Yearlings! Could it really be so? My daughters' first year had flown by, and already summer had come around again. They were growing fast, and their unique personalities were shining through like the sun on this warm summer day. The heat of the season had caused me to retreat to the higher altitudes of the pack lands, where the air was a bit cooler. I was thankful for how quickly my winter coat had shed out this season, leaving behind a slick, light summer coat. Even so, the temperatures at the base of the mountain could become unbearable at times. This summer was taking its toll on the wolves of the mountains, water levels were lower than normal and the heat could sucker a wolf into doing nothing more with their day than lounging lazily in the sun.

Even an alpha was privy to such indulgences, and so if one of my packmates were to come looking for me, they would find me sprawled across a slab of stone that was positioned just perfectly in the shade of a group of aspen trees. The coolness of the stone permeated my fur, bringing down my body temperature and allowing me to lightly snooze during the midday heat. Occasionally my lids would lift and my ears would pinwheel about atop my head, looking and listening all around me for any disturbances that required my full attention.

But there were no odd smells in the still air, no sounds that were out of place, no shifting of foliage to indicate the approach of another. So I laid my head back down, my chin resting flat on the stone as I blinked slowly and began to drift off once more. The only strangeness around me was the sudden rise of a light breeze, a most welcome feeling indeed that caused a content sigh to slip through my lips. Above me, the bright green leaves of the aspen trees began to quake, gracing me with their gentle music for a short time until, once more, the air became still and the summer heat dragged me into its grasp. My lids slipped closed, though I stayed aware of my surroundings as I waited for the sun to leave its zenith in the sky and give all of us mountain wolves a reprieve from its heat.