doing?” she says “I am hungry.” Jim pulls the covers off of himself exposing his pallid skinny legs. He opens the door and lets Silva out, she trots into the kitchen waiting for Jim to make his way across the cold floors. Jim says “sorry Silva but we ran out of raw meat and I am afraid all we have left is dog food” she says “that’s fine, I don’t mind as long as I eat” Jim pulls the tab on the can of dog food and pours its contents into a bowl. He places the bowl in the microwave and presses the buttons to cook it for about a minute. Silva waits for the microwave to finish, Jim pats her on the head and she affectionately licks his hand. The microwave pings as it is finishes warming the dog food. Jim puts the bowl on the floor and Silva eats it happily. Later on Jim goes with his father to the store leaving Silva at home. She hears the frantic yelping of a wolf coming from the woods behind the house. Rushing to the window she looks out to see a wolf probably a couple months old. His grey fur is glistening with sweat and a small cut on his chest trickles with blood. Making her way outdoors the young wolf sees her and runs towards the house. Behind him a couple hunters chase after him. But once he reaches the house they stop and turn back into the woods.

The young wolf pup collapses at her feet; she picks him up by the scruff and brings him into the house. She tenderly cleans his wounds, she realizes that this pup his probably been on the run for days since he is nothing but skin and bones. The young wolf says “where am I?” she quietly says “it’s alright you are safe now” he smiles up at her and says “my name is Lunar what’s yours?” she replies “I am Silva.” Jim arrives a couple hours later and he is surprised to find more than one wolf in his house, he asks “Silva who is this and how did he get here?” Silva looks at him saying “this is Lunar and he was being chased by a couple hunters” his eyes widen “really?” she nods. He looks at the sleeping pup and pats him on the head. Lunar wakes up and starts to whimper when seeing a human, Silva calms him down and says “he won’t hurt you, he is my best friend” Lunar says “ok” he cautiously licks Jims hand and sniffs it. He says “I have remember your scent but I cannot remember where” Jim says “I would have remembered if I met a wolf cub” Lunar replies “I have seen you in my dreams” Jim says “this is odd but I feel as if I have met you before” Jim picks up the little wolf and presses him against his chest. As he does this a torrent of memories enters his mind. Everything from his life in Vermont comes back to him. When the flood stops he says “Arctos” the little wolf’s ears perk up at the sound of the name. Silva asks “what did you say Jim” he says “I think this wolf is Arctos” she says “that’s impossible Arctos is dead” he replies “well how do you explain that he remembers meeting me and has dreams of me. Also how come I feel like I must have known him from somewhere?” she shrugs her shoulders. Jim looks at Lunar again and says “Arctos is it really you” Lunar nods saying “yes it is, I am happy to have found you again Jim” Jim hugs him tightly.

Jim tells his parents why there is a wolf cub in their house and explains that the wolf is actually Arctos reincarnated. At first they are skeptical but as their son explains some of the details that only Arctos and himself could have known they begin to accept it. That night was a particularly cold one and Jim shivered like crazy. All of a sudden he felt very warm as Silva and Lunar both crawled into his bed. Placing themselves on either side of him he says “thanks” they both nod and watch him fall back to sleep.

During the night snow begins to fall covering the land in a white wonderland. Silva wakes up Jim up and pulling on his shirt brings him to the back door. He sleepily rubs his eyes and says “what Silva...” his sentence is cut short as he views the snow. He says “wait I will be right back” she nods and watches as he disappears back into his bedroom. He comes back out fully dressed with Lunar at his side. He opens the door and both wolves rush outdoors. He throws a snowball at Silva; she says “hey” and jumps on him yipping happily. Lunar joins in the tussle, just then Silva stands still and says “Jim I think the hunters are back” she rushes into the woods hoping to lead them away from the house. Jim calls after her but she doesn’t answer, the hunters open fire at Silva and one of the bullets penetrates her body.

She tumbles but manages to continue to run. More bullets whiz on by but she ignores them. Her vision starts to blur and she feels lightheaded. Inside her heart slams against her rib cage like it is trying to escape. She falls into a brook and she realizes this all seems too familiar, she starts to panic saying “I don’t wanna die” she whimpers tucking her tail. She climbs out of the brook and heads farther into the forest. Jim after seeing the hunters chases Silva he runs into the house telling his parents to call the police. His father grabs his gun saying “I thought we put a stop to this” Jim replies “apparently not.”

Silva falls exhausted to the ground, her life slowly fading away. The hunters gather around her but just as they go to finish her. Jim and his father show up Jim’s father says “put down your weapons” one of the hunters says “why should we it is just a wolf” Jim says “yeah she is my wolf!” A couple of police officers step out from the woods and tell the men to drop their weapons which they do. Jim lays Silva’s head in his lap and gently strokes her on the head. She says “I am sorry Jim” he says “you have nothing to be sorry about” she replies “I don’t think I am going to make it” he shakes his head no saying “yes you will” she closes her eyes and passes out.

Two weeks later Silva is lying on Jims couch with Lunar on the floor watching the images of a wolf on the TV. Jim comes into the room holding something behind his back. She asks “what do you have Jim?” he says “a present for you and Lunar” he pulls out a couple of brown leather collars with a brass name tag hanging from them. He puts one on Silva and the other on Lunar saying “this is my present to my very best friends” Silva licks his face as does Lunar. Silva was taken to a vet after the hunters were arrested; luckily they were able to save her life. The hunters were placed on charges of trespassing on private property. Jim’s father Ian placed a higher fence around the property and had it declared protected land because of the two wolves that lived on it. They were never bothered by hunters again.

The End.