She looked out of the mica-covered window. Daylight was fading into an interminable darkness of swirling snow, punctured by eerie wolf howls every few minutes. Ah, the wolves. How I love to hear their melodies

Turning away from the window, Augusta Fabulous scanned her snug log cabin, looking for her cat, Pheelynus, who was asleep in the rafters, basking in the warmth of heat rising from the fireplace. Kayneeahtoh, her big lump of a dog was stretched out, full length, upon the hooked rug in front of the fire, too warm, but too lazy to move.

Tomorrow she would work on her reports, filling in, from her notes, all of the data on the wolf pack; where they'd holed up for the winter, which ones survived, what service the one she'd named Alpha-Grey provided as leader of the pack.

Walking across to the fire, she sat down in the rocking chair and took up her book. The glow of the embers caught a glint of red in her braided and gray-streaked hair. A woman of medium height, she carried her spare frame with grace and ease; well-seasoned from her years of study and travel in the wild.

Suddenly, Kayneeahto lifted his head and let out a low growl.

"Shhhh..it's alright boy, nothing stirring out there tonight, rest easy," she said.

Pheelynus rose up slowly, arching his back, and sharpened his claws on the timber. He leaped down to a rough-hewn table, then the floor and walked warily over to the door.

BAM, BAM, BAM!! There came a loud knocking about the door!