PROLOGUE

It was the drowsy time of day right after lunch. A young teenager had sprawled out on her bed, humming as she kicked her feet.

She held a wooden pen in her hand, concentrating on nothing but drawing pictures on a waxed tablet.

Sitting right beside her face was a puppy she had picked up in town, watching her draw with great interest.

The open window looked out on a great blue sky. It was a clear sign that the cold winter was finally coming to an end. A gentle, early spring breeze drifted into the room, carrying the noise of the busy city.

It was then that he realized the girl’s feet had stopped moving. It wasn’t long before he began to hear soft snoring as well. The puppy tilted its head at the dozing girl before deciding to also lay on its stomach and go to sleep.

It was a calm, quiet, and peaceful moment.

He smoothed back the strands of hair that stuck to the girl’s cheek, and when he moved to pat her head, the large, triangular ears atop her head twitched. They looked like the puppy’s. He also could not miss her tail with its magnificent lay of fur being caressed by the faint breeze.

As he returned his attention to extracting the wolf girl’s winter furs that had gotten entangled in the wooden brush he was holding, he fought back a yawn as he put on a troubled smile.