tone of Cyraith’s voice. He nodded and whispered something under his breath as he turned and left the clearing.

Cyraith smiled within herself and turned to the three cubs shivering beside her.

‘Do you have family near by, that can perhaps help if we need it?’ she whispered.

The smallest cub nodded his tiny head and looked to his sisters. He whimpered to Cyraith and the wind picked up slightly. Cyraith heard the words that had been said by the cub, and smiled at him. She licked his nose and settled down in the grass. ‘Go’ she smiled.

Instantly the three cubs ran as fast as their tiny legs would take them out of the clearing towards the cliff where their mother lay on the rocks below. They ran past the edge of the cliff and into the undergrowth where they had lay when they first met Cyraith. They ran through the grass and the fallen trees, down by the river and over to a small cave where a single she wolf lay sleeping.

The smallest cub, the one that had spoken to Cyraith ran to her and as his paws softly hit the ground, the she wolf slowly opened her eyes. She looked at the tiny cubs coming towards her and she stood up and shook herself.

‘Lairf! What is it Lairf?’ she asked as the first cub reached her and stopped quickly at her front paws.

The two other cubs reached the she wolf and together they told the story of the two days that had passed since they had last saw each other.

The she wolf shook her head. ‘I’m sorry to hear about your mother, little ones! But at the moment, we have other things to do. Lairf, run ahead and go to the deer that is in the clearing. Me, Tylaigh and Lokly will come after you!’