I’d never ran alongside another wolf before. We flew through the trees, fast and agile as we cleared stray branches, leaping over rocks and splashing through an errant creek. I forgot my troubles for the liberation of the run, warmth, and joy coursing through my veins even as my healing leg grew sore. Aislin raced me and won and bragged playfully; and after catching our breath, she picked up the scent of a grouse, and we stalked it together. She kept it from escaping until I pounced, taking its neck between my teeth. My first kill left me feeling invigorated and stronger than ever.
Within Grandbay territory, there were no threatening smells, no ominous wolf howls, no foreboding sensation that I was being watched and judged. Aislin’s keenness to teach me made me feel welcome like I could
