“So two questions- Where are we going and why?” I howled.

“We’re going to the dens to meet with the others. We’ll explain when we get there,” barked a wolf. “By the way, my name’s Stepeater.” 

“Nice to meet you. My name’s Laurel, please don’t eat me.” I was kinda jittery.

“Nice to meet you too. Not eating you would be good.”

“So that’s a relief.”

“Yeah, it is. If we did we’d become cannibals.”

“Cannibals...?”

“We’ll explain at the dens,” Stepeater said decidedly.

We ran in silence.

When we got deeper into the forest, the others slowed down and trotted into a tunnel. I hesitated for a second, then followed them in.

As I emerged from the tunnel, everyone else had already sat down and was looking at me with a kind of expectancy when it’s a week into 2018 and nobody important has died yet. I shook the dirt from my fur and said, “Wassup?” One wolf, that I’m guessing was Stepeater, started to snigger, as much as a wolf can. A small ‘Yip!’ sounded through the cave, and a little grey puppy wriggled its way between Stepeater’s paws. It wagged its little tail and yipped again, as a white wolf- Its mother- padded in from another cave on the right. She looked at me with pale yellow eyes, then dipped her head as she picked up the pup and padded back out.

“Is this the girl?” A voice boomed from the back of the cave, to dark for me to see, even with my eyes in hyperdrive. Wait... I squinted and was able to make out a huge shape, that I’m guessing was a wolf. It stood and walked forward, revealing it to be- gasp- a wolf. It was unlike any wolf I had ever seen. To start, it was twice as tall as the biggest wolf here, which was the one who led the pack here. The dark, shaggy grey fur nearly touched the ceiling. He kind of reminded me of King Louie from the jungle book.

“Well?” He demanded.

“Sir?” I asked after I regained my voice. All eyes were on me, and Stepeater nodded encouragingly. “If you are talking about me, I am indeed a girl, and I would prefer it if you called me by my name, which is Laurel, instead of the girl.” Silence. Stepeater looked vaguely amused.

Stupid mysterious wolf boy.

Finally the big wolf tipped his head back and laughed. I was worried that he’d hit his nose on the ceiling. “Such temper!” He laughed. After the roar of mirth had gone on for a bit, Stepeater stood up and suggested, “ Instead of laughing, why don’t we introduce ourselves?” The biggest wolf, who I had dubbed Biggo by now, stopped and looked curiously at Stepeater then me. “Excellent idea, Apollo.” Stepeater, who I guess was Apollo, looked slightly miffed.

Biggo began naming all the wolves around me, starting with the smallish white one on my left. “That’s Isa, Sobek, Ve, Hera, Nepthys, Tyr, Wadjet, Skyr, Artemis, Thoth, Sif, Apollo,” - He nodded to Stepeater, who still looked disgruntled- and counted off a few more names before saying, “my name is Drew, and I am your Uncle, Laurel.”