Carl awoke slowly to the sensation of intense cold, twigs, and stones pressing into his naked body where it contacted the damp earth. Eyes closed, he resisted the strong urge to shiver, remaining still for a minute or two. Hearing nothing but bird calls and a squirrel scurrying across tree limbs, he slowly opened his eyes to find himself looking into the face of a wolf sitting no more than ten paces away. He stared intently as it sniffed the air, staring at him for a moment before lowering its ears and looking down in submission.
"Sweet sister wolf," he whispered, "where have you brought me this time?" According to texts he had read, the wolf had already made the first dominant overture with her insolent stare, and in his physical state of vulnerability, he couldn't afford that. He stifled another shiver and rolled his body over to face her; patches of gray fur fell off his shoulders, arms, legs, and side. The wolf dropped her ears to half-mast and let out a low "whuffle" sound as he stared at her, then slowly rose to her feet and turned to lope away through the trees. Carl relaxed. It was the second morning in a row he'd found her up in the mountains. His recent study of wolves hadn't fully prepared him for the subtle hints of aggression or submission in the social creatures, and it seemed lately that his life might depend on such subtleties.
He unsnapped a collar-bag from his neck, which was the only thing he wore, and pulled out a heat-reflective blanket, moved over to a tree, and rolled himself in the blanket, glad that he had let his curly blond hair grow beyond his shoulders. He finally indulged in the shiver that would have betrayed him to the wolf. He was beyond the forest area where he had sprayed distinctive blazes on the trees, and he didn't know which direction he'd find the house in, so he tilted his head straight back, set his hands on either side of his mouth and called. The sound died away before he heard an answering note from a bugle, then sat back to wait, hunger gnawing at his belly like a stray cub.