To Protect Their Young

Part 2

So entranced was he by the sight of the wolf, Jarod did not hear the door of the house open, nor did he hear the footsteps quickly moving behind him. He did, however, hear the clicking of the shotgun as his father aimed it directly at the wolf, and at that moment, the spell that had held the two gazes engaged was broken.

“Don’t move a muscle, Jarod”, his father said quietly.

“Daddy, please don’t do it!” Jarod pleaded as he whispered back.

The wolf had turned its gaze from the boy to his father. Fear became evident as it seemed to know it was in danger. As it turned and began to run away with the chicken still in its mouth, Derek adjusted his aim and began to squeeze the trigger.

“No!” Jarod shouted as the tiny boy tried to tackle his big father while the trigger was being pulled. As Derek was thrown slightly off balance, his shot ended up in the trees. Jarod looked back at the wolf as it jumped the perimeter fence and began to run. He saw two small wolf pups running after the large wolf. For a split second, before disappearing in the trees, the mother wolf turned and looked back at Jarod and their eyes briefly met again. Then in an instant, she was gone.

Derek began to pace furiously as his adrenaline levels began to die down and his emotions began to kick in.

“What were you thinking, Jarod! You could have gotten yourself killed out here!” Tears were streaming down Derek’s face as just the mere thought of losing Jarod crossed his mind. “There are dangerous things out here, and you can’t just go running out like that! I could have lost you!”

Derek fell to his knees and embraced Jarod as more tears trickled down his face. Amy ran outside after hearing the shotgun blast. She saw Derek fall to his knees and hold Jarod. Her hands flew to her face as she attempted to grasp the situation.

“What happened?” said Amy as panic was rising in her voice when she saw how distressed Derek was.

“Everything is ok, hun. There was a wild animal going after the chickens and I scared it off. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Derek stood up and hugged his wife tightly.

Amy decided not to ask any more questions, although there were dozens of them floating around in her mind. She was happy that her men were safe and they all walked back into the house holding onto each other tightly. After Derek and Jarod were treated to some steaming hot chocolate, everyone went back to sleep in the warmth and the safety of their little home.

Not much was mentioned of the wolf incident in the following months. Derek and Amy were extra protective over Jarod, but he never complained. He had never seen his father so scared and he never wanted to see that look on his face again. Sometimes Jarod thought he caught glimpses of the mother wolf on the other side of the fence, but he could never tell for certain because he would only see a flash of grey that would quickly disappear.

Another year passed and the region began to suffer from some severe drought conditions. Once flowing green grass turned brown and brittle, flowers wilted in the sun, and it became excruciatingly hot outside. During one particularly oppressive day, Jarod decided to take a large bowl of water and place it outside the fence at the edge of their property. The water sources in the area had been drying up and he was concerned for the wolf just in case she was still around and suffering from dehydration. For some reason, Jarod felt an odd connection with her since that night. When he heard the wolf songs at night, he would imagine she was singing to him to sleep.