Revealing the Wolf's Way: Book 1

Chapter 9 (Todd)- Poor Sport

April 14th, 2032
Outskirts of Kensington, Minnesota

Sometime after sunrise, Todd Folkvar was walking around the land that use to be his family farm over 130 years ago, located near by Kensington, Minnesota. Before then, his family were immigrants from Scandinavia. Since then the farm had failed, was abandoned, and eventually became over grown with nature. Some remnants of the old structures remain, like the farmhouse and barn. Even though the townsfolk would blame and make fun of the Folkvar family for not succeeding, his family knew the real reason why they gave up on the farm. But that was not why he was here. He did not come here to reminisce and imagine what could have been. He definitely did not come here to hunt like what he use to do prior to 7 months ago. He came for a much grander reason. He came for his wolf.

Seven months ago...
Todd's life changed in ways he could not imagine. All his life he was an avid hunter, just as his father had taught him. His family eventually turned to hunting after their attempt at farming. They figured that with hunting, you were not forced to be rooted in one place and tied to a town and its people, and history. So his family moved about the Midwest and the Northern Rockies doing just that. After the death of his wife, Todd decided to relocate back to Minnesota, this time with his teenage daughter in tow. His daughter was always a flexible child but never approved of his hunting. Eventually he had to come to peace with the fact that the family tradition would die with him. That became a reality in a way he would never have suspected.

The woods near Wolf Lake, Minnesota was his usually hunting grounds, sometimes with his buddies, sometimes alone. As time went on, he noticed that he was being watched and eventually followed by an animal he could never see, but only hear and sense. It gave him an intense feeling, almost like as if the forest was haunted. That did not make any sense though because he did not feel frightened. He felt at peace, he felt comfortable, he felt at home. Eventually his need to hunt started to diminish. His buddies would make poke fun at him and accuse him of losing his touch and manly hood. Whatever they could say, they did. Kind of fed up, he decided to do something about it. Last Fall, he went back into those woods, alone, to "try" to prove his buddies wrong. He knew that some of them and other hunters were relatively nearby. And that was when it happened.

Todd was walking up on a ridge tracking a deer. He could hear the other hunters firing rounds off in the distance. The shots started out normal but became more constant. Almost like they were in trouble and were fighting off or against something. They suddenly stopped. A shiver went down his spine. He looked down at his own weapon, a rifle with a scope. He shook his head and could not believe what he was doing. He could not believe that he had given in. But before he could think or do anything else, he heard something large charging through the forest. Right at him. He raised up his rifle towards some brush and bushes among the trees. As the large animal got closer, he realized he misjudged the speed and direction of the animal. A black bear suddenly appeared about a few feet left of where he had his rifle partially aimed. The bear continued right for him, tackling him before he could fire a shot. They tumbled down the ridge for a little bit before coming to a halt.

The bear smacked at him once injuring him, but knocking him far enough away to re-aim his rifle. He got off one shot, then another before the rifle. Injured as well, the bear still menacingly but slowly trotted towards him. Then it happened. Todd's silent stalker seemingly surfaced from it's seclusion and struck the stumbling bear down. It was a brown wolf. Much different from the few the he hunted. Yet all beautiful just the same. Though mesmerized, he regained his composure after the brown wolf got injured by the bear. Using the distraction to his advantage, he was able to remove the jammed bullet and load the next one. The noise caused the bear to charge at him again. As he aimed, this distraction allowed the brown wolf to clamp on the bear's neck lowering it's head and causing it to slow down. This opportunity allowed him to fire two more shots, this tulle directly into the bear's head. Finally, the bear stopped it's rampage. Wincing in pain, Todd fell to his knees. The wolf looked at him and started to limp towards him. He then collapsed to the ground landing on his back. The wolf finally got close to him. He petted the wolf's head and caressed it's neck. When he moved his hand, he saw blood. The wolf loving gazed into his eyes and licked his face. Then the wolf collapsed as well and laid on his body.