I found Elva, Susie, and Mark at the edge of the gardens, where the fields of short grass began.
Elva was playing with Silver and Night. She crawled over Night, while Silver nosed at her stomach or licked her face. Elva’s laughs were loud and happy, and easily pushed away any lingering sadness I held inside of me.
At least, it did – until I noticed that Elva seemed to be talking with the wolves.
She’d done so before. It wasn’t some big revelation that she could. But she was getting better at it. Watching her, it was like she was having deeper conversations with the wolves than she was even able to out loud with me or other humans.
I moved toward where Susie and Mark were sitting together in the grass. They were leaning toward each other but not otherwise touching. I cleared my throat t
