I walk along the corridor, heading to my lodge, before someone notices me. “Bora!” Woolly clamor of feet move quicker my way. Ugh. As I continued to falter towards my room, I felt too exhausted to deal with the company. His slim, brawny arm wrapped around my collar, and I tossed it, not wanting to be touched. “Where are you going?” His smile is still vibrant, ignoring the signs that he is bothersome.

“To bed.” 

“In the middle of the day?”

“I worked out.”

“Great, now you should meet the tribe.”

“What tribe? All I’ve seen are Miska’s eyebrows, the elders’ limp, Keko ego, and your eagerness. Oh yeah, the titan babies and the useless flunkies. By the way, they should be trained and not handmaids. Waste of skill.” 

“Agreed. But that’s how Keko likes them, because they are better when mating. You know, soft enough to dig your fingers into.”

“Ugh.” I said in disgust and watched him stare at me in confusion. 

“What?”

“Um, didn’t you leave the cave?” 

“Yes, and it was an open plain with trees.” 

“Awe. You left through the kitchen area. We are much bigger than that. Follow me.”

He strolled ahead but paused and stared at me with a big grin. Sigh. Whatever, I follow him to a confined dark cave hall with lanterns. A place I am unfamiliar with. We reached a more gaping yet narrow part of the cave where snow shoveled under a handmade staircase that ascended closer to the ceiling, showing the opening. Hearing drums and laughing young ones from here. 

We reached the top. It is a village of huts the size of middle-class garages made of tree beams and sturdy roofs that begin within the cave, leading out the exit. “Cool, right?” Woolly trails off to speak with mothering-she’s and merry whelp. 

“Yeah.” I have to admit, it looks wholesome.

We stroll through the nitty gritty of the smoking aspen coming from chimneys and little ones running around while he-wolves buddy-buddy with drinks. A black smith, she-dire, in a jagged-leather bra with an apron pounding the steel at the service window. I stopped to memorize the fiery iron. “Are you a weapon person?” She did not lose focus.

I gazed at her oil smudges across the nose. She works hard. The females in this place. Most of them are equal to the males, but the males, however, protect them. Miska is strong but still keeps an army at hand. It was not like that with gray wolves. Carina was different but still had to obey until she overthrew the alpha. “Not really.” I picked up the biggest sword off a displaying table with one hand and swirled its weight. 

She looked up. “Oh, Alpha Ski Enceladus.” 

“I’m not your alpha, and that’s not my name.” The hell is she on about—

“Don’t let big Keko hear you say that.” The man in the rear part of the room, flipping dough. 

“Ah, that whore.” They both laugh. “Anyway, my friend. You don’t look like the weapon type. But I got something for you.” She pointed with enthusiasm. She headed to a back closet, pulling out enormous weapons and leaning them against the wall, hoping one wasn’t for me because there is no way in hell I will carry that around in the modern world. “Found it!” She blew dust from it.

Her little pep towards me with her held out arm dropped it in my hand. A pocket dagger? They sheath it in peanut butter leather with dark grooves and short black strings with beads. I pulled it out, hearing the blade’s eerie sound sharpen against the stone inside. It’s a black blade designed to appear like a leaf with a very sharp point.

I look up at her. “You like it?” She held her smile. 

“Ah, a small blade for a small man.” A wet bearded muskrat of a wolf man laid his arms on my shoulder. 

“You know, in the human world, being six feet is a nice height.” 

“Yeah, but here you’re the same height as she-wolves. They like’em short. Welcome to being a target.” 

They all cackled as he squeezed me closer to his beard, losing my mind from it sliding across my face. A group of she-wolves pass by, winking at me. “Exactly. We can conquer him as a whole.” One said, rubbing the tips of her fingers across my chest. I got loose from the tight grip while the laughs and idiocy distracted them. I escaped in the crowd. Where the hell is Woolly? Right in the center of everything, I spot him standing around a table tree stump with the tribe’s powerful arms. 

The closer I get, I notice a map spread over the stump and Keko showing leadership for the first time I’ve known him. They may have hope. I move past the arms to listen in. “Our food supply is getting low. Which is an immense problem during this time of the season. Our next supplier isn’t due for another three months. We can split into groups to search for more food. Orange, you can go north east. Purple, you can travel along the banks.” 

“There is nothing in the south.” Everyone looked up at me. “When I tried to leave, I came across a starving polar bear.” 

“He might just be a poor hunter.” 

“Not him, no. He snuck up on me and knocked me on my ass.” 

“Void. You weren’t one hundred percent.” 

“Enough from dying.” 

“Hush, this doesn’t concern you.” 

“Right. So why is the village low on food supply? Sounds like you’re too busy waving sheets and not handling business as you should.” His face blushed out red with a shaken jaw.

“Our population increased by five percent over the summer and late fall.” Woolly informed. I raised a suspicious brow at Keko, thinking how could that have possibly happened?

“I had nothing to do with that.” He protested. 

“Void.” I mocked.

“Hey, you two, arguing will get us nowhere. We need to figure out how to feed the village.” Woolly took the lead. “Bora said there is nothing in the south, and nothing in the north. The best way to handle this is to loot the civilizations without getting caught, which also puts us at risk. Too many eyes will stare at our differences. They will be on high alert just by the sight of us.”

“There’s a salmon farm in the west bank.” A warrior pointed at the area on the map. “I ran across it during my meditation hike. One coast guard and two sea guards on foot at night. Took a few fish without them knowing. But I am one being. Unsure how we can pull it off for our wolf people.”

“I say you grab enough for the month. This should take at least five of us.” I folded my arms as they listened. “Five is enough to go undetected while also watching each other’s backs. Early morning is our best bet. Two, maybe three A.M.” Keko eyed me, faintly pounding his hand into his fist, finding something to whine over my plan.

“It’s not a bad idea.” He broke through his stubborn shell. “Who will be the five?” He looked at the fifteen that were in front of him.

“We need someone quick on their feet.” 

“I guess that will be Woolly. He is the quickest out of all of us. Me and now three more.” Keko throwing his hat on the rink, too.

“Wait? I am not fit to do this.” Woolly, nervous and small shaking hands, confirms the Alpha is too soft on his wolves. We need to be strong for numbers.

Sigh, I shouldn’t do this. “I will go too.” I put myself in. “Now we need two more.” 

“We’ll go.” Some top knotted twins suggested. “We also have the best eyesight.”

“That settles it. We leave in two days.” He rolled up the map and waved to relieve everyone. What am I doing? I’m getting too involved in this.

“Wait Alpha Keko, let’s talk about this.” Woolly followed behind. Begging. 

Two days. No update from the bird. We traveled the ice ground, treading carefully through the frostbite Fraser fur till we confronted the sea. There was the sea farm, surrounded by an enclosure of cement with nets dipped in it. We looked at each other and nodded. They morph into their dire image of various shades of white. I leaped into my mind just to find out I am human, thinking I will land all four. I tumbled to the cold grass, splashing into the water. 

Flash lights from the coast guard started shining over me as I dipped lower to move, sensing their stress levels easing. Good, my senses almost fully charged. I’m still useful. I swam to the enclosure. Swimming around to find a ladder. I peeked at the end of the steel fence bridge. Clear. Keko, meet me head on, now in human form. “What happened?” 

“I can’t change into my dire wolf. I shake my nerves like a ram engine, but nothing.”

“Good thing this job recommends hands.” 

“Yeah.” We threw nets inside with bait to gather them. When we sense enough, at once, we haul them up. 

“Who’s there?” By the reflex of hearing a human voice, we eased into the enclosure with the fish. We hear the pounding of the footsteps coming closer. These salmon swam around me while I swayed them upward to block the flashlight, keeping myself in the dark. Woolly is behind guards, growling. They jump, turning and see him calmed, staring at them as though his presence is natural to be there. 

Whatever his plan is, needs to be acted out now. I am losing my breath. “It was just a wolf. Well, you don’t seem like a threat. Look at those stubby legs.” The men cracked, laughing in the most belligerent, disrespectful way. I personally wouldn’t take that. Woolly snapped at them, angry, and made them shut their fly traps. The men glanced at each and screamed, running through the bridge as he chased them. This is our time. Not what we had planned, but we can improvise. 

“Let me help.” One twin showed up for Keko and I. We hauled the fish out while the guards distracted and bolted out of there to our ice skis. Out of sight, out of mind, picking up Woolly on the way out, hopping on my ski doo.

“Nice save!” We high five, seeing a proud smirk on his face.