As I continued down the familiar, well-threaded path, a cry pierced through the silence of the night. It was not a human's cry, that I was very sure of. What could it have been then? I looked around, pulling my threadbare shawl tighter as the wind howled viciously. Wondering for the umpteenth time if I should have brought a lantern, I tried to stay calm. It was probably something out of my imagination, or perhaps it was an animal. I shivered at the thought of the latter. There were many wolves in this area and I could not be too certain if any one of them were rabid. I decided to take my chances and followed the pained cries. When I finally found the source of the noise, I peered under a bush to see a dead she-wolf. There was fresh blood oozing out of the wound that grazed her neck. The metallic smell caused me to step back, trying to get rid of the stench that suddenly seemed to envelop the area. I would have left if not for the flash of silver that caught my eye.
There was a pup with the dead she-wolf. It whimpered loudly as I reached out to hold it. It was such a tiny thing, fitting right in the palm of my small hand. The pup was a male one and it had a gleaming silver pelt that was velvet to the touch. It was absolutely gorgeous, I had not seen a wolf whose pelt was such a shade. The many wolves that roamed these woods were often timber wolves in varying shades of brown. What was I to do with the little one? If I left it out alone here, surely some other nasty animal would eat it right up. It would cause a commotion if I brought it back with me to the village. There had been angry complaints that the wolves were feasting on the villager's cattle, surely this would be a very bad idea. I thought about it for a moment before deciding to take the risk. I carefully placed the little pup into my bag, that was the only way I could possibly sneak it in.
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