***

ou're awesome. You're a hunter. You're an awesome hunter. You've had the best tips from the best hunter ever. You can do this. Lynn was sure that the marmot she was targeting could hear her rapid heartbeat.

Carefully, she crept closer and closer. The animal was gnawing on something while close to its burrow. One wrong move and it would spot her, hiding in its hole where she wouldn't be able to reach it.

Suddenly, she leapt. She didn't land squarely on the animal like she'd hoped, but she did manage to grab one of its hind legs between her teeth. She instantly snapped her jaws shut, breaking it, then pinned the struggling animal to the ground with her front paws. She released the leg and went for the neck. The marmot soon was limp.

Lynn carried her first catch enthusiastically back home. After weeks of trying to hunt using Sam's and occasionally One-eye's tactics, she'd finally caught something! One-eye would be so proud.

She entered the homesite and dropped the marmot square in front of One-eye. The thud made the old wolf snape awake. "Whut? Are we being attacked?" He instantly sat up.

"No, Dad! Look!" Lynn pointed with her muzzle at her catch!

One-eye looked at it, then at the blood that caked her lips. "You... you caught this?"

Lynn nodded enthusiastically. "I did! I did!"

"Did I hear One-eye say you got your first catch?" asked Sam, who approached the site, too.

Lynn grabbed the marmot between her jaws again and walked up to her friend, proudly showing it off.

"And quite the chubby one, too! A great first catch! I told you, me, the very best hunter ever, would get you hunting in no time!"

"I'm a real hunter now!" Lynn barked enthusiastically, dropping her catch.

---

The weeks that had passed slowly turned into months. The Sam's territory felt like home now to Lynn, and she was sure that One-eye felt so, too. She couldn't imagine ever wanting to leave.

"Sam?" she approached her friend. He was staring up at the dawn sky while lying on one of the boulders on the nearby field.

"Yes?"

"I've been thinking. One-eye's really growing old. You know he's getting stiffer and stiffer each week, especially with the cold weather lately. His poor joints and bones, and his cataract's also getting worse. I'm worried about him."

Sam sat up and stared at her sympathetically. Lynn knew that Sam would never quite grow to like her old father, but the two could at the very least stand one another now. "I'm sorry, Lynn."

"And I've just been thinking... Back when, you told us that we could stay for a while. Which we have been doing. And I don't mean to be pushy or anything, but the thought of me and One-eye ever having to leave here... I keep thinking about it. He won't survive the winter, I can't provide for us both, even though I've been improving at hunting. I'm just so scared that one day you'll send us away, since you never officially confirmed we could stay forever!"

Sam raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Did you really think I'd ever sent you two away? You're my best friend! Don't worry, Lynn. You can both stay here for as long as you like. My territory is your territory. One-eye can grow old here in peace, and I'll teach you all there is to know about hunting and being a wolf. That's a promise."

Lynn smiled. "You mean it?"

"The best hunter ever doesn't break promises!" Sam reminded her with feigned sternness.

Lynn blinked gratefully. "Right. He doesn't." She sat closer to her friend, gazing up at the rising sun.