[The Porch Wolf] Chapter 2

My wolf vision was much better at night than in my human form, but there was little color sensitivity. It didn't matter tonight; I knew the trail by heart after all these years. I worked my way along the edge of the ravine, working to where it connected to the Cannon River basin. Sitting on a rock above the cliff face, I let the wind and snow blow into my fur as I looked over the valley. Catherine and I had found this spot on one of our midnight runs, making love in wolf form under a full moon. It was the reason we had purchased the land and built the home we did, so we could come here and lose ourselves in our wolves, yet be on the edge of a major metropolitan area for my work.

I sat for an hour, thinking of all the happy times I'd had here. Wolves can't cry, but we can howl. I pointed my nose to the sky and let my sorrow travel up to the moon.

***

I trotted back to the house a little after midnight, following the trail by scent as much as sight with the snow comi