire was something Grandfather would understand.Dad and I were still holding each other around the shoulders when we turned toward the house. Mahina was standing in the doorway with Derrick. I looked at Dad."I wasn't the only one worried. Derrick had called, sa
THE MINIATURE WOLF The Power of Stories
I woke to Dad hollering at someone. I groaned from the pile of clothes I was curled on top of. That made me blink and look at the guest bedroom door. Dad had installed a simple hook and eye for privacy.I couldn't believe I had shifted to wolf at some point during the night. It was Dad's clothes I had made a bed of. I sighed to myself.Apparently everything I had been through had affected me more than I realized, especially if I still needed the comfort of sleeping on Dad's stuff.He still kept the chewed up pair of shoes from when I was a puppy under his bed. I found them about a week after his extended run after Mom died, much the way I found myself this morning. I had gone to bed back then crying, wanting my dead mother and my missing father. I woke up with the old chewed up shoes under me, me in wolf-form under his bed, fresh naw marks on the old shoes.They had been my go-to comfort whenever I woke up in the middle of the night as a kid. I remember pulling them out of dad's close
THE MINIATURE WOLF Wolf Pointe
It was fun running with Dad again, shoulder to shoulder, along a path we'd scratched out of the forest over the years. Even wild wolves followed this path on occasion. The pointe had a great view and the sound from there, well, you could hear and be heard for miles.Dad and I weren't the only wolves in the woods tonight.I could tell from the scents in the area that the wolf sent to represent the Arctic Wolf had been around for the last few days.The old grey was laying on the stone of the pointe. When I looked at him I saw only a wolf.There was another smaller wolf, friendly and unafraid, sitting on the trail. His coat was more yellow with black on its back and tail."A Mexican wolf," said Dad in surprise, shifting to speak. "Rare in the world these days. Hola, Lobo," Dad said, greeting him in Spanish.When I looked through Spirit Wolf's eyes I could see others gathering.The shy wolf I had seen hiding, not wanting to be found, had come despite his fear. He was ranging at the edges
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