Lone Wolf

she often did when they tussled. He immediately clambered onto her back. A strong odor rose through the thick fur from the stimulated scent glands beneath her skin.
    "What's that?"
    "My scent."
    Faolan had smelled that scent before when he had ridden on her, but now it was stronger, almost overpowering, and very different from the thick sweet smell of the milk. It was a strong signal. A defensive message that this den and everything around it from the white spruce to the riverbank and up to the grove of alders belonged to Thunderheart, and to him, her pup. It triggered something in Faolan. "I can do that!"
    He sank into the thick, odiferous fur and nuzzled her neck, licking the inside of her ear and then tumbling off  to run to the nearest tree. Thunderheart watched him as he backed his hindquarters against it and lowered his tail. He is quick! Thunderheart thought. She hadn't had to explain anything, really. He had immediately understood the urgency of this scent message. What a remarkable young pup!
    A muscle at the top of Faolan's tail contracted as he began to rub against the trunk. He felt something release. Immediately, he began running about marking every tree, rock, and stump he could find. Mine! Mine! Mine! The thought coursed through his being. But this was only the beginning. As he marked, there were stirrings in other parts of his body. He began to scratch furiously at the ground. Another scent from between his toes was emitted, and the cry in his head, Mine.' Mine.' Mine.', changed to Ours.' Ours! Ours! Something had unlocked deep in his wolf history.
    But Thunderheart was the only other creature that he knew. He paused and looked at her once more. She stood by a tree that she was rubbing, not half crouched as before, but tall and majestic. She eyed him with the deep tawny light he loved so much, and yet now there was challenge in her eyes. She huffed and barked. "Come on, come on!"
    Faolan cocked his head. He began to jump up for a ride on her hump, but each time she moved to another tree before he could catch her, waving her arms and batting the branches above her.
    Some bright green leaves caught the last of the setting sun's light as they fluttered down. He leaped up to catch a leaf before it hit the ground. Thunderheart made a low amiable grunt and then shook the tree again. Faolan leaped again. They played this game for a while. Each time Faolan jumped a bit higher.
    Then Thunderheart turned from the tree and continued walking, still on her hind legs. She looked back to see Faolan following, but on all fours. She stopped abruptly, faced him, and lowered herself down briefly. Next, she rose up, waving her arms as she had when she had encouraged him to jump at the tree. "Two legs!" she commanded.
    Faolan stood very still. It was almost as if she could see his mind turning over what she had just proposed. He rose up on his hind legs. Thunderheart watched, hardly daring to breathe. Tentatively, Faolan took a step toward her.
    Thunderheart grunted happily and lowered herself to lick Faolan under his chin, making soft chuffing sounds.
    She spotted a low shrub with some plump berries and broke off a branch. Then, raising herself up again on her hind legs, she waved the branch in front of Faolan. She knew he loved these berries. Instantly, he was on his hind legs walking. This time he took four steps! Thunderheart was thrilled.
    He was learning and she was delighted with herself for teaching him. Cubs knew how to do this almost from the start. It was natural for them. But it wasn't natural for Faolan. She was beginning to realize that Faolan was not just an exceptional pup, but an extraordinary creature.
    By the time darkness fell, Faolan was walking on his hind legs almost as well as a cub. And, on that brink of time between the last drop of daylight and the first purple darkness, Faolan learned his best lesson. He caught a flash of white as an ermine scuttled into a burrow on the far side of a tall shrub, something he would have never seen had he not been upright. He sprang in one arcing leap across the shrub and landed on all fours, madly digging. The splayed front paw had grown stronger since he had been forced to use it. He never thought twice about it now.
    Thunderheart trotted up behind him as a storm of dirt spun through the air. Suddenly, a furry dart shot from  the nest. Faolan staggered backward and tumbled heels over tail as something lunged onto his back. Sharp digging claws. He leaped up