FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter IV

"Acka, amacka, abacka, avacka." She repeated. Mathew's head felt bloated from all the words she constantly repeated, especially when they were very similar! A crackling fire also had the attention of Mathew's nose. The savory smell of venison cooking filled the hut making it that much harder to concentrate on an empty stomach. For wolves, they could cook very well.

"Um..." He hesitated. Aitu frowned and thought of something else.

"Nen." She tried an easy word. "Nen!" Another pause didn't sit well with her.

"Don't understand." He shook his head. That phrase was very handy to know. Aitu growled baring her teeth in frustration. The way she sat increased her height in comparison. Mathew fearfully leaned back, hoping that her impatient anger wouldn't boil over. Aitu exhaled slowly to calm herself and looked at the human with determination evident in her brown eyes. "Nen." She shook her head and placed the heel of her palm on Mathew's head as if to physically transfer her words to him.

'Nen must mean no.' He concluded. "No." Mathew corrected himself and shook his head. Aitu grinned happily and wagged her tail at the understanding.

"Hon vin bowl settiko." She handed him the bowl full of cooked meat to eat.

"Bowl." He answered receiving it. That was the only word he recognized.

"Basucheehi." She wiggled her nose before huffing disappointment as he ate. Mathew didn't know why they were keeping him alive and well, or teaching him how to speak their language for that matter, but he was thankful for having his life spared from a gruesome death.

"Mm. This is good." Mathew hummed at the taste. Aitu wiggled her nose unsure exactly what he had just said in English, but it sounded positive. The she wolf pulled a strip of meat fresh from the fire and noisily ate it. Their jaws clearly weren't made for quietly chewing.

"Hokkunli." She pointed to his arm. Mathew held it out for her. The wolfess proceeded to undo the bandage. Mathew watched her set the old bandage aside before bathing his arm with her tongue. The cuts were almost done healing in such a short amount of time, but the warm wet sensation irked him.

"You don't need to do that." He grumbled in English not knowing how to say stop in her language. She continued licking his wound much to his chagrin.

"Nembo." She kept him from squirming too much with a single hand. For a female she was very strong, and he was thankful that a male didn't have her strong attitude. Aitu seemed satisfied with her handiwork and didn't wrap a new bandage. Mathew reached down to at least wipe his arm dry from the excess saliva, but Aitu intervened. "No." She sternly looked at Mathew and held her hand over the faint wound.

'I can't touch it.' He helplessly looked at his saliva covered arm in mild disgust. A claw poked his chest.

"Talk more." She pointed to her muzzle. Mathew awkwardly set his arm down and looked around for something to say in her native tongue.

"Fire." He pointed at the crackling orange flames.

"Good." Aitu nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"House." He held his arms out and looked around the little home. "Rock, nose, ear, ground, blanket..." He listed off as many as he could see. In his short amount of time as prisoner, Mathew had learned a lot of words from the black wolfess. "Male." Mathew pointed to himself, but paused when he pointed to Aitu.

"Estha." She pointed to herself, helping him along.

'Estha means female. Adult female.' He clarified himself. 'And adding an 'o' makes a word plural. So Esthao means adult females.' The tricky part was knowing what words already had an o to add a double o sound.

"Female." He used the word and pointed to her. Aitu seemed satisfied with the small lesson.

"Good hechisee oorat al." The wolfess said and sat up. "Walk outside. See village." She told him and crawled to the entrance. He followed her tail through the door flap. Even though she was a wolf, Mathew started trusting her over the past few days. Aitu fed him, allowed him to live under the same roof, and she was teaching him how to speak their tongue. At the very least he felt indebted to her. Typical cloudy weather and warm spring air greeted them outside. However, most of the clouds were passing and ready to give way to the sun. Mathew looked out to the open moor where he had tried to escape several nights ago. A lone wolf was sitting along the low ridge and facing the village.

"Come!" Aitu's hand tugged him into the community of huts. The human had been with the wolves for only a week or so, but the village was still an unexplored maze to him. The wooden and reed constructed homes were randomly clustered and spaces creating varying pathways that resembled crooked streets. Some huts were even organized in a U shape to use the extra space between them. Clotheslines and vacant open fire pits tended to occupy those spaces. The human stayed close to the black wolf leading him. Mathew expected the wolves outside to be fighting each other for dominance or tearing apart carcasses for food, but neither sight greeted him outside. Nearby, two naked wolves were quietly chanting in unison with closed eyes in the typical wolffish sitting position. One was a young wolfess around twelve years old, and the other was the same naked male that inspected him in Aitu's home.

'Why don't they wear something?' Mathew glanced between their legs. A plump sheath stuck out obliviously between the male's legs at them. They seemed to be the only ones not wearing something on their bodies. Did that make them special?

"Imwas Aitu." He greeted her, finishing the chant.

"Imwas." The adolescent greeted her.

'That must mean hello, or their version of hello.' He had heard the word before someone's name was said many times.

"Hello." Aitu replied using the same word.

"Maho hacha Mathew?" The nude male looked at the human expectantly.

"Say hello." Aitu nudged him.

"Hello." Mathew used the new word.

"Wahhuwa en uru going?" The male asked. Mathew could only pick out the word for going.

"I'm showing him the village." The male nodded and closed his eyes to start another chant. The smaller wolfess followed suit. Aitu took Mathew around more huts until they left the village altogether and ended up in an open space towards a creek. The grass towards the water was thicker and fuller than the small patchwork around most huts' entrances. "The creek." She pointed to the shallow water that varied in width from three to four meters. A dozen or so pups and old female wolves were lying down in the dewy green downstream under the two tall oak trees close to the water. The youngest two were grooming one of the elder wolves using small brush like combs made from antler. The rest were playing with a stick, throwing it around and catching it. Some of the elders gave a word of encouragement while talking a,ingest themselves, or at least that's what Mathew guessed by their tone. The she wolves all wore chest cloths and loincloths. Bracelets, necklaces, and feathers adorned them in various patterns as well. The human found it odd that all of the little pups, except for the eldest, weren't wearing anything even in comparison to tribal standards.

Then again, tribal standards only consisted of a loincloth and the semi optional chest cloth for adult females.

'How do they tell each other apart?' Mathew wondered at their similar mottled grey pattern of fur. That was the most common pattern of fur color in the village he noticed walking around. Back in the village, a few wolves were sitting around a blanket where another wolf was pointing out many different trinkets and crafts. Knives, decorated antler, and arrows were among those laid out. Copper dominated as a metal followed closely by stone or bone. All the wolves had armbands, various hair designs of braids and bands, and decorative cloths on their person. One brushed and braided another's hair while they talked, but a small item in the middle of the stretched out blanket caught his attention. 'That is a bullet casing.' Mathew recognized the small golden metal shell.

"Tamtam here." Aitu tried explaining the best she could to the oblivious human. Everyone gave him an odd look as he passed by. The wolfess led him to the edge of the village facing a large field bordering the forest. "Tantanuok" She pointed towards the field of adults sparring with spears. Mathew didn't know if she meant those sparring, the field, or what they were doing. He watched them stop and sit down weapons in hand before Aitu tugged him along. Back in the maze of huts Aitu continued to point out things that he mostly couldn't understand. "Big Cathishamun." She pointed to a very large hut where a thin trail of grey smoke escaped from the top. "Hunkni meat inside."

'The hut holds big meat?' Mathew guessed running the known words through his head. Mathew looked at a she wolf they passed by. Like Aitu and the others, she had long hair descending from her mane, a strong athletic build, vivid eyes, and basic attire that left little to the imagination. The wolf smelled the air and stared back at Mathew for a moment with an intimidating eye. Aitu didn't take any notice and continued pointing out things or other wolves.

"Hello!" Aitu barked at a wolf who waved at her. Mathew stayed shoulder to shoulder with Aitu, partially hiding behind the protective wolfess. They passed by dozens of huts and plenty of wolves of all ages. Pups were playing with each other or an older wolf, if not, older wolves were talking amongst themselves. One they passed was cooking a large rack of ribs over a low fire, and another was sewing two pieces of cloth together. However, nearly everyone paused to stare at him walking with Aitu. Their eyes were open and curious, and even his human ears could detect low murmurs between groups. Aitu suddenly changed course and brought Mathew to a male wolf sitting outside the entrance to a typical wood and thatch hut. A large unstrung bow rested in his lap, and his white fingers were skillfully tying a leather string with feathers onto the wooden frame. "Hello!" Aitu gave him the friendly greeting.

"Aitu?!" He was surprised to see the wolfess standing beside him. "Ooskioo!" He looked at the human with surprised eyes. The male wolf's nose wrinkled and his ears swiveled.

"Mathew, not ooskioo. Human." Aitu poked his forehead roughly. The black wolfess turned to Mathew. "Matzo." She pointed to the younger brown and white furred male.

'That sounds a little bit like Mathew.' He thought. "Hello." The wolf's ears perked forward.

"He understands me?" Matzo looked at the human intrigued.

"Only a little." She looked at the human hopefully.

"Chineh you hossna temuk?" Mathew could barely keep up with the conversation that unfolded between the two, but when it ended they stood up and left. "Utinam." He waved at them both before returning to his bow.

"Don't understand." The human looked back.

"Going back to my hut." Aitu explained to Mathew. The village wasn't advanced like a human settlement, but it was better than he originally imagined. They arrived at the she wolf's hut, but a hand stopped him. "Hmm. Wait here." She pointed to the ground and went inside. Mathew watched her tail slip through the door flap and patiently waited. Above, the clouds were abandoning the sky leaving the sun to shine freely over the village. Aitu came out moments later with a large stack of animal pelts in her hands and an odd stick in her mouth. The wolfess dropped them by his feet and took the stick out of her mouth. Aitu held up what looked like a wooden paddle with a slightly wider end and an animal pelt. "Hett. Hett." She demonstrated lightly hitting the skin in her other hand. The wolf then pointed to the small stack and handed him the first pelt and paddle.

"Understand." He nodded. She gave a brief grin before leaving to attend to something else inside. Mathew held the rabbit pelt up and started hitting it. Bits of dirt and plenty of dust was knocked free from the fur. He stared out into the open moor where he tried escaping one night. 'At least they didn't make me a slave.' He thought, gradually working his way through the pile. An occasional wolf walked near Aitu's hut and saw the human, but they never interfered. It took a good hour to rid the pelts free of dust and debris. Mathew gathered them and went back inside where the black wolfess was sitting. "Here." He handed the pelts back to her.

"Good." Aitu set them down and sniffed the air. "Wash in creek." She pointed to her nose and then at him.

"Me?"

"Yes you Mathew." She grinned pronouncing his name flawlessly. The wolfess pointed to where the creek was and motioned for him to go. Mathew poked his head out the entrance and looked around before leaving. Bathing regularly in Nepheira was fairly uncommon because of safety. The longer you were without clothes, something that a bath required, then the longer you were defenseless. He didn't pass more than three wolves on his way to the creek but each watched him from a distance while going about their day. When he arrived, there were more than two dozen wolves bathing or sunning somewhere by the water bordering the village. Pups and adults alike bathed and sunned in small groups. The creek was fairly shallow, no deeper than two and a half feet at a single spot, and it's widest point was maybe twenty feet. Mathew quickly shucked his clothes off, waded in, and found a nice secluded spot to sit down that concealed most of his body. The waterways chilly, but bearable. His upper body was quickly drenched with handfuls of water. There was some self consciousness about bathing in a river where everyone could see him naked, but everyone openly bathed nude.

Most wolves he saw even bathed in small groups where they talked and laughed as if they weren't wet and naked together. He couldn't understand why they even bothered with a draping cloth to cover their genitals. If a tail wagged or the wind blew a certain way then there was little for the imagination to hide. Besides, it was plainly obvious to see who was male or female. More water was poured over his body where it quietly splashed and dripped back into the creek. It was a nice day to bathe though. There were faint cirrus clouds brushed across the edges of the visible sky allowing the warm spring sun to shine humbly above. It was much better than the muggy conditions he arrived under. Rinsing off one more time, Mathew stood up and waded out of the water.

"What do I dry off with?" He paused dumbly at the edge of the creek. Looking around he spotted several wolves that had finished bathing were laying in the sunny grass on their fronts or backs. Plenty were smiling and talking as they dried their fur under the gracious sun. Copying the wolves, Mathew lied down and spread his limbs just enough for the air to reach him unrestricted. The grass crunched under his head as he tried to relax. The short blades underneath him were itchy, but the warm rays from above helped his mind wander. "Sometimes I envy the clouds for being so free." He stared up at the blue sky waiting for his skin to dry. Laughter and talking could be heard upstream and downstream while he sunned. No one had entered the creek remotely close to him. Mathew rolled over and stared upstream where two pups were playing with two adults, male and female. Little yips and squeals sounded off with splashes and smiles. 'A family.' He looked away trying not to dwell on the matter. Everyone seemed to have a family within the village, but it wasn't just a close family of one sibling and a parent. Both parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and even grandparents were present enjoying the water and warm sun together.

Each one was increasingly unlikely to be alive in Nepheira when you were born. As soon as his skin dried the human retrieved his clothes and dressed. He noticed a few wolves were watching him, but they didn't do anything more. It was the first bath Mathew had where he didn't need to worry about being killed.

Mathew crawled through the door flap and found Aitu holding a comb trying to reach her mane and fur along her backside.

"Hmm. You smell better." The wolfess breathed with a satisfied grin as he sat down beside her.

"You have a good nose." Mathew couldn't detect anything subtle comparable to her.

"All wolves do." She pointed to her black nose.

"What are you doing?" Mathew looked at the comb in her hand.

"Grooming my fur." The black wolfess had been combing her fur while he was bathing and the sleek almost shining appearance was evident along her front and limbs. "But I can't reach-" Aitu looked at her comb and then Mathew as an epiphany struck. He leaned back seeing her grin turn into a smile. "You can brush my hair and mane." Her tail wagged as she handed him the wooden comb.

"I can?" He looked at the comb's finely carved teeth.

"Yes. Be slow and careful." She turned around and presented her back to him. Mathew stared at the wolf's back finding it odd that he was going to groom someone that all humans feared. He brought his hand and comb into the fluff on the she wolf's neck. Her mane was surprisingly easy to groom. All he had to do was pull the comb out so that her fur remained fluffy and organized. Aitu's hair was more tedious to straighten, but Mathew was gentle and patient. There was something soothing about the quiet hut, and brushing the she wolf's hair. He found the task calming like bathing in the creek. "How many were at the creek?" Aitu asked while he combed.

"There were many wolves, but none were near me."

"Many fear your kind."

"Fear me!?" He stopped, finding her claim ridiculous. "How?"

"Running around the land with weapons." She told him. "Here, you may harm a pup." Mathew held the wolf's hair in his hand and stared at the black strands. He remembered seeing a child beat half to death back where he grew up, for no reason at all.

"Oh." She had a good point. If a wolf lived in New Haven, everyone would expect a dozen murders per night.

"I know you won't." She chimed feeling him return to brushing her hair. The fact that he spared another wolf who was about to kill him, and helped a pup find his way to the village was a big talk within the village. However, there were a few that doubted this claim like the council of experienced wolves. Hands playing with her hair caught the she wolf's attention. The wolf's ears dialed and turned wondering what the human was doing. Aitu looked over her shoulder and found Mathew marveling at how nice her fur and hair felt to the touch. He ran his hand through the she wolf's mane and hair, following it with a comb.

"Ah... What word?" He didn't know how to describe Aitu's silky hair in her language. The black wolfess rubbed her chin in thought before an idea formed. Mathew watched her turn around and reach out to him with an extended index finger.

"Saheesh?" She brushed his cheek with her finger. The black fur felt nice against his bare skin.

"Saheesh?" He looked at the wolfess questioningly as her entire arm brushed across him. The furry sensation helped him figure it out. "Yes! Soft." Mathew nodded figuring out the word. He reached out and held Aitu's hand.

"How do you say these?" He asked holding her fingers.

"Codothoo." She wiggled her larger fingers in his palm. Claws and pads tapped his skin.

"Mm. I understand. Fingers." He said the word, grasping at its meaning. "They're soft too." He pet the short black fur on each. Aitu nodded and let him pet her. The human was gentle and curious like a pup. Neither said anything as their fingers intertwined and their palms warmly joined. They held their hands up at eye level, and it seemed so natural to do. Mathew could see black fur and claws, and Aitu saw slim white skin and clear nails. 'Do they see me as I see them?' He wondered if some wolves really feared him like Aitu claimed.

"Understand?" She quietly asked. He nodded watching their arms lower. They disconnected their hands and turned hearing the entrance flap open.

"Hello!" A marble patterned wolfess entered the hut. The she wolf sounded older than Aitu, maybe in her late thirties or early forties, but it was hard to tell. A band of leather around her waist carried a holster for her knife and a string of leather across her shoulder carried a small pouch containing water. Black and white hair descended from her marble colored mane down to the base of her tail and was loosely organized into a few "tails." Mathew recognized her as one of the wolves from the hut where Aitu brought him after learning her name. Aitu and the wolfess touched noses before the marble wolf's attention was drawn to the human. "Eish tu amaska utunek." She grinned pointing at Mathew. "Can I greet him?"

"Of course you can. He won't harm you." Aitu nodded and the marble wolfess knelt before the human. Mathew heard that she wanted to greet him, but didn't understand what the new wolfess said beforehand. She leaned forward pointing her long snout at his nose. The smiling canine face made him uneasy. Mathew leaned back but she leaned forward still with her nose barely an inch from his own. A swift hand caught his shoulder and stopped him from falling back. The wolfess quickly cupped his cheeks and rubbed her nose over his before Mathew could blink. She let him go and sat back with her legs tucked under her body in typical wolffish fashion. Mathew wiggled his nose able to smell her, not just the fact that she was a wolf, but something more that was uniquely hers.

'Why did she do that?' He stared at her in confusion.

"Waskooya." She mused looking back at Aitu. Mathew looked at Aitu for some guidance or at least an explanation but the black wolfess merely pointed back at the guest.

"Nasku." The she wolf pointed to herself. "You?" She pointed at him with a claw.

"Mathew." He nervously placed his hand over her own so she wouldn't poke him. Nasku grabbed the human's hand and opened his fingers. The soft padded fingertips explored his hand curiously, but the large claws still made him uneasy. He tensed feeling one drag over his skin lightly.

"Mathew." Nasku practiced almost omitting the 't' in his name. "Funny ahameo." She smiled.

'Ahameo means name.' He connected the meaning. "Why touch my nose?" He asked touching the faint imprint of moisture from Nasku's damp nose.

"Noses enethcla yam-"

"Don't understand." He waved his hand down quickly for Aitu to slow down her speech. Nasku wagged her grey dusted white tail in amusement.

"Show you." Aitu stood up and abruptly left her hut. A moment passed before the wolfess crawled back inside. "Hello Mathew." Aitu greeted him as if they had just met and approached him. She knelt in front of him, leaned forward, and touched her nose to his. The wolf's nose felt cool and moist against his nose as she lightly breathed in before breaking the contact.

"That's how wolves say hello?"

"In their home, yes." Nasku nodded. He was finally starting to understand the strange ritual for greeting. You generally touch noses when greeting someone who is an acquaintance at your home or theirs. Rubbing muzzles was a similar thing, but reserved for someone intimate in a private setting. Knowing someone's scent was as important to the wolves as seeing someone. "Why do you sit... like a tree?" Nasku asked pointing at his legs.

"A tree?" Mathew stared at his lap.

"Yes!" Wolves always had their legs tucked neatly underneath their bodies where their long feet stuck out behind. "How tungalakoo not mine."

"I couldn't understand that."

"Me neither." Aitu said before she and Nasku burst into laughter.

A gentle rain outside marked the lazy day perfectly. Wolves tried staying indoors during the frequent showers because of their fur, but there were always a daring few who went outside. For the rest of the village, quiet rainy days were well spent staying inside or darting around huts to visits friends and family. Mathew found himself in Aitu's home with two wolves he had never seen before. Both were intimidating from their canine appearances alone. Large hands, paws, muzzles, and claws were equipped on each. They looked at him with hesitant yet curious eyes while Aitu finished tending to a clay pot full of meats and vegetables to cook.

"Soga." She pointed to the taller and older merle coated male. "Nahua." She pointed to the pitch black wolfess with vague markings of aging white hairs along her brow and muzzle. "Say hello." She nudged the human.

"Hi." Mathew nervously knelt in front of each and touched their noses. Both warmly inhaled as the cool black snouts sent shivers through his skin. The human noticed that Aitu looked very similar to Nahua and Soga, especially the female.

"Mepa. Erlha." She motioned to the male, then female.

"Oh! I understand." He realized that they were her parents. 'Wow. She has two parents.' Mathew couldn't believe what he was seeing. Aitu quickly checked checked on the stew cooking in the clay pot.

"He talks?" Nahua tilted her head.

"I teach him our words." The younger black she wolf explained turning to the human.

"Nahoneehota." She demonstrated.

"Uh... What?" He didn't understand.

"Lon." She motioned with a hand, but adding another unknown word didn't help him.

"Not that word." Soga chuckled in amusement.

"Ugh!" She growled out of frustration.

"You need to hanje pathookne." Nahua told her daughter. She gave her mother a half glare but relaxed her fiery attitude.

"He tests my pathookne." She grinned looking at the human who wasn't sure what they were talking about.

"Has he tried harming you?" Soga asked.

"He is so small." She chuckled. "See?" Aitu raised the human's hand. "No claws." Her reply put him at ease.

"No shunsho ten." He mused looking at his mate.

"You wouldn't hurt me." Aitu grinned nudging Mathew. A human hurting a wolf with only his hands was impossible enough.

"Mm. The food smells great." Her father grinned taking a deep breath. The delicious aroma gradually filled the hut as it cooked.

"Let's sit by the fire then. The food is almost done." Aitu suggested. Her parents joined her at the fire, but Mathew remained towards the hut wall on his deerskin. The wolves didn't seem to notice and talked over the cooking food. His body was covered in chill bumps able see their teeth when their jaws opened. Each looked sharp surrounding the large tongue inside. Mathew looked at his arm under the faint firelight. The scar was barely visible now, and had healed faster than any wound had before.

'All from their tongues?' He watched the family laughing and talking together while the food cooked. It was odd that the wolves he regarded as savages were so happy and care free around the fire. The human stared at his empty lap, an uncomfortable sensation throbbing in his core. The feeling resembled a cold empty fire in a cave. Mathew was jealous of them. 'How are they so happy? And why?' He wondered. They barely wore clothes, lived in huts, and their strength was made to kill. A single kick or well aimed strike could crush bone!

"Why is he sitting alone?" Soga whispered to his daughter.

"He is afraid of us." Aitu replied much to her parent's surprise. Mathew couldn't hear their quiet voices above the crackling flames, and it was harder to even attempt translating when they were whispering. "Mathew." The human looked up finding three canines staring back at him. "Aren't you hungry?" Aitu asked holding up a large spoon to spoon out portions of the stew. He nodded and crawled over. "Here." She scooted over leaving a space for him on the deerskin between her and Nahua. The human sat down between them. Their fur brushed against his pants and arms. Like their daughter the parents were tall, even more so from the way they sat compared to him. They looked at the human curiously. He could hear their noses trying to make sense out of his scent. "Eat what you can." Aitu passed wooden bowls around.

"I gladly will." Her dad smiled spooning a few chunks of stew into his bowl. Everyone ate with smacking jaws as soon as they had a bowl full. Wolves were loud eaters because of their long muzzles. Mathew looked at the mixed foods in his bowl and took a bite of potato. A bite of juicy meat was next.

"Mm!" He wiped his lip and savored the taste.

"You like meat?" Her dad asked.

"Yes." Mathew nodded. It was a delicacy for its rarity in Nepheira. Only those with power and wealth could afford the taste, and the salt to preserve it. But in Hibernia the natives had plenty of both!

"You cook feshundi." Nahua smiled at her daughter. The pot was emptied quickly and everyone had a full stomach.

"I think merhat sleep unon night." Soga stretched.

"What does he mean?" Mathew asked Aitu.

"They're the night."

"Huh?"

"They." She pointed to her parents. "Here." She then pointed to a deerskin.

"I don't understand." He leaned back hearing her growl.

"We will sleep here for the night." Soga explained with better wording that the human could understand.

"Oh. I understand." The human nodded.

"Osseh dad." She sighed. Mathew helped set the two mats of buckskin for her parents.

"Osseh." They said before lying down together. The parents talked quietly while Aitu put out the fire.

"Aitu." The wolfess felt a gentle hand on her back.

"Yes?" She turned to Mathew.

"What is that?" He pointed to the strange object hanging on the hut's wall. It was a circle of wood with a small patch of leather stretched within by numerous strings. The outside had many tassels and feather decoratively placed.

"Segtu Nahua in." She went over and unlatched the strange contraption from its perch. "Nahua... This." Aitu did her best to explain making a sewing motion. Her mother made it. "To sleep well." She explained its function. Mathew didn't have a clue how an ornament could make anyone sleep safely.

"Sleep now?" He pointed to the separate deerskin and she nodded. Mathew made himself comfortable lying down on the mat and Aitu joined her parents.

"Sleep well." Everyone said to each other.

Chapter V

"Sorry!" Mathew bumped into someone while following Aitu and two other wolves through the village.

"Nabwichik!" His teeth bared aggressively at him.

"Why is he angry?" Mathew asked staying close to the protective wolfess.

"Tell you when you understand more." She carefully used words he would know. They approached a silver patterned wolf as they turned by a hut.

"Ooskioo." The wolf muttered as they passed.

"What ooskioo mean?" He asked. Aitu stopped and looked at him seriously.

"No-" She waved the hand in front if her face. "Wacha." She touched her face and muzzle.

"No face?"

"Flat face." She replied tersely before moving again. "Bad to say." She informed him. Aitu met up with two others by a hut who were also armed for hunting. They exchanged a few words too fast for the human to comprehend. Mathew followed her and the other two towards the edge of the village where Aitu stopped him. The black wolfess placed her hands on his shoulders. "Stay in the village." She told him. "I'll be gone hunting for part of the day."

"Ok." He nodded. She turned back and walked away.

"Flat face." One muttered as the group left. A little dismayed, Mathew walked back into the village making sure not to bump into anyone. The villagers didn't have such a problem because they could smell him before they saw him. A few wolves didn't look at him directly and peacefully ignored the wandering human, whereas others seemed quite intent on figuring out what Mathew exactly was. The human wasn't intent on figuring them out, and he quickened his pace rounding a section of huts. His steps were halted when he blindly ran into something unyielding.

"Oof!" Mathew took a step back realizing he had bumped into a wolf. "Ah! Sorry!" He backed away from the male looming over him. His next step however bumped into a pal amber furred wolfess sitting on the ground behind him. Before the human could begin to explain himself, she grabbed his wrist and stopped him from leaving. "Let go!" He begged but the female pulled him roughly causing him to fall. His face landed on her grey and tan furred leg. "Oh no-" She helped him up and dusted his pants.

"You talk?" She asked the human sitting beside her. The male knelt down in front of the human letting his loincloth and leather anklet drape to the ground. His nose, ears, and eyes intently stared at the human. A few more standing close by approached.

"S-s-some." Mathew found himself shivering. He could handle Aitu's presence, but not so many different wolves at once.

"What is this?" The male tugged curiously at his shirt sleeve. The word for clothing was caught in his nervous throat. Their pointy ears pivoted and noses flared reading his bodily responses.

"We aren't going to hurt you." The wolfess rested a hand on his shoulder. He couldn't help but look at the claws on her creamy white fingers.

"Are you afraid of us?" The male asked.

"N-no." Mathew said in English causing half of them to tilt their heads. "I mean no!" He spoke in their native tongue.

"Your body says yes." The female grinned.

"I can smell his fear." Another behind her smirked. Mathew did his best not to shiver, but he was a sitting human surrounded by a dozen wolves.

"Cold?" The hand on his arm began rubbing his skin firmly, creating a smooth heat against his skin. The males took his arm and did the same thing.

"Feh he shaman nouut?"

"No fur." She looked at the male in front of the human. Mathew took deep breaths and calmed down while the two wolves rubbed his arms.

"Better?" The male asked. Mathew nodded as he released his right arm. The light fawn female held his left up, peering underneath through the short sleeve.

"He has hair there." All of the wolves looked closely.

"Huh?" Mathew looked down feeling a claw scratch through his curly underarm hair. "Aha! Stop!" He laughed feeling the claw rub over the sensitive skin. Everyone's ears raised up and the light fawn she wolf quickly retracted her hand wondering what she did wrong.

"You hurt him." The male across from the human frowned.

"Sorry." Her ears pinned back. The accident loosened the human from his tense state. "Are you from village?" The female beside him pointed straight ahead. His blank stare didn't surprise the wolves.

"By the water." The male added.

"Yes."

"How did you dashembah?" Another wolf blurted out crouching beside the human.

"Dashembah?" He was confused.

"Um... Run away." Mathew understood the light amber female's words. "How did you run away from that village?"

"Run away? I didn't run." He remembered the expedition that Captain Ducroix sent them on that fateful morning.

"Not run!" A wolfess around him barked. A few murmurs passed through the canine group.

"They steal hutchnaso and kill murotnee aheh!" The she wolf beside him said as if retelling a famous tale. Most of the wolves nodded in agreement.

"Uh hutchnaso?" Mathew questioned. The wolfess brought his hand to her furry chest.

'Is this appropriate?' He glanced around as the wolfess watched him intently. The light fur was soft and warm.

"Bum bum bum." She quietly said mimicking a heart beat.

"Oh! I understand." He smiled as she allowed him to retract his hand. The older male across from him leaned over and whispered to her. The fawn female leaned closer to the human. Mathew swallowed nervously as the she wolf pressed her earth his chest. She focused for a second before a grin emerged on her thin black lips.

"Yes! He has a heart." Her tail wagged as she sat up straight.

"Your ear must baho ogchahehu ahehak." A male behind Mathew spat.

"Why don't you try?" The older male across Mathew challenged.

"I won't touch him!" A male behind the human backed off. "Isn't that saeh hathahow?"

"Scampe uru henha." The female beside him growled. The male left with his ears pinned back.

"He is a flat face." The male wolf muttered as he left. The female beside Mathew stood up and barked crossly at him. A few hands helped Mathew up as a few heated words were exchanged.

'Whats going on?' Mathew couldn't see past the taller furry bodies. The light fawn female turned around and faced him.

"You may go." She patted his rear. Mathew understood and quickly left the group.

'They weren't so scary.' He thought to himself. Mathew skidded to a halt after cutting a corner seeing a pup running towards him, but the little canine wasn't looking where he was going. The smaller furry body collided with the human's with a startle yap. He stumbled back looking up at the human. Mathew quickly caught the pup from falling over. "You ok?" Mathew patted his shoulder. His dark grey ears folded back embarrassed, but his tail wagged.

"Osseh!" The pup quickly yapped to the human before running off. Mathew noticed that a few wolves nearby had watched him before going about their normal routines. The human quickly returned to Aitu's hut. He had plenty of conversation for a whole day. Mathew entered the small hut but found that he wasn't alone. Nahua, Aitu's mother, was inside sitting on a deerskin mat with her legs tucked underneath in typical wolffish fashion. The she wolf often visited for the afternoon or evening to see her daughter. Her black ears lied back partially, expecting someone else to return home.

"Hello." Mathew went over to the mat beside her and sat down.

"Hello." She plainly replied fiddling with a tassel on her chest cloth. Neither attempted to touch noses, and an odd silence permeated the hut. Glances were given, but not maintained even if eye contact was reached. Mathew gathered the courage to look at her directly.

"I can see where Aitu's beauty comes from." He admired the black she wolf's appearance. Her raven black hair and brown eyes stood out the most. Nahua's muzzle was slighter thinner and less blunt than a male's, a pretty trademark for female wolves. A small grin formed along her thin black lips.

"Her beauty is all her own, and I am very proud of her." The mother rested her hands in her lap. "Does she bark too much?"

"Bark?" He didn't understand.

"Grr." She bared her teeth and growled at him. "That."

"She is nice to me." He grinned. Nahua only smiled at the complement to her daughter. "Nahua, how do you say this?" Mathew held up his hand.

"Oomha." She extended her hand out to him. Mathew reached out and held the furry hand. Her wolfish hands were larger than his human ones. The black claws still gave him chills, especially on his left arm.

"You're fur is softer than Aitu's." He felt the bulky fingers above.

"Fur softens with waskoo." She grinned.

"Waskoo?" He knitted his brow in confusion at the word.

"Don't know waskoo?" She tilted her head in question. Mathew shook his head.

"Pup, young adult, adult, elder." Nahua then held her arms out as if to encase the words she told him. "Waskoo."

"Age!" He figured it out using the word properly. "Fur softens with age." Nahua nodded finding his excitement amusing. "Why does it soften with age?"

"I do not know, but our shaman may know." She stated. Mathew wanted to ask why, but Nahua unexpectedly stood up. "I'll come back." She said and promptly left. Mathew patiently waited and the middle aged wolfess returned shortly.

"Where did you go?" He lined up the sentence.

"To rain." She plainly answered sitting down across from him.

"Is it raining outside?" Mathew didn't hear anything looking at the entrance.

"No, this rain." She pointed to the loincloth and then the ground.

"Oh. Understand." Rain either meant the regular rain that he understood as a weather phenomena, or just as commonly to urinate depending on how the word was used.

"What words do you not understand?" She curiously asked.

"Many." He looked at his hand. "I can barely remember this." Nahua thought for a moment.

"Remember this way." She held up her hand and splayed her fingers. "Anghu, oomha, codotho, womhit." Or in English; arm, palm, finger, and claw as she pointed to each with a hum.

"Arm, palm, finger, claw." Mathew repeated.

"Mmhm. Like that." The door flap rustled as Aitu returned from her hunt with the pack.

"I'm back Mathew-" Her nose flared. "Mom!" Aitu smiled seeing the wolfess beside Mathew.

"Hello!" Nahua smiled and touched noses with her daughter. Mathew gave a little grin seeing the bond mother and daughter had. "How did your hunt go? Did you have to run after something fast?" They talked too fast for him to completely understand, but the conversation was pleasant with an occasional glance towards him. After talking a while, Nahua decided to leave. "Bye Aitu." She hugged her daughter. "Bye Mathew." She patted the human's shoulder. Nahua looked at her daughter and the human with a grin before leaving. Mathew shuddered. "Are you cold?" Aitu didn't understand why he shook briefly.

"No. A wolf's smile is scary."

"A smile that is scary?" Aitu laughed showing off her sharp canines. "How?"

"Your teeth." He pointed at her muzzle.

"No one will bite you. I promise." The she wolf reassured him.

'I hope you're right.' He thought. Aitu tended to other things in the hut while the human looked at items to remember their names. "Bow, basket, mat, roof..." Aitu listened to him speak the names of several objects before pausing. "What does this do?" He picked up a thin leather strap sewn to a small pouch.

"You wear it to carry shehahoo." Aitu picked up a large stone bladed knife. The handle was made from a piece of antler and had lace elaborately tied around the end for aesthetics.

"Shehahoo?" He pointed to the large hand held weapon.

"Yes." She nodded and slid the blade into the artificial sheath of leather so that the handle was still visible. The wolfess stood up and put the strap on her shoulder. The pouch rested securely against her opposite hip for easy access wherever she decided to go. "It can move too much while you run, but it's very useful." She sat beside him and handed over the knife and its carrier. "Put it on." The string was long causing the pouch to rest against his leg rather than his hip. "You look prepared for a hunt." He drew the knife out enough to see the sharp copper blade. Mathew shivered sheathing it. He could easily imagine it was a weapon of choice when he was chased to exhaustion into the village.

"Why was I not killed?" He set the leather garment down. The peculiar question caught the wolf off guard. She looked at the wall, and wiggled her nose before looking back at him.

"Not killed?" She inquired.

"When everyone chased me here."

"Oh. Our wahabasha spared you."

"Wa-ha?" Mathew didn't know what she meant. Aitu paused to think.

"The wolf named Nagao." That was the auburn brown and black wolf that sat in the circle of wolves in the large hut.

"But why?"

"To learn from you, and you spared another wolf and a pup."

"Did you say that to Nagao in the larger home?"

"Moroche... Yes." She nodded so he would understand.

"What will happen when you're done learning?"

"I do not know..." She trailed off thinking what Nagao and the council would decide. "What do you want to do?" Aitu turned the question on him. Mathew thought for a good minute himself, but couldn't come up with a satisfactory outcome.

"I... I don't know." He admitted quietly. The human couldn't imagine wolves letting him stay longer than they wanted him in the village. Did he want to stay? New Haven wasn't the bastion of hope he had thought it would be, and the wolves weren't going to kill him while he stayed. But if he returned then a large target would be on his back so to speak. The human was stuck no matter what happened.

"Why did you help Watambi that day?" Aitu asked.

"What word does that mean?"

"Watambi." She held her hand up about waist high. Mathew made a confused face at the demonstration.

"Don't understand."

"The grey and cream pup you brought home before capture." She explained simply. Mathew shrugged but the wolfess didn't understand the gesture. "Hm?"

"He is... so young." The human whispered.

A thin trail of smoke rose from the fire where it escaped through an opening in the roof. Mathew added a small pile of wood shavings from a stick he had cut out of boredom. The shavings quickly blackened and crackled under the heat. The human sighed looking back at the door flap. He spent most of the morning a few meters away from the hut outside where the clouds offered better light. However, when a wolf that wasn't Aitu approached or simply walked by, Mathew would scurry back inside. He was still apprehensive towards other wolves.

"I wish I had something to do." He mulled over his thoughts. Aitu suddenly entered through the hut's open entrance catching the human's attention.

"I have task for you." The black wolfess quickly said before abruptly dragging the human outside. The sight of a human in tow of a wolf drew attention from the few they passed.

"What do I have to do?!" He followed her, unable to pry the wolfess's hand off his own.

"Watch a pup." She finally let him go.

"Huh?" Mathew halted and rubbed his hands.

"Kithos has everything worked out. Everything will be fine." She reassured Mathew and motioned for him to follow with the flick of her tail.

'Do I really have to watch a sleeping pup while the parents are gone?' He thought over the task. If something bad happened he had no doubt that the tribe would punish him severely, most likely resulting in death. Aitu led him to a hut in the center of the village where there was little grass from frequent walking.

"Smell afraid." Her nose easily detected his perspiration.

"I am." He nervously waited a moment to relax.

"Let's go inside." She nudged him towards the entrance. Mathew bent forward and crawled through the door flap. The hut was very homely and similar to Aitu's but it had many neat fixtures to make it unique. A bad dream catcher in a different design hung from a wall over the main deerskins and plenty of baskets were closed holding personal items. In the center of it all was the typical small fire pit where the two wolves sat, legs tucked in wolffish fashion. Just like everyone else he met, the parents were taller than him because of those powerfully built digitigrade legs. They exchanged greetings by touching noses. Despite being a "red wolf" the male had plenty of browns, greys, and oranges in his fur. Both damp black spots were cool and strange to feel as they took in his scent. Mathew couldn't place their scents with his weak nose, but the male reminded him of fallen leaves on a rainy day, and the female reminded him of thick dust clouds.

"Hohhot." The Mottled red male introduced himself.

"Edessa." The snowy white female quietly stated her name. In her arms was a mottled red and white pup sleeping serenely with a small thin cloth swaddled around his body. Oddly, the mother wasn't wearing a basic garment to cover her chest and her nipples were fairly visible rather than being entirely covered in fur like Aitu's. There was even a complete loss of fur around the areolae leaving the pinkish skin bare. In her arms swaddled in a small cloth was a little pup probably around one year of age. Aitu quickly talked a few thing over to the parents that Mathew couldn't understand fast enough. The mother edged closer to him and slowly held out her precious sleeping son. The mother looked very hesitant to hand over her pup to a total stranger, a human at that, but Mathew found himself cradling an infant to his body. The parents looked at each other and went over to the entrance.

"Don't worry, they will come back." Aitu told him. Mathew nodded and watched the parents leave.

'Is this really happening?' He gave Aitu a concerned look, but she dismissed it. The black wolfess patted his shoulder reassuringly and followed the parents outside. All three presumably left Mathew alone with the pair's sleeping pup in his arms for the designated amount of time. He looked around the hut and took a deep breath. His nose was starting to detect very subtle differences in how each wolf smelled different, and this was prominent within the home if you weren't beside the specific person. He looked down at the sleeping face, peacefully dreaming about wolf things. "It's good that you're asleep." The wolf couldn't do anything if he wasn't awake. Mathew stared at the small bundle in his arms. 'Is this how my mother felt when she first held me?' He wondered. The little warm furry body surprisingly moved in a long stretch, loosening the fabric wrapped around him. 'He's waking up! What do I do?' Mathew carefully rocked the wolf pup hoping he would go back to sleep. A muzzle full of sharp white teeth yawned causing goosebumps to form on the human's body. Two blue eyes blinked awake as Mathew stopped rocking. The pup looked at the tantalizing fingers in front of his nose and reached out.

His little hands carefully grasped the human's larger hand and brought it down to his mouth. Mathew tensed expecting a hard bite but was surprised to feel the pup bite his thumb very gently, holding it between tiny incisors. Blue eyes stared up at Mathew innocently as a tongue curdled his skin and nail. The pup suckled the human's thumb only another minute before realizing he wasn't getting anything to eat. With infant unsteadiness, he shifted out of his arms and stood up in his lap. "Where are you going?" He watched the pup's small hands claw fistfuls of his shirt to balance himself. The little grey tail wagged as the pup peered forward with his long muzzle and neck. He sniffed the human's chin and sneezed from the foreign scent. Whiskers prodded and brushed against his skin before his black lips parted. "Hey! Careful with those sharp teeth." Mathew chuckled as the pup softly nibbled his chin. The tiny wolf growled at Mathew in a little high pitched voice and tripped in the human's lap. Mathew helped him crawl out to the deerskin mat. The pup sat down and looked back at the human.

'What do pups do?' He looked around for something to occupy the canine's curiosity. "Aha!" He picked up an old piece of antler near the fire and held it out to the little wolf. The little black nose smelled the item before snatching it away with his mouth. He turned around and kept the bone away from the human. Mathew patted the canine's back causing the short tail to wag. Unlike an adult wolf, the pup didn't have any fine hair descending from the bottom of his mane. He would have to wait at least a year or two for hair to grow. The pup gnawed on the antler bit for a while before losing interest. He leaned over and sniffed the deerskin mat under his paws. His tail wagged as he crawled around the mat in search of adventure. "You can't crawl away." Mathew brought his arm around the little body and pulled him back. The pup's face was curious and confused as his little clawed hands grasped the human's arm holding his body. He yapped and smiled holding into Mathew's arm. His mouth acted like a third hand to explore and held onto the human's arm as well. "No biting." He rubbed the pup's nose. The canine didn't seem to listen, if he could, and continued gently biting the human.

'At least it doesn't hurt.' Mathew pet the little wolf's head instead. The hut's door flap ruffled. The pup's tail wagged with fervor seeing who entered the home. His mother and father quickly crawled to the human holding their son. The pup happily yipped a few garbled words in Mathew's hands and tried wriggling away.

"Ah, cheook nom hassenyu." Edessa spoke softly to the little one.

"Uh. You're welcome I guess." He stated in English and carefully handed the wriggling pup over to the parents. They licked his muzzle and held him close. Aitu entered the hut and was pleased to see the sight before her.

"Hello. I see everything is good." The black she wolf smiled.

"Yeah." He nodded watching the parents hold their son.

"Osseh." The father turned to Mathew. The human nodded unsure of what he meant. He and Aitu left the hut on good terms.

"Good work." She rubbed his shoulder.

"But I didn't do very much." Mathew thought about it.

"Yes you did. You earned their trust."

'Earned their trust?' He wondered as he was ushered into her hut, but that wasn't the only question on his mind. They took their respective seats.

"Yes?" She noticed him staring in thought.

"The mother Edessa... um... Her fur." He asked before looking down, unsure how to say his thoughts.

"Fur." She repeated wanting him to continue.

"Uh. The mother's fur." He tried choosing his limited words carefully. "No fur here." Mathew pointed to his pecs.

"Pena?" She held a hand over a breast. "Tepals?" She pointed a claw at the very center of the other where a nipple lay hidden.

'Pena means chest and Tepals means nipple.' He figured. "No fur on her nipples. I can see them." Aitu pointed from the hidden fleshy spout in an arc as she squeezed her breast. 'Milk.'

"What is that word?"

"San water." Literally Aitu was saying white water, but she meant breastmilk. "Lose fur on nipples during neprosa." She created a large dome over her belly to convey pregnancy.

"A female loses fur on the nipple when she is pregnant." He used all the new words together figuring it out. "To easily feed her offspring milk." Losing fur there made access easier for the pup to eat.

"Yes. Same for your females?" For some reason her question made him chuckle.

"Without any fur loss, it is similar, but why doesn't she wear cloth over them?" He pointed to her leather chest piece.

"Makes nursing difficult. Take on and off too much." It was very ironic to the human that they wore something when their breasts were completely covered in fur, and nothing when they weren't. "Why do females wear cloth over their chests?"

"To hold them when they run or do something." She explained how every wolf was active. "No one runs this way." Aitu covered them with her hands making him chuckle. For wolves he once thought were savages, that was very smart to do. "Talk more." She pointed at her muzzle. That was Aitu's basic way of starting a language lesson.

"I understand." He nodded. The wolf's ears twitched as if to smirk. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything. Talk." She sat up making herself look even taller.

"Ok. What did you do while I watched the pup?"

"I walked with the parents. Anything else?" She replied.

"Uh... No." He couldn't think of anything else to say. The she wolf huffed in mild annoyance and decided to test his vocabulary.

"Gehaneskoo."

"Hunters." Mathew pretended to fire a bow.

"Nenaska."

"A hill."

"Nagao." She tried tricking him.

"The village chieftain." Mathew grinned knowingly.

"Totoneberber." She stated next. Mathew scrunched his brow deep in thought searching his native vocabulary.

"Dark clouds?" He guessed. Aitu shook her head. "No... Oh! The sky is cloudy." Mathew corrected himself. It was becoming much easier to talk.

"Good." Aitu smiled. 'He's a fast learner.'

"I have a question."

"Say it." She nodded for him to speak.

"Do all wolves hate all humans?"

"I do not hate you." She pointed out.

"But others do." He could easily imagine the snarling faces.

"They don't know you yet." She grinned. "You're uh..." Aitu searched for the word. "Soft." Mathew found the description humerous.

"What about other humans? Not me?" The she wolf's face turned more serious.

"Wolves aren't fond of humans because we must fight them constantly. They never seek peace."

"Why didn't both sides... have some sort of peace?"

"Too much constant fighting doesn't leave room for a truce. Many wolves have traveled away to the spirits hunting grounds from fighting and destroying their villages."

"To the spirits?" Mathew didn't understand despite knowing the words.

"Hmm. Our shaman can explain better." She thought aloud. Mathew is talking much better.'

Water flowed peacefully in its typical quiet burbling downstream. Green grass, moss, and clover lined the creek's edges thickly. Out in the moor foxtail grasses sat still without wind. Footsteps quietly rustled in the natural garden before stopping at the water's edge. Talking was heard upstream and downstream from the quieter location. Mathew looked around at the wolves who weren't too far away this time and stripped down by the large creek's shore. He set his clothes aside before wading into the cool water. He found a nice spot to sit at where the water only came up to his navel. The water was rarely deeper than two feet which made bathing relaxing. He cupped his hands and splashed cool water onto his body until his body was thoroughly soaked.

'It is nice by the creek.' He thought wiping water from his face. It was certainly better than dusty Nepheira. Hilly meadows bordered him to the south, the village and flat moor to the north, and the forests to the west. The canine homes had thin trails of smoke exiting the top, wistfully sailing to the endless sky. Two mothers upstream were breast feeding their pups while talking to friends. Wolves could be seen going about the village carrying bows or prey depending on if a hunt was successful. A male and female were hanging up loincloths and other garments to dry in the sunny day. The male's tail wagged when the female hugged him unexpectedly from behind. An elder wolf not too far was seen playing a game with a pup. It was peaceful, something he was never accustomed to, but it was a beautiful thing to experience. The other wolves weren't bathing very far away in the creek from him this time. One even walked by him downstream without trying to avoid him. Mathew washed his face after taking in the calm surroundings. He noticed a wolf approach him and continued to wash himself. However, the male wolf didn't veer away and started undressing barely a few feet from Mathew on the embankment.

"Hello." The male set his loincloth, bracelets, and other armbands down by the human's garments before stepping into the creek. Like many of the other wolves in the tribe this male was strongly built, and his common mottled grey fur hardly masked this quality. Long black hair like fur from his grayish neck draped down to just above the base of his tail. Two braids rested over his strong chest with small wooden rings looped in the bottom. A sheath was nestled above the male's thighs rather than something more human, however, it wasn't attached to his lower abdomen. Despite the lack of support it remained upright with a small gap between his lower abdomen as it subtly jiggled with each step into the water. If Mathew had known anatomy better, a strong network of soft cartilage, tissues, and the hidden baculum helped the organ stay up while in a resting state. A peculiar wound on the wolf's lower leg caught Mathew's attention next. A wound the size of a bullet-

'He's the wolf I shot in the leg during that day!' He recalled as the wolf sank into the creek and sat beside him. A paw with sharp claws harmlessly brushed by his leg as the wolf made himself comfortable. "Uh, hi." Mathew meekly replied to the powerfully built wolf. Bold brown eyes intently stared at the human.

"You're the one who wounded me." The wolf calmly stated in his deep voice, looking at Mathew. He nodded with an open mouth, still shocked at who he was talking to. Furry ears dialed at the human's strange expression. Mathew swallowed feeling a claw tipped finger gently push his jaw up to close. The wolf took a moment and splashed water onto his front, soaking his white and grey fur before lightly kneading his skin.

"I-uh... Is it better?" Mathew inquired. The wolf paused washing himself and raised his leg out of the creek. Water dripped as he parted the darker grey fur revealing a small circular scar that didn't bare any fur.

"It's still sore, but Kithos told me that would go away as well." He carefully traced the wound before setting his leg back underwater. "I'm glad you're funny arrowhead went straight through or he would've needed to pull it out."

"That's good to hear." Mathew nodded with a dry mouth and splashed water over his face. The wolf did the same and they quietly washed for a minute. Here Mathew was naked in a creek and talking to the wolf that could've easily killed him. Given the circumstances, one of them or both of them should've been dead.

"Why didn't you kill me?" His faded golden eyes stared deeply at the human. "I could see how angry you were." The images clearly remained ingrained in Mathew's mind of the wolf kneeling before him with a bleeding leg, awaiting death so acceptingly. Those thoughts depressed him so much.

"I couldn't bare to see death so... awful again." Mathew admitted splashing water onto his chest.

"Again?" He looked at the human questioningly, setting his arms back into the water. The wolf's hands felt over a few stones in the silt.

"Death happens many times in old home far away." Mathew said the best he could.

"Many times?"

"Almost each day." His somber reply made the wolf's ears lie flat. Mathew scooped up water and poured over his chest and head letting the remainder drip from his hair and face. The male ran his claws through his cheek fur.

"Can you wash my back?" He handed Mathew a small round piece of soap on a rock. The semi slick material had a cream color with faint red hues swirling towards the center but didn't slide in his hand.. The wolf pulled his hair to his front and turned away before looking over his shoulder.

"Yes." Mathew scooted over behind the larger male. A wet tail rested by his leg underwater. He cupped several handfuls of water and released them over the wolf's upper back. He scrubbed out any dirt or debris stuck in the wet fur from shoulder to the base of his tail.

"Use a little soap." He peeked behind his shoulder.

"Ok." Mathew lathered some on his hands before combing through his back fur. The wet grey sea churned under his fingertips. Strong muscle underneath the soft fur impressed Mathew at the strength each wolf possessed. It took a good amount of effort to scrub his back from shoulder to tail base, and for the handfuls of water to rinse his back. "Finished." Mathew turned to his side.

"Osseh." The wolf replied. He washed the soap off his hands only to feel the wolf's hands press against his back firmly. The padded palms and fingertips firmly rubbed up and down his skin from shoulder to his lower back underwater. They were warm and soft, and it felt nice to be washed. Hands held onto the silt creek bottom expecting the wolf's strength to press too hard, but Mathew was surprised that he had a gentle touch. Pads and fingertips worked to massage his skin and wipe water away. He missed the wolf's touch as soon as he finished. "There. Done." He quickly ran his hands through the creek.

"What word..." Mathew didn't know what to say for 'thank you.' "Happy to do for?" He thought of every other word that he knew. The male's brow knitted in deep thought for a moment.

"Say Osseh." The wolf finally spoke.

"Oh-seh." Mathew said the word.

"Osseh." He repeated with a deep nod in demonstration. "Thank you." A serene moment of silence passed where only the sound of water and distant talking could be heard. "What is your name?" Mathew turned and asked the mottled grey wolf.

"Ashan. What is your name?"

"Mathew." The wolf's ears dialed around at the foreign name.

"Math-you." Ashan pronounced slowly.

"Yeah, that's how you say it." He gave a half grin and stood up. Ashan stood up as well and waded out with the human to lie in the sunny grass. Ashan eyed the human's lone patch of fur on his head, under his arms, and around his groin. The wolf found the placement of fur more confusing than the lack thereof.

'The others were right about his body and fur. Are his kind born that way?' The wolf thought the question wasn't serious enough to ask and lied down beside Mathew, spreading his limbs to dry faster. The human's skin dried much faster than the wolf's fur, especially since the latter had a tail to dry. Mathew was dressed and sitting up while Ashan's back was still drying. The wolf seemed to enjoy every second in the warm sun, and the grin across his muzzle was evident when he finally sat up. Ashan tied on his loincloth and smaller leather garments without haste before standing. Mathew expected them to go their separate ways, but the wolf hugged him, encircling the human with warm fur. "Thank you. I am alive because of you." Ashan's deep words spoke softly. Mathew was barely able to pat the male wolf's back with an open mouth before the embrace was broken. Mathew hadn't been hugged since he was a boy. A hand touched his shoulder before the wolf began walking away from the gaping human.

"Hey." Mathew stopped the wolf. Ashan turned around. "Thank you for talking to me." He spoke before biting his lip. The wolf nodded with a grin before leaving.

Chapter VI

The wolf diet was heavy on meat; particularly red deer, rabbits, squirrels, boar, and the occasional bird or sheep. Potatoes, berries, wild onions, and nuts provided plenty room for other foods and flavors too. Wild herbs were useful as medicine and flavor as well. Nepheira didn't have such a bountiful diet. Plain grains dominated the pantry so to speak. Bread, goat milk, and the occasional fish or crustacean were the most common and widely available foods.

"Mm. This is delicious!" Mathew took another bite of venison. The warm juices tantalized his tongue. There were two more strips left over the fire to eat, and Aitu was enjoying her meal quietly compared to the human. "I thought wolves would've eaten everything raw, but I'm glad I'm wrong."

"Raw! I don't want to fall ill from eating undercooked meat." Aitu licked her nose. "What food does Nepheira have?"

"Dust..." He tried not to think much about it.

"Dust huh?" She giggled at the odd answer. Mathew took another bite and looked over a piece of antler in his hand. The human wished he could've forgotten about many thigs concerning Nepheira. "Do you want to visit Edessa, Hohhot, and their pup again?" Aitu asked him while they finished eating.

"Yes." He nodded.

"I knew you would say yes." Aitu tied on her chest cloth.

They left their deerskins and headed outside into the humid cloudy morning. Wolves they passed would say hello and grin, and Mathew liked that. In Nepheira glares would be exchanged only promising a shoot out. "You're grinning." Aitu noticed and tapped his leg with her tail.

"I am." He nodded. They reached the wolves' hut in a short walk.

"Hello!" Aitu and Mathew entered the home. Mathew picked up on the slightly different scent inside the hut. It was earthy and canine like Aitu's but there was something that made it unique.

"Hello." The parents greeted them by the fire pit. Hohhot stepped forward and touched noses with the human first. His mate was more hesitant but followed suit.

"Hey little fella." Mathew said in English to the young pup who gazed right back at him with curious blue eyes. The pup craned his neck forward and licked the human's nose. Hohhot and Edessa grinned with relief at the friendly reaction.

"You can smell his kindness right?" Aitu quietly whispered so the human couldn't hear. Mathew's attention was focused on the smiling pup crawling towards him. The little black nose sniffed his knee before giving a soft bite.

"No biting." Hohhot lifted his son into his lap. The naked pup squirmed around and yapped playfully in the adult's arms.

'Two parents...' Mathew realized. "Can I stay with them for a day or two?" He asked Aitu. Mathew wanted to know how a pup was raised by two parents. The black wolfess turned to Hohhot and talked something out. Mathew couldn't understand the total conversation, but nods and grins were given. By nightfall the human was back inside their hut, ready to stay for the night, and the parents accommodated his stay. They arranged a sleeping mat of fur for Mathew, but neither quite agreed where.

"No. Here." Edessa pushed it further away.

"Tethasa?" He asked with concern. Mathew couldn't make out the word.

"Not this close." She whispered. Her ears were stiff and unyielding.

"This is good. Thank you." Mathew intervened. The parents looked at him, then each other and gave up the argument before retiring to their own deerskin. Mathew was surprised to watch the family discard all of their clothes and lie down naked together on a large deerskin. The pup was between the mother and father who faced each other, probably the warmest place in the entire village. "Sleep well." The parents whispered.

"Sleep well." Mathew lied down and stared at the family enviously.

Mathew woke up just before sunrise. He sat up and stretched noticing that the wolves were still asleep. The air smelled slightly different inside the hut because of its occupants, and it gave the interior a unique feel. A quiet noise coming from between the parents caught his attention. It reminded him of someone smacking their lips. Peeking around his position he noticed the pup was hungrily suckling at Edessa's breast. A faint smile covered her muzzle. Mathew couldn't help but grin too at the sweet spectacle. It was hard to imagine something so little and innocent could grow up to be a giant muscle packed wolf. When the canine was finished suckling he tried crawling over his mother, but a faithful hand pulled him back down to rest for a moment longer. Eventually Hohhot was first to rise. He promptly went to the storage hut and retrieve some meat to cook with. Edessa was up when he started the fire and readied a small bowl of berries to eat as well. Their son fancied a stick to chew on. As soon as the meat was cooked, Hohhot stored a few pieces in a leather pouch and put the rest in a wooden bowl. The male wolf readied his hunting equipment.

"I'll return after sun high." He licked her muzzle and patted his son's back before leaving. "Bye Mathew."

"I'll see you soon!" The white wolfess smiled and waved at her mate. The pup's garbled speech and yapping was adorable as he reached out to the door flap where his dad exited. Mathew looked up at Edessa as the white wolfess knelt in front of him ominously.

"Uh..."

"Listen." She held his chin with a single finger. The claw pricked his skin underneath. "If you harm my son or let him be harmed I will nechokta husih you. Understand?" Her fierce eyes meant business.

"Yes Edessa." He nervously nodded as the hand retracted. Mathew didn't want to know what she planned on doing to him.

"Good." She grinned and permitted him to eat. Mathew ate the remainder of the food without question. The mother eased her protective behavior and allowed the human to play with her pup, as long as she could see them.

"Why did you sleep with him here?" Mathew held a hand to his front.

"There is a saying to sleep: Pena to furet." Breast to pup in English. "Safest place and best if they are hungry." She explained. A little shriek caught their attention. Her son was on his back with a paw stretched out, probably from falling down. "Oh mom is here for you." Edessa picked up the whimpering pup ready to cry. "Sh." Edessa hushed the whining infant and kissed where he had fallen. The pup stayed quiet while she kissed the top of his paw. "There. Better?" She crooned to him. He whimpered a little but returned to his paws. It didn't take long for him to build up his courage again and explore the deer mat that he was on.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Stop him from crying?" Mathew was bewildered at how she helped him with ease.

"I held him and kissed where he fell. He doesn't quite understand yet like an older wolf will, but he knows I will always be there to help him." That was the strange part of the wolf family Mathew liked. It was a real family unlike a human one.

"Don't try escaping little wolf." Mathew pulled the pup back who was peeping his head through the door flap. But the pup was insistent on trying to crawl his way outside.

"We can go outside to play more." She picked up her son and headed to the hut's entrance. "You can come too Mathew." Edessa looked over her shoulder before disappearing through the door flap. He crawled out behind her.

"Slow down dad!" An adolescent fawn colored she wolf barked to an older male. Both carried slings and a pouch of stones to hunt small prey together.

"Those rabbits won't slow down." He ruffled his daughter's mane making her giggle.

"Mathew!" Edessa barked catching the human's attention. "Let's go!" He hurried and caught up to her. The white wolfess held her son protectively with both arms as they walked by the huts. The few wolves they passed waved or said hello.

"Edessa."

"Hm?" She looked at the human walking beside her.

"Do all pups have two parents?"

"Of course." She grinned at the funny question. "How do you think pups are born?"

"But do all have two parents as they age?" He clarified. The wolfess gave him a peculiar look.

"Yes. If not, then almost all. Don't humans?" She asked.

"No." He shook his head. "A mother for a few years... if any."

"Oh..." Edessa quietly led him through the village to the creek where the two trees grew by the embankment. Three adult she wolves and six pups, ages ranging from five to twelve, were seated or playing together under the trees' shade. The other three adult females lacked fur around the center of their breasts revealing varying shades of tanned or darker grey skin. All were visibly mothers. "Hello!" Edessa greeted them. They all nodded with grins and kindly greeted her in return but weren't sure how to greet the human, or if they even should.

"Why is the flat face with you?" One mother unabashedly asked.

"He is... helping me watch my pup." Edessa admitted pinning her ears back sheepishly.

"Again?"

"Yes. Chohunkiun fom." Edessa sat down and let her son play around her. Mathew gave the adults room hoping not to anger them. The other mothers kept an eye on the human while talking amongst themselves, but their pups seemed very curious about the stranger. All of them peered closely at the human. Some approached too close and scurried back to hide behind a friend.

"Hello." He quietly greeted the closest one. The young one's face lit up excitedly understanding him.

"I heard him speak!" The solid grey male with a tuft of white chest fur barked excitedly.

"It talks?" Another voice piped up. A small pair of hands rested on his back.

"Namoa tana." The young pup nudged his back.

"Do you have cloud food?" He understood what another asked.

"Cloud food?" He wondered at the bizarre phrase.

"Watambi said he hid it here." The pup's hand poked around the human's front. He remembered the bread that he gave Watambi in the moor that fateful day.

"I don't have any food." Mathew stood up. A few ears folded back in dismay.

"Can you play?" One held a shaved stick out to Mathew. It had plenty of claw and bite marks along its exterior.

"Uh. How?" He took the stick, unsure of what he should do.

"You throw it, then we run after it and throw it again!" He excitedly explained.

"He's not that tall!" One small female pup reached up able to place his hands on the human's shoulders with ease.

"I can reach his head." Another placed a hand on Mathew's hair.

"So all I have to do is throw it?"

"Yes! Throw the stick!" They huddled in front of him, ready to sprint. Mathew threw the stick and everyone bolted after it barking wildly. The fastest two reached the stick and wrestled for it until one emerged victorious with the stick in their mouth. One of them threw it in a different direction where the cycle was repeated. A shrill bark startled him. He turned seeing a young female on the ground holding her paw. A mother started to stand, but they watched in surprise as Mathew intervened.

"Are you ok?" He knelt down and asked the little wolfess.

"Mmm!" She mumbled biting her lip and pointed to her left paw. "He stepped on it." Mathew lifted her small digitigrade leg and rubbed over the wolf's four black toes to dull the pain. The pup stopped whining and gave the human a curious look as he raised her paw to his face. She giggled as he kissed the furry tops in quick succession. It was a little embarrassing to him, but that didn't matter. "Do you feel better?" The little wolf nodded but picked up the stick beside him and threw it so everyone could play again.

"When did he start caring about our young?" A red and white furred mother wolfess inquired to herself as the group played.

"He learned that from me." Edessa smiled.

"Maybe he can help me if I go to the endless lake with my family." Another chuckled. One of the mother wolves watching looked down feeling something grab her chest. A little pup sat down in her lap and held her left breast to his muzzle.

"Edessa, don't you feed your son enough?" The wolfess put an arm around the little one feeling him latch on.

"He wasn't hungry earlier Diana. The only thing on his mind was playing." The white wolfess sighed.

"He certainly knows where to find more." Diana giggled watching the human play with her two daughters and rubbed his back.

"Thank you for allowing me to live with you." Mathew knelt before the pup's parents.

"You are welcome. Visit whenever you want." Hohhot touched his nose.

"Thank you Mathew." Edessa quietly said. "You're very kind."

"Listen to your parents." He rubbed the pup's head. The little wolf tried biting the human's hand but smiled while doing so. Mathew thanked the family again as he crawled through the door flap. He had spent a second night with the family before departing this morning. There was a lot he learned with the time he spent with them. The typical wolf family was tightly knit within the village. A mated pair would typically have between one and four pups during their lifetime, and most of them would have pups of their own in due time. Although it wasn't an easy task raising another wolf.

The human walked through the busy maze of huts. The warm summer weather was the best chance of having a day of sunshine, and everyone was outside doing something. Someone tended to cloths on a line, pups played in small groups, and some even cooked outside with a hastily made fire. Nearby, someone was practicing using a flute while another beat a drum for rhythm. An adolescent male wolf was lying by the sunny side of a hut with his loincloth raised to warm his nether regions. His attitude was carefree. Mathew ducked and entered Aitu's hut, but much to his surprise Ashan was inside talking to the black wolfess. The male wolf had a bow by his side, a quiver over his back, and a knife pouch hanging by his side. Aitu had a knife on her person as well. The mottled grey wolf touched noses with Mathew before the human could settle down on a mat.

"Hello Mathew." He warmly greeted the human.

"Hi Ashan." He looked at Aitu wondering what was going on.

"I was talking to Aitu about letting you hunt with our pack today." A pack specifically referred to a group of wolves hunting together.

"But I don't know how to hunt." Mathew replied.

"That's fine, you can be a lepanni." He suggested. Aitu shook her head. "Why not?"

"What is a lepanni?" Mathew asked.

"Ashan means one who runs." She broke down the word for him. "They carry a knife or two and run after injured prey to kill it. You are not fast enough."

"He can still watch." Ashan insisted. "Do you want to join our pack today?" He asked. "We'll be back at sundown."

"Yes, I do." He nodded. There wasn't anything else for a human to do in the village.

"Then it is decided!" Ashan stood up and gathered his bow and quiver.

"Don't worry about hunting, this will be fun." Aitu gathered her bow and quiver as well before leading Mathew outside. They hurried to the southern edge of the village where three other wolves were waiting. One female carried the same equipment as Ashan; whereas another female and male wore belts carrying two knives each like Aitu.

"We're ready to go." Ashan held up his bow and pointed back at Aitu and Mathew.

"Why is flat face here?" One female bared her fangs in detest at the smaller human. Her fur coat was a cross pattern mixed of light oranges and black.

"If you don't want him to accompany us, then I shouldn't hunt. He spared my life Tawashi." The wolfess growled but kept her mouth shut. "If there are no other complaints, then let's go!" He excitedly stated.

"You were late." A male mumbled, but was quickly elbowed by Aitu. The pack took off in a light jog, crossed the creek, and climbed the hill towards the south. Warm wind frequently ruffled hair, fur, and clothes alike. The blanket resembling clouds that rolled through the sky didn't promise any rain though. The land they traversed gradually became rolling hills with scattered underbrush and tall grasses. Mathew was breathless when they finally stopped along the ridge of a tall hill. However, the wolves barely batted an eye at the run.

"Let me rest for a moment." The human sat down to catch his breath.

"We barely ran." Aitu nudged Mathew to his feet.

'For an entire hour!' He thought.

"I can smell them." Ashan paused and took a deep breath through his nose. They climbed around a few rocks to see the other side of the grassy hilltop. The sight surprised the human. The rolling meadows before them were covered with herds of deer. Countless prey to hunt.

"There's so many!" Mathew gaped only for a hand to cover his open mouth.

"And we don't want one of them to know that we're here." Aitu explained with a low voice. He nodded and zipped his lips.

"The wind will help prevent them from hearing us, but we have to stay downwind until we can get close enough." Ashan elaborated.

"Can't you shoot a few and be done?"

'He doesn't know anything about hunting.' Aitu shook her head.

"Does a rabbit jump into your mouth when you're hungry?" Ashan wittily replied.

"Cuksnin human." Tawashi muttered and turned her attention to Ashan. The orange and black wolfess pointed further along the hill.

"Split up." He nodded to Tawashi's group. The three quickly slipped away along the ridge.

"Why split up?" Mathew whispered to Aitu.

"When we hit one here the herd will run away. Tawashi's group will be lying in wait and can kill another one."

'Smart idea.' Wolves had hunting figured out. They looked at Ashan who had closed his eyes and was quietly talking to himself. "What is he doing?" Mathew couldn't hear the wolf's quiet whispers.

"Chanting to the spirits for a good hunt." Aitu explained. "The hunt is as spiritual as it is physical." Mathew didn't see how, but didn't complain as Ashan finished. The wolf readied his bow and quiver. The bow was neatly adorned with raven feathers where the strings were attached to the wood. His eyes keenly scanned the closest group of deer.

"Aitu. That one." He pointed with his nose to an older doe and pulled out an arrow. She nodded and inched closer on all fours. Ashan notched the arrow and took aim. As soon as Aitu was close enough, the wolf let the arrow loose. Heads raised hearing the bow fire, but the arrow struck the intended doe. The shock knocked the deer down and Aitu took off like a bolt of lightning after the injured prey. The herd bolted and ran in a thundering stampede. Her loincloth flapped between her legs like a second tail from the intense speed. The deer scrambled to rise and took off, but Aitu was close enough. The wolfess lashed out and sunk the knife into the doe's neck to the hilt. The deer ran ahead but collapsed on a nearby hill. Aitu jogged to the fallen body and retrieved her knife.

"Arooo!" She howled holding the knife in the air.

"Yes! That was excellent!" Ashan jumped up and hurried to her with Mathew not far behind. "Nice running Aitu!" The male hugged the wolfess and lifted her in the air.

"Wow you're fast!" Mathew caught up to the panting wolfess.

"Thanks!" Aitu's tongue panted outside of her muzzle giving the she wolf a comical expression. "Harku and Tawashi caught one ahead of us." She panted. "I can smell it."

"Arooo!" A victorious howl from nearby confirmed the news.

"Alright! That's two." Ashan exclaimed jumping up. Mathew looked along the rolling moorland and spotted a figure limping towards them.

"Tawashi looks hurt." The human pointed to the hobbling wolfess approaching them.

"Are you ok?" They hurried to her.

"I stepped on something." She hobbled on one paw and sat down. "I can feel it between the pads." Her toes splayed for some reprieve. The black and orange she wolf's muzzle scrunched in frustration.

"You have smaller fingers Mathew." Aitu lightly smacked his back to take action. Tawashi didn't look very pleased to have Mathew kneeling before her, but the she wolf bit back a complaint on her tongue. He carefully held up the she wolf's leg. The digitigrade paw was fairly large and bigger than his hand. Mathew parted the two bulky middle toes carefully avoided their large claws. Between the pads he could see a small splinter embedded in her skin.

"Hold still." He gripped the wooden spike with his fingertips and carefully pulled. The bulky toes curled around his fingers in relief as the splinter was dislodged.

"Ah, that's much better." She sighed and perked her ears up. Mathew leaned away from the large claws pointing at him and slipped his finger from their padded grip. Ashan and Aitu looked expectantly at Tawashi.

"Uh." The wolfess retracted her leg and looked at Mathew. "Thank you for removing the splinter Mathew." Her ears lied flat against her skull watching him stand and offer his hand to help her. "Thanks." Held his hand and allowed him to help her up.

"You're welcome."

"I hope the cut isn't deep or messy." She set her paw on the ground testing weight. "Kithos hates having to lick a wounded paw."

"That's... strange." Mathew imagined the shaman cleaning her wound.

"You always lick a wound." Aitu chuckled. "Remember your arm?" Mathew looked at the faint lines running down his arm where he had defended himself from being sliced in two.

"Alright," Ashan focused everyone's attention, "let's cut the deer, tie him to the quivers, and bring it home. I can't wait to eat some cooked liver!" The wolves licked their lips.

'Yuck!' Mathew thought to himself. The organ was a delicacy of sorts to the wolves, but Mathew wasn't very fond of its taste.

"Don't frown. Liver is delicious." Aitu batted his side with her tail.

The low sun marked the end of the evening and the imminent nighttime. The pack carried back the two deer using the thick quiver straps as very simple gurneys while Mathew and Aitu carried the remaining equipment back themselves. Grass crunched beneath his shoes and the she wolf's paws. The human's legs were sore from the long trek. Mathew paused to look at the village cast in the sun's beautiful golden orange glow. The grass, distant trees, and even the creek shared some of the serene beauty. Wolves were returning to their homes, some staying with friends or family for the night. The bluish clouds above the smoke trailing homes were lined with the same spectacular orange rays. Looking back to face the east, darker skies overshadowed everything in the general direction of New Haven. A gentle breeze passed.

'I wonder what's happening there.' His eyes trailed to the ground where his shadow was. His brow furrowed seeing pointy ears on top of his shadow's head. 'Huh?' A pair of arms larger than his own appeared from his shadow. One raised a hand and waved. Mathew raised his hands and the shadow corresponded resulting in four limbs. The human glanced over his shoulder and grinned before returning to the ground. He flapped his arms like a bird and Aitu copied him. They laughed at the funny shadows that their arms produced. She brought an arm around his shoulder and walked back to her home.

"A good day." Aitu smiled patting his arm.

"You're right. A good day." He grinned.

Mathew looked over a tiny stick in his hand and ran his thumb over the rough surface.

Aitu sat nearby on a similar deerskin and mended an old chest cloth. The human had been stuck inside the hut for the past two days because of lingering rain showers. He sighed looking at the raised door flap to let more light in. The grassy hill that gently closed eastward before leveling off appeared muggy from the constant drizzle. Aitu looked up from sewing.

"Thinking about escaping to your old home?" She asked noticing his stare linger outside.

"I don't have a home. If I go back they will want me to fight. But here I'm..." Mathew didn't know the word for outsider and stalled. "I don't know." He finished quietly.

"I like your honesty." She grinned. "However, you won't be running away. We can easily catch you."

"Please be gentle if I try again." He quietly huffed a laugh and returned to fiddling with the stick. She was right. Even if he attempted an escape someone would easily track him down and catch him. The human would be staying in the village for as long as the wolves wanted him to, but after that, no one knew what would happen to him.

"Hey! Aitu!" A head popped through the door flap from outside causing the human to jump. Aitu chuckled telling him to settle down. Mathew didn't recognize the wolf, but Aitu knew who he was.

"Hello! Please come inside and sit down!" Aitu offered the pelt she was sitting on. To her surprise he declined the offer.

"Can you help my mate look after our daughter for the day? I am going away to hunt in the southern hills for a while." He held up his bow.

"A pup watcher? Mathew is really good at that." Aitu looked over at the human. The wolf's ears swiveled outwards.

"Can you help me and my mate?" He hesitantly asked the human. Mathew looked at the remaining pieces of the stick in his hand. He was bored.

"Is it alright with you Aitu?"

"That will be fine. I'm meeting with Kithos later." She nodded.

"Yes. I will." A sense of relief washed over the wolf's face.

"Follow me." Mathew followed the male outside to a nearby hut

"Thank you. I have to go immediately." He patted Mathew's back and hurried off. The human crouched down and entered the hut. Inside, three wolves were sitting by a dormant fire pit.

"Mom, someone is here." A pup around the age of ten blurted out seeing Mathew enter the home.

"Hello." The wolfess turned around from her seat and touched noses with Mathew. "I'm Hushi." She introduced herself. The little pup in her lap stared wide eyed at the human.

"Hello, I'm-"

"Mathew." She finished for him with a tooth revealing grin. "Every wolf in Massa village knows your name."

"Hi Mathew." Kiita touched noses with him. "Your muzzle is gone." She couldn't help but poke the human's nose after greeting him.

"He doesn't have one Kiita." The mother explained. "Oh. You can say hello too Tendo." She lifted him up to the human's sitting height.

"Hello Tendo." The naked pup grabbed Mathew's face as their noses touched. He garbled a few words of gibberish before being returned to his mother's lap. "Your mate said that you needed help looking after your daughter." He looked over at Kiita presumably.

"Yes, although I didn't expect that someone to be you." She admitted. "She has been in trouble recently, and I want her within an adult's sight." The little wolfess scooted closer to Mathew and tugged on his worn shirt.

"Can you play with me?" She innocently asked.

"Of course." He stated cheerfully making her tail wag. "What do you want to play?"

"Wraghass!" She pounced knocking him to the ground. Mathew found himself pinned by the smaller body to the ground. Up above Kiita's tongue lolled out happily.

"Wraghas?" Mathew didn't understand.

"You don't know about wraghas?" She hopped aside and helped him up. "You hold the other and try pinning them to the ground without punching!" She placed her hands on his shoulder to demonstrate. Wrestling!

"Oh! I understand now." He placed his hands on her shoulders respectively. The two rolled around the deerskins vying for the upper hand. Despite her size, the wolfess was strong and capable of wrangling with the adult human.

"I gotcha!" She pounced on him. They rolled into a few empty baskets and animal pelts. Kiita and Mathew soon ran out of breath rolling around the hut's ground.

"Mathew can you help me for a moment?" The mother asked trying to hold the tip of a bow and her son at the same time.

"Yes?" He crawled over to her.

"He's trying to nurse while I finish this. Hold his back with your hand and recline him." Mathew did as she instructed and cradled the pup to her body. "Yes. Hold him that way." She nodded and tended to the bow. He held the hungry infant to her breast while she finished tying the desired leather strings to the bow. Kiita stood on her knees behind Mathew and rested her head on his shoulder while watching her little brother. Hushi's chest moved with every breath, and his little fistfuls of fur gave extra security to his grip. There was something indescribably loving about the scene. "Can you hear him drinking?" She set the finished bow down and watched the two wearing a small grin.

"Yes." Mathew and Kiita both answered. Hushi placed her hand over Mathew's.

"Thank you. I have him now." She softly spoke and flicked her tail. Kiita immediately pulled the human onto his back. The two wrestled inside the hut with Hushi watching contently until Kiita tired. "Thank you for playing with Kiita while my mate is away. I'd normally breastfeed both of them, but she seems to have a taste for venison early." The mother switched her son to her other breast.

"You are very welcome." Mathew pinned the wriggling pup before she nibbled his arm and slipped away to hide behind a large basket. Kiita panted and sat down to rest for a moment, giving Mathew a momentary break from pup sitting. "She definitely has the teeth for venison." He looked at the harmless indents in his skin.

"Offering my breast used to keep her quiet and still, but not anymore." She chuckled as her daughter panted over on a stack of furs.

"You can't talk with a full mouth." Mathew chuckled.

"There's a saying that female pups don't suckle long because they will be suckled." Hushi looked at her daughter trying to hide and rest. Mathew looked at the suckling pup's teeth and a question formed.

"What if they bite you?" He asked.

"Ouch." A spry smile erupted along her lips at the thought. "I don't know. I haven't heard of a pup biting their mother there." Hushi felt over the free skin on her other breast.

"How long are pups breastfed?" He watched Tendo drinking heartily with closed eyes.

"At least five or six summers. They can never feed long enough." She pleasantly smiled watching him feed.

"That long?" That explained why pups of varying age were seen feeding from their mothers.

"That keeps the breast healthy." She nodded.

"Healthy?"

"You use your arm to maintain its strength correct?" She spoke as any mother would with plenty of wisdom.

"Well, Tendo seems to like your milk a lot." Mathew watched the little pup suckle happily.

"Of course. My milk is tasty and sweet."

"Huh?" He wasn't expecting her to say that.

"What? Don't you believe me?" She gave him a toothy grin. Mathew opened his mouth to object as she squeezed her other breast with a free hand. A squirt of milk arced through the air and landed on his tongue.

"Hey!" He tasted a delectable creamy and vague sweetness on his taste buds.

"Good, right?" She grinned as Kiita pulled his arm to play again.

"Play with me!" Kiita barked wagging her tail obtaining his total attention. She scurried outside and the human was in pursuit.

"I'll catch you!" He chased and wrestled the pup around the hut. Kiita rolled on the ground wearing the happiest smile he had seen. When she stopped her loincloth was flipped over her tummy messily, rising and falling with her fast breathing. "Hello." Mathew loomed over her and rubbed her tummy. The little she wolf laughed before worming away.

Two wolves from nearby watched the human and pup darting around the hut, one pure black, the other brindle.

"He is a good pup watcher." Aitu watched the pair play.

"How much does he understand you?" The shaman combed through Aitu's hair with a small antler comb.

"He talks very well, but he doesn't understand anything about the spirits. I don't think he has heard of them before." She admitted as he finished a braid. The shaman focused for a minute.

"I will talk to him. Come to my home with him tomorrow at sun high."