– one of the fiction books written by Michael K. Hurder ยฉ [2025]
Read along as I create fiction. You might recognize at least one character. In the realm of make-believe, I’ve explored various themes and characters. This fiction is dearer to me than all the rest of my writing. I think you’ll know why – popi
Doh Rey Me & the Kitties 3
Chapter 13: The Price of Trust
Shadow
The black wolfโs name settled on the sanctuary the way morning mist settles in the meadows: quietly, completely, and impossible to ignore.
By the end of the first week the fifteen wolves were moving as one unit inside the five-acre pen. Shadow never challenged Doh for leadership; instead, he deferred with the easy grace of a wolf who already had everything he needed. Rey walked between them like a silver thread stitching two families together. The seven pups tumbled over one another without noticing whose parents were whose.
The first real test came on a blistering afternoon in mid-June.
Jess had taken to sitting outside the pen for hours, sketching the wolves in a battered field journal. That day she was closer than usual, cross-legged on a flat rock with her back to a Ponderosa, blonde braids loose in the heat.
Sketching
Shadow had been watching her the way he watched everything: still as granite, yellow eyes unblinking.
Without warning he rose, padded to the fence, and slipped his massive head under the lowest strand of hot-wire. One shoulder, then the other, and suddenly the biggest wolf any of them had ever seen was on the human side of the fence.
Jess froze, pencil hovering.
Shadow took three silent steps forward and sat. Mere feet away. Close enough that Jess could see the pale scar across his muzzle, the flecks of gold in his yellow eyes.
Inside the pen Rey whined once, anxious. Doh paced. All the wolves pressed to the wire, watching.
Shadow lowered his head and sniffed the toe of her hiking boot.
A long minute passed. Then another.
Finally he huffedโa soft, warm puff of air against her ankleโand lay down, chin on his paws, eyes half-closed as if to say, See? Nothing to fear.
Startled
That was when the screen door of the lodge banged open and Millieโs shrill voice rang out, โJess! Evelyn saysโholyโโ
Millieโs shout shattered the moment. Shadow surged to his feet, lips peeling back from teeth the length of Jessโs little finger. Jess threw herself sideways, Slammer raced to intervene, just as Shortyโs voice cracked across the yard like a rifle shot.
โGet down, girl! Quiet!โ Millie went prone.
Then Reyโs voice cut through the chaos, a low, commanding growl from inside the pen. Shadowโs ears swiveled toward her. Another growl, sharper. The black wolfโs tail dropped. He turned, walked back to the gap in the fence, and slipped through as calmly as heโd left it.
Fire ring
That night the fire ring was quieter than usual.
Millie sat wrapped in a blanket despite the heat, knees drawn to her chest. She refused to show fear and was determined to hold her ground. Shadow watched from the far side of the pen, yellow eyes reflecting the flames like twin campfires of his own.
Shorty passed her a mug of cocoa. โYou did good, kid. Didnโt run. Thatโs what saved you.โ
โI thought he was going toโโ
โHe thought about it,โ Shorty admitted. โDifference is, he chose not to when Rey spoke up. Thatโs the price of trust. Every day heโs gotta choose again. And so do we. We all need to be wary and learn to respect the ways of the wild up here.โ He didn’t want to terrify the little girl, but she and everyone there needed a refresher on wild-animal etiquette, especially with the 400-pound wonderwolf in residence.
Connection made
Evelyn was horrified. “I tried to warn you about this integration. We’ve gone to hard, too fast, Mike. This could very well have ended in a tragedy that would have harmed us all forever. I shudder to think.”
The old man paced the lodge in troubled thought. Evelyn was right. What if? His heart skipped a beat thinking about it. Slammer, as faithful and fearless as he was, was no match for that behemoth. He never wanted to resort to the only choice he had at that moment. They had to establish more stringent guidelines with handling the Wolves and the big cats too when they grew.
Jake would need to reinforce the fencing around the Wolf pens. They would be prohibited from the compound proper. That meant strict gate protocols and no loose wire for them to get under or over. That wasn’t fair to Doh, Rey, Me or the cubs who had always had free rein of the compound, but the pack had grown. These new guys didn’t know the rules. They didn’t grow up with two-legs. There were new needs, new demands, and new taboos. For one, NO STARTLING THE ANIMALS, signs would go up all over the compound. Young excitement had to be reined in. He remembered poo-pooing the ‘Please be quiet‘ signs at the Zoo. Now it makes sense.
He didn’t want to lose connection with these creatures, but everyone had to be safe, including the animals. His thoughts drifted back to the moment, His only recourse had things not stabilized when they did would have been to destroy Shadow.
He’d only begun to wear it recently with reports from the Rangers about poachers, so he was prepared for it and had his .45 in hand when Rey stepped in between him and the big Wolf to reprimand her mate. Doh was at her side instantly in support. Everyone held their breath in that moment, and Shorty’s heart skipped several beats while he waited for the worst that didn’t happen. He nearly dropped in his tracks with relief when Shadow bounded back into the pen.
No more surprises
Shorty and each of the cadre strolled together outside the enclosure with the wolves for the next few days. They needed to get over the hump with the wolves about who belonged here. He felt he’d have to do this with all the cadre just to be certain there were no more near catastrophes before he even considered regular unsupervised face to face encounters again.
Jess never seemed to have a problem, so he brought her along on these strolls. One morning after a long stroll to the end of the Sanctuary lands had Millie and Shadow ahead of the pack With Jess in between. Millie sang to him in a soft voice. Shadow stopped dead, stared hard at her bringing a chill, then slowly, deliberately, he approached her, nudged her hand with his huge head and then lay down placing his snout at her feet. Millie continued to hum.
Her eyes filled. She didnโt move until Shorty nodded, then she laid her small hand on the massive black chest. Shadowโs heart thundered beneath her palm like distant thunder rolling through granite.
Trust, hard-won and fragile as new ice, had taken its first real step. Would it hold? For Everyone?
Far up on the ridge that evening, the fifteen wolves lifted their voices togetherโsilver and black throats singing the same ancient song under the same wide Sierra sky.
(to be continued: Chapter#14 – The Storm That Wasnโt About Rain)
To start from the beginning: DohReyMe&theKitties3-ch1
to read another of my fictions in progress: K9LTW [Chapter1]
Related Links:
More of Popi’s tales from the Book of Wonders
Bonus Fiction Feature: If you read any of the fiction I create here to the end, you will be able to download a free copy when It’s complete. If I get a referral from you, I’ll throw in the fiction – Burtt the Blade.
- Burtt the Blade – fiction
- Doh – Rey – Me – fiction – book – written here
- Mystery of Willow Woods – fiction – short Story – written here
- The Last Signal – part one – fiction – book – written here
- Rift Guardians – chapter#1 – fiction – book – written here
- Shorty’s Path – non-fiction auto biography book
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[…] (to be continued: Chapter#14 – The Price of Trust) […]