Not having a tail meant always having a cold nose. Even after eleven years, it was something Nakato wished above all else to have. As the morning sun cast a warm glow into her den, her half tail hung uselessly on her rump, unable to provide her nose with the warmth it had craved all her life. With a groggy yawn, the healer woke up with the sun and gazed about her dwelling. The three cubs lay in a pile next to her, each one sleeping soundly, not ready to face the day’s adventures just yet. She giggled quietly to herself and gave each of them a loving nuzzle.

The children had almost finished suckling and were nearly dependent on meat now, which meant the lone mother had to hunt twice as much. While living in a pack meant that they were safe from dangers, it didn’t mean that they had food handed to them. There was no male in her life to provide for her and the wolves of the plains had always been independent. No one brought food for her. She hunted for her family on her own. There had been days already this winter where she had gone hungry in order to let her girls have the meat they needed to survive the harsh cold.

Shaking herself awake and leaving the den, she began her morning ritual and started hunting. The smaller prey had bedded down for the winter and could rarely be seen in the snow, which only left her with one option. Either she had to scavenge or hunt the larger animals on her own. A grim line on her face, Nakato set out. An hour later, the herd of bison she had been trailing all morning bolted away from her, the baby she had attacked still able to keep up with its mother despite the bite she had landed on his rump. Panting and angry, the wolfess stopped to give herself a moment to catch her breath. Being a single mother was hard, but in winter, it was almost impossible. But she wouldn’t give up! A short rest and she would be back to it again.

The call brought her attention to a wolf who must have been watching her. Looking around, she didn’t see any others coming to answer him so, instead, she called out herself and moved towards the boarders. The first thing she noticed as she got closer was his massive size. Nakato was a fairly average wolf, but she was by no means a small fry. This male, however, towered over her like she was some kind of awkward teen.

The second thing she noticed was how handsome he was. His colors blended perfectly and his eyes glowed like the summer grass. If she didn’t have fur, her cheeks would have been flushed. But what was she thinking? He was not here for her to gawk at. There was business to be done. Standing beneath the rock he stood on, she cocked her head to the side a moment before speaking. “Greetings, stranger. I am Nakato, head healer of Asteraia. Who are you? What do you want with the wolves of the plains?”