I am unsure how to act in the presence of another wolf but I try regardless. My body language is almost confusing and yet I feel strong and proud and a bit scared. My hair raises and falls and I have never felt such sensation before. I had only ever known my brother and my mother and even then my mother hadn’t known me for very long either. I watch his own hair subside and I can’t help but notice his own gaze following toward the butterflies that I had been chasing. “My brother always told me they were reminders of my home.” Though now it didn’t seem that way. My mind wraps itself around the thought and I finally have revelation. “Even though it wasn’t much of a home to begin with.”

It was true that I hadn’t been taught such mannerisms to check borders and respect invisible lines. They were invisible after all…so how was I to know that something that seemed so insignificant was such a hot topic here? I mull over the thought until his voice breaks through my trance. His words hit me like a ton of bricks and I immediately recoil from him. He was a leader and I knew better than to trust them but I could only hope he was different. I drift back to the ocean and breathe in its name. “Glorall and its leader…” I mimic his words and glance back and chuckle softly. “It is strange to name a land.” I suppose it was customary.

I watch the unnamed leader of the land Glorall take in the waves as I had been. His question is a great one and I wasn’t prepared to answer. I wasn’t ashamed of where I had come from, but instead I was afraid of being cast out for being different. I hadn’t grown up like a normal puppy should have. I was still stuck between the teat and yearling mentally though I was matured physically. “It’s a rather long story that I don’t think you have the time for.” I stand now and tilt my head to the sky. A blue monarch lands on my nose briefly before I blow it away. “Would you like to walk in the tide with me? I’ve never felt the…big water pond before.” My legs begin to take me forward before I stop and look back to see if he was coming. Perhaps I would tell him my story if he chose to walk with me.

“My brother calls me Octavia...I guess it isn’t so silly to name a land if we name ourselves. So if you would like to call me Octavia that would be okay.”

In fact I would have loved to finally feel like I belonged.