There, in the grass was a bone.
"Ahh, thank you, uhh... What are your names?"
"I'm Stormfast," said the black wolf, "and she's Terra."
"Well, you two mates made my day," he replied. "I guess I won't have to hurt you. My name's Sparks, but my mum called me Sparky."
"Well, Sparky. I've been wanting to ask you if we can have a little of your caribou. We have not eaten in a while."
"Sure, Stormfast. Have all of it."
"R-really?" Terra stuttered.
"Yep. I only hunted it for extra. I could always hunt more."
"Well, that's very kind of you." She then licked his cheek.
"Aw, that was not necessary," said Sparks, blushing. Stormfast couldn't take it.
"Okay! That's enough adventure for one day, so we best be going now."
"Wait!" Terra shouted.
"What is it this time?!" Stormfast yelled. His behavior was starting to get on Terra's nerves, but she decided to deal with it later.
"Look! Another bone!" They looked at where she was pointing. Another bone not far from them was there. But this bone had completely different markings. Sparks immediately pounced on it before picking it up and laughing loudly.
"What is it?" said Stormfast. All of them looked closely at their surroundings. There were bones scattered all over the vicinity with several places having a greater concentration than others. Sparks was jumping in excitement.
"You two!" He pointed at them. "Find as many bones as you can and group them right here!" He then pointed at the area in front of him.
Later. . .
As Terra and Stormfast were searching and gathering, another bone caught Sparks's eye. It was a skull. He started sniffing it. He immediately recognized who the wolf once was. His mind and his memories stirred. The bones were his father's. Jonah was his name. Sparks started to cry. Terra noticed it.
"Hey?" She walked up to him, feeling worried. "What's wrong?" Her voice was soft and sweet. Stormfast soon came to the scene.
"What's this?" Terra shushed him.
"He's having a moment." She turned back to the grey wolf. "Do you know what this is about?"
"This is my father," he replied under his breath, trembling. "A long time ago he left to hunt, but he never came back." Terra could feel the pain. Her father became crazy. He had killed her best friend. "And now I know why," he sobbed. He then knocked over the skull with his paw out of sorrow. As he continued crying on Terra's shoulder, Terra saw script below. Where the skull had lain, there was yet another bone, but it was not of a wolf. Terra read the engravings and pushed Sparks around.
"Look, Sparky! Your father's words." He gasped at the gnawed text. It read:
Dear son if you are still alive,
I have just been hit in the chest by what I think was a moose. I think I might go to the place I told you was heaven. I want you to know that your mother and I have always loved you. And even though the birth of our pack was not successful, we had a great time, and that's all that matters. I am sorry I cannot be there for you. I hope you can forgive me, Sparky.
Jonah
"Sparky, I am so sorry for your loss," said Terra. "I feel you. I had once suffered loss before." Stormfast felt a twinge in his stomach. He liked her empathy.
Was this love? he thought. It couldn't be. We just met. He dropped the subject from his mind.
"Thank you, mates. I hope we see each other again."
"Okay!" Terra replied. "Thank you for the caribou and the company."
Later. . .
On the way back to the riverside den, Stormfast's mind wandered. Something had sparked between Terra and the grey wolf. And he was starting to have feelings for her too. She was sweet. She was a beautiful wolf. She loved howling. She had the tenacity of an Alpha even after she saw her best friend die in front of her very eyes. A spirit like that shouldn't be wasted.
"Such a sweet couple," Sparks said to himself. Unlike what Stormfast thought, Sparks had no interest in Terra. If anything, he thought she was interested in Stormfast. Sparks was too busy thinking about his parents to focus on romance. He brought the bones of Jonah to his den and laid them next to his mother's. He looked at both piles and smiled. "Thanks, guys."
Sparks was a lone wolf, but he was the kind who avoided pack life. His parents, though, were lone wolves who wanted to create a pack. Things were going swell until his mother died. A bear had come and taken her life. His father stayed by her side until her final breaths. One day, Jonah told Sparks that he was going on a small hunting trip, but he never returned, leaving Sparks, who was still a pup, to live alone. For the longest time, all he had was his mother's bones in the tiny den. He claw-marked them all, so he would never forget them. He also made a necklace using dried caribou muscle to string paw bones together. He wore it at all times except when he hunted or ventured far. He had little knowledge of the world beyond his den due to a lack of education. Almost everything he knew he learned by himself. He had to survive. He knew other packs probably existed, but he avoided pack life to focus on remembering his late parents. It was the only thing he really cared about.