The next morning, everyone woke up at 7:30 to get to the park early. The morning was the time when a lot of predators were out so the kids could see them without it being dark. Dusk and dawn was when predators were most active. Daniel leashed me up and we got into the car to go to Itasca after a very rushed morning in the hotel.

When we parked there weren't many people there, which was good because then the groups wouldn't be big and noisy, making the animals run away. We approached the sign in cabin, pushing open the green doors. Inside was luxurious but cozy with a large fireplace and lots of park merchandise.

"Marie, Felix, go sit next to the fireplace," Daniel ordered as he turned back to Lynn, who was speaking with the old lady at the front desk. Marie looked over to Felix with a rebellious grin.

     "Do you wanna go upstairs?" She asked, thrilled about the thought of running off. The upstairs wasn't anything to look at. I reckoned it just had paintings or something about the park's history in it.

     "Let's do it," Felix smirked and checked over his shoulder at his parents, who were both occupied by the front desk. He then looked back at Marie and mouthed, "go".

     They snuck upstairs like little snakes, giggling along the way. What were they hoping to find that was so interesting that they'd disobey their parents? As we reached the top of the stairs, we were greeted with a glass cage that was only four feet high, but covered the whole room for the most part. In it were little wolf pups, who were glomming over each other, yipping and yapping like pups do. One noticed me, who looked like a wolf, stared.

     "How'd you get out? How are you on a leash? Why aren't you running?" The first pup who saw me asked. Soon the other squirming balls of fur looked up at me, and then at the kids who were gasping and squealing. I thought on the pup's question for a moment, then had an idea.

     "It was very, very hard," I began, thinking up a tall tale on the spot. "I had to dig my way out. I dug the whole way down and under the fence, and then the second one. I made sure that nobody was around to see my escape. I kicked the last inch of dirt out, and crawled out. The other wolves called me crazy, but I didn't care. I ran and I ran, dodging the bullets of the park wardens, but I escaped."

     There were little gasps as I told my fib. Then, I started to exaggerate.

"I was caught when I got shot, right in the shoulder, and they dragged me into here. I fought and I fought, but I just... Couldn't do it with losing so much blood," the pup who first spoke to me stared in awe, but also suspicion.

"Why aren't you bleeding now?" He frowned and looked at both of my shoulders for a mark.

"It was a long time ago," I looked at both of my shoulders to see if there was a convincing mark. There was none, so I licked the fur on one shoulder, making it stick straight up. "That's the scar."

"Why don't you fight back?" He glared at the kids who were still squealing, but hushed so that their parents would not hear.

"They have me on a sh-shock collar on me," I made it look like I got shocked when I said 'shock'.

"Marie, Felix, where are you?" I heard Daniel's annoyed tone from down the steps. The kids squinted like they'd just been shot, and looked at each other with those typical "oh no" faces. They slowly inched downstairs to their parents who were eyeing them disapprovingly.

"There's wolf puppies up there!" Marie defended, reluctant to come downstairs. Lynn and Daniel seemed to lift their faces for a moment.

     "That's nice, but our group is about to leave. Get Kami and let's go," Daniel put on his assertive father voice and scratched behind his head.

The group was almost silent other than the occasional "look!" or "woah." I found it quite boring. All there was to look at were water foul and the occasional eagle. I heard something behind me in a bush, so I turned and looked. Through the leaves I could see a small squirrel hunched over a pile of peanuts that someone in our group must've given it. As if it was starving, it shoved all of them in its mouth and stared at me, then it flew up a nearby tree. My hunting instincts kicked into gear, so I followed it along the ground as it leapt from tree to tree. Eventually it turned into a hole in a tree, so I turned back to the group.

"Oh there you are, Kami. We saw a skunk!" Marie cheered, grinning widely and looking at a few birds overhead.

     "Kami, c'mere, you need your leash. You'd make a wonderful sandwich for a bear," Daniel teased, apparently not realizing I was gone until Marie did. He reached down and slipped the grey leash around my neck.

     "Look, a wolf!" The tour guide whispered in a thick Canadian accent, pointing toward a large hill.

     A menacing wolf stood with his chest out proudly, looking down on the group.  I caught his eye. He looked worried, looking behind him, then at me. While everyone else in our group shot pictures and oohed and ahhed at the animal, him and I simply locked eyes for a solid thirty seconds. After that, he howled a rally, his pack coming to him from behind the hill, earning a few more gasps from the crowd. What does he want? I wondered. It seemed almost like he wanted me to come to him.

     "That means he wants all of the wolves to rally, when he howls like that," the tour guide said almost on cue, smiling pleasantly at the other hikers. And that was what this alpha wanted. He wanted me to come, but why? I thought that rallies were for pack members only.

     Just then, the alpha whispered something to the timber wolf next to him. The timber nodded and turned off of the hill. I wondered what he had said as the alpha and I locked eyes again. He started putting on a show, coming closer to the group, rolling on the ground, and making numerous noises to please the crowd.

     "Kami, stay," Daniel ordered and placed the end of the leash under a small stone for it to stay in place. He put his camera into his hands and started taking pictures of his own.

     I felt a slight tugging around my neck accompanied by a tiny rustling behind me. I slowly turned my head, afraid that it was a bear, a cougar, something that would maul me and the others. To my surprise, it was the same timber that the alpha had whispered to. When he noticed I had seen him, he mouthed, "Don't let them know I'm here," as he pushed the rock that held my leash over and turned around, stealthily bounding through the woods. He looked back at me when he realized I wasn't following, motioning for me to do so. I could catch up with my family, they wouldn't even notice I was gone. I slid away from the group, following the pack wolf. A real wolf.

"Where are we going?" I questioned the timber. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"I just saved your rear end," he smirked, taking a right and bolting up the hill to where the pack was.

"From what?" I asked.

"Humans, idiot," he shot back. Where was he taking me? Why did he 'save' me? Why are humans so bad? So many questions were left unanswered as we reached the top of the hill.

"Don't let the humans see you," the timber ordered. I did as he said, staying behind the crest of the hill. He barked down over the hill and I heard the pack thundering up the incline.

"Welcome back, Lokel," the alpha greeted, tapping me on the shoulder. I gave a confused look.

"What do you want from me?" I asked bluntly. He looked shocked.

"Keep your attitude down or you will be demoted! We just saved you. This isn't like you!" He growled, nipping my ear.

"Not like him is right... Come look," a she wolf from behind me started to growl. The rest of the group started to look at my markings, particularly my tail. "You're not Lokel... You're not even a wolf!"

I was attacked from all angles. In a desperate attempt to get away from the snapping jaws and deep growls, I lifted myself into the air and jumped over one of the group's back, bolting back down the hill. They started to follow, but stopped half way down when they saw the tourist group take notice.

"Kami, get back here, now!" Daniel shouted in a powerful voice, snatching my leash as I cowered at his legs. Once I was out of the pack's reach I checked myself over for a gash or wound. Nothing serious, just a few nicks and the biggest wound being a loss of a bit of skin on my foreleg. Or maybe my biggest loss was my pride.

     "Get out of here, dog! Pet!" The alpha roared down the hill, a 'you're a disgrace' look on his face. I guess I can't be a wolf or a dog... I thought, slowly slipping into a slumped state. Nobody wants me.

     "Daniel, I thought you were supposed to be holding his leash!" Lynn snapped in Daniel's direction, then looking at my leg. "He's hurt now."

     Daniel went on trying to defend himself while Lynn chewed him out. I moved around a lot to show them that I was okay so that they could continue the hike. It worked, and I never saw that pack again, nor would I ever want to.