The Wolf's Whisperer

Manere

He didn’t understand this human. The girl was certainly a fool, but a good-hearted, kind, and nice-smelling fool, and that was a good thing. Though, there was still one scary part about this whole circumstance: the tool spitting fire– oh, the wolf knew it!

He had been forced to run for his life from its deadly spits not just once, and he could remember vividly that one time when the fire took his friend. Although the human seemed to be a fool, she wasn’t slow. A few growled warnings and the fire-spitter was out of the human’s hand in a minute.

What surprised the wolf was the bandage around his body, the pain that didn’t feel so great now, the soothing voice, and the offered food, warmth… and freedom if he chose it.

With the fire-spitter out of the human’s reach, he effectively became the leader of the situation. He couldn’t say how much this fool was aware of her vulnerability, but the wolf knew that even wounded like this he was able to rip the girl's throat in one good bite. The human was totally at his mercy and it was a calming thought.

The wolf decided to take what was offered to him and stopped growling. Yes, he could be thankful. This was his thanks.

Then the door was closed and the human left him to disappear into some other room, but the fire-spitter was still lying where the girl left it. While he was staying here, the first thing to do was to part the human from her weapon. He had to take the weapon away from her.

The wolf tried to stand up. The pain shot through his body, but he was a fighter, he was strong, he could endure it. Trembling and only keeping his body upright on his three healthy feet, he limped to the fire-spitter and took the leather strap in his mouth. He dragged the weapon with him to his place on the furs in front of the fireplace. He put it there and lay back on the furs, making sure the strap ended up under his big and heavy body, hiding it from view. He tried at least.

He was just in time when the human came back, holding a new bowl. The wolf sniffed, smelling warm milk. Probably he should have felt offended, he wasn’t a pup anymore, but this time it somehow felt good and he was grateful again for her help. He licked his muzzle and waited, not growling any warning at the human… his human.

His rescuer.

The dark-haired girl was talking to him again in that soothing tone and even though the wolf didn’t understand any of her words, he could get the general meaning. He wasn’t in danger, Human didn’t want to hurt him– she treated his injuries which was enough of a proof, and fed him, and now she was offering the warm milk… or she would have if she hadn’t noticed the disappearance of her weapon from the spot where she had left it.

She froze and her brown eyes followed an invisible track to the wolf. The wolf knew that Human could see the mouth of the fire-spitter peeping from behind his back. He grinned, which in fact meant he opened his mouth and showed his pink tongue to Human, and then he shut his mouth again and waited for the milk.

The Human looked around apprehensively. She seemed like she couldn’t decide whether to come closer or rather, not.

Seeing Human’s hesitation gave the wolf a feeling of satisfaction but also made him impatient. He whined, turning the whine into a quiet, short growl. He wanted his milk. He was looking at Human expectantly and hoped the girl would finally understand that he was not going to tear her throat out because she was paying for that privilege with her own kindness.

After a few long minutes, Human seemed to make a decision at last. With a quiet, “You won’t hurt me, right?”, which the wolf didn’t understand but still could recognize worry and plea in the tone, she moved closer.

She stayed exactly at the same distance as before when she was offering the meat and put the bowl down on the floor. Then she pushed it forward to the wolf slowly. The wolf sniffed and pulled closer to the bowl. With his eyes trained on Human, he started slurping the milk. Warmth spread through his body, melting the last bits of cold.

When Human noticed the wolf’s satisfaction, she moved a bit closer. The wolf didn’t mind. When Human stretched out her hand to the fire-spitter, the wolf growled a warning, not bothering to pull his muzzle out from the bowl. Human pulled back and waited, and he kept drinking, unbothered.

The human sat down on the hard wooden floor. The wolf licked the last drops of the milk from the bowl, and then The Human reached for the empty bowl. The wolf pulled back a bit so that he gave the girl the feeling of relative safety. The human took the bowl and smiled. The wolf smiled back in his wolfish way, quite literally.

The Human tried to stretch out her hand towards the fire-spitter sneakily. The wolf growled darkly; why wouldn't she understand?! The girl winced and pulled her hand back quickly.

“Fine, I understand,” she said, and the wolf could hear her embarrassment and fear but also surrender. He grinned at Human and rolled on his side, pushing the deadly tool away from Human’s reach.

Human shook her head and stood up. She walked away to the room from where she brought the milk before. The wolf thought that more milk would have done her only good.