Per her usual habits, Hattie woke around dawn. She stretched, her joints making small popping noises. She opened her eyes and looked about the room.

“Where am I?” she asked, surprised.

For a long minute she was confused. After all, she’d spent every morning for the past fifty years waking to the same surroundings. The events of yesterday formed in her mind.

“Ah!” she shook her head, “I’m at Grace’s house. How silly of me.”

She swung her legs out of bed and wiggled her toes. Hattie dressed, and headed down stairs. In the kitchen, Melanie was at the stove, a pot of water boiling before her.

“Good morning,” Hattie said.

Melanie wished Hattie a good morning back, “There’s hot water if you’d like tea or coffee," she said.

“Coffee would be splendid,” Hattie said, and sat down in the same spot she’d had at dinner, “Is Grace up?”

“Mam often sleeps late. Fior should be back soon from his chores to take you to see the wolves, and when you get back, she’ll probably be up. What do you like in your coffee?”

“As much cream, milk and sugar as you can spare,” Hattie said.

“Here you are,” Melanie brought two steaming mugs over to the table, and set one before Hattie. The rich scent wafted over. Melanie took a seat across from Hattie, and blew on the mug before taking a small sip.

Hattie took a sip, “Delicious.” she sighed, “Where’s Min? And Taiki?”

“Min has school today, and Taiki’s out in his workshed,” Melanie said.

“It’s good that you keep your boys busy,” Hattie drank her coffee, which was more like an ample serving of cream, milk and sugar with some spoonfuls of coffee added. Back at Derington Holding, Matilda, the head cook, despised coffee. She claimed it made people irritable, so she seldom made it availbe to the staff. Hattie hadn’t had any in a long time.

The two women sat in comfortable silence after that. When Hattie finished her coffee, she stood up and washed her mug.

“Thank, dear, that was delicious.” Hattie said.

A light knock sounded at the back door.

“That’ll be Fior, I expect,” Melanie stood up.

The door opened, and as Melanie had said, Fior stood in the entryway. Hattie wished him a good morning. Fior responded in like and then pointed out the door.

“We can go see the wolves now, if you’re ready,” he said.

Hattie moved towards the door, “I’m ready.”

“The walk is a bit steep. We try to keep them away from our other livestock, especially when it’s windy so they don’t catch the wolves' scent and panic,” Fior said, “If you need to rest at all, let me know.”

“When I worked for the Duke,” Hattie said, and the words were strange in her mouth, “Which was up until yesterday, I had to walk all over the castle, up and down flights every day. I should be fine, but if I need to rest I shall let you know.”

“Good. Over there we have our orchard,” Fior pointed to rows of trees in the distance, “And past it are our barns. I manage most of the work, and Melanie pitches in when she’s not busy at the house. When Min’s not at school he has chores too. Taiki does the least farmwork, on account of his woodwork practice.” Hattie nodded as Fior spoke.

“And here we are,” Fior said.

In front of them was a heavily barricaded area, beyond which was verdant grass and a man made cave.

“We can go in,” Fior said,“As long as we’re together they won’t try anything.”

Fior slid a key into the gate and unlocked it. Hattie followed him, her heart thrumming. Fior closed the gate behind them and let out a long and sharp whistle.

The wolves emerged from the cave, gold fur glinting in the sun. They were huge, the tallest among them standing at Hattie’s shoulders. One approached Fior, and he ran a hand down its fur.

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“You can pet him,” Fior said, “This is the head of the pack.”

Hattie moved to the wolf’s side and stroked the beautiful fur. The wolf turned towards her, and stared at her with its silver eyes.

“That’s good, you can stop now,” Fior said, Hattie stopped and stepped back. The wolf sat down, and the rest of the pack followed.

“I haven’t named any of them, since they’re going to be processed,” Fior said, “So take a look and let me know if you like one of them in particular.”

Hattie eyed the wolves, noting the differences between them. That one had more fat on its bone, and another’s nose kept twitching. One had fur that was more lustrous then the rest, and was smaller than the rest, head coming up to Hattie's hip. Hattie peered at this one a moment longer.

“I like the look in that one's eyes,” she said, pointing to the smaller one with the extra beautiful fur, “There’s some real intelligence there."

Fior gazed at the wolf Hattie had pointed out, “We’ll take him out and see how you two get along, then.”

Fior led the wolf out of the enclosure and Hattie followed him. After he locked the gate, he turned to Hattie and the wolf.

“I know that one of the ways that the soldiers bond with the wolves is by hunting with them. There's a mostly monsterless patch of Valehdart Forest connects to Redshire not far from here. We can go there and you can try that method there.”

Hattie nodded, “Hunting isn’t where my skills lie at the moment, but I have an idea about how I can show I’m a valuable partner. Can we stop at your house first so I can get some supplies?”

“That’s fine.”

The three of them walked back to the yellow house. Fior waited outside with the gold wolf, and a few minutes later, Hattie came out with a burlap sack on her back.

“I’m ready,” she said, and they began walking to Valehdart Forest.

On the way, Hattie picked up a long stick and held it upright, as if she was a mage ready to cast spells. She used it for the added support. The bundle on her back was throwing off her center of balance.

It was an awful long trek to Valehdart Forest, and Hattie knew they would only see a small part of it. The deeper you went, the more dangerous the monsters became, and then you’d really need a team backing you.

But, of course, they arrived at the deep green woods, and stepped into its embrace. Birds chirped, the sound of some of them bell-like. Fior stayed by Hattie and the wolf’s side, but it was clear he expected them to prove themselves, and he wouldn’t be lending a hand unless things became dire. Like if the wolf decided Hattie wasn’t worthy.

Hattie gazed at the wolf’s eyes.

“Well,” she said, “You’re the natural hunter--get hunting. Come back soon.”

The wolf made a low growl and slunk into the forest. Fior’s eyes popped open.

“Miss Hattie, excuse me for asking, but can you speak to beasts?”

Hattie chuckled, “It’s not speaking, but they can glean my meaning well enough, when I focus. Wasn’t sure it’d work with a beast like him though.”

“Were you ever mage tested?”

Hattie snorted this time, “You think I wanted to join the army?”

Fior frowned, “The army’s not that bad.”

“Forty years was a long enough time for reforms. The army you know is a different creature all together. But when I was a girl, it was a bad place to be, especially for women.”

“Ah.”

Point made, Hattie put down the bundle she’d carried all the way to the forest and pulled out a shallow, wide pan. She set it down and moved around the underbrush until she had gathered a hefty pile of dried twigs, and larger pieces of wood.

When she was satisfied with the amount she had, she built a fire. The orange sparks glowed, and the fire crackled. Hattie then sat in front of the fire, hands clasped in her lap, waiting for the wolf.

After a number of minutes, the wolf slunk back into the clearing, a scabbit, a monster related to the common rabbit, that as known for its ability to confound predators, in its mouth.

The gold wolf dropped the carcass in front of Hattie. With a knife borrowed from Melanie’s kitchen, Hattie skinned it and removed the offal with expertise, then tossed a few into the hot pan. The smell of cooking meat perfumed the air, covering the bloody smell from the initial processing of the scabbit.

She sprinkled some salt, rosemary, and oregano over it, and flipped the organ meat over, and once both sides were seared, she dumped them onto the ground.

“Try it,” Hattie said to the wolf.

The wolf sniffed at it, and took a bite. Meanwhile, Hattie finished searing the rest. Before it was done, the wolf sat, alert by her side. The meat she’d given him a moment ago was long gone.

Hattie noted this and a soft laugh escaped her, “Patience, my friend,” she said.

When the meat was ready she gave the rest to the wolf. The wolf scarfed it down in huge gulps, enjoyment clear to see.

“Now, some ground rules,” Hattie said, while the wolf finished the meat off, “I may be old, but if you cross me,” and with that Hattie leapt and grabbed both of the wolves ears. It whimpered and tried to get out of her grip, but it was as solid as iron, and Hattie continued, “Well, I won’t stand for it. So let’s be good friends, and take care of each other, agreed?”

With that, Hattie released the wolf, and it signaled its acquiescence by lying down before her. Hattie wrapped the supplies she’d borrowed.

“Come, let’s go.”

Fior had witnessed this all, and was impressed with the bizarre approach the old maid had taken.

“You have yourself a wolf,” he said, as they left Valehdart Forest behind.

Hattie smiled, and glanced at the wolf, who met her eyes briefly.

Hattie didn’t have herself a wolf.

She had a partner.