Moonlight threaded the branches, silvering in streaks on the damp ground, where Ruelle, Lucian, and the wolf stood. The wolf crouched low, its ears pinned back in submission, and it looked meek before its master as if it knew it had done something it shouldn't.
Ruelle wondered if the wolf might have once belonged to his mother. There was something almost inherited in the way it answered to him, as if loyalty and obedience could be passed down like blood.
"What is his name?" she asked at last.
Lucian watched the wolf before his eyes moved to her. "Zhenya."
Her eyebrows slightly rose as she asked, "Like the one who fought the invaders and protected the village of Hacklerens?" It was a name she had come across from a children's book she had read when she was small.
Lucian studied her with his dark eyes. Then, after a pause, he answered, "Yes."
