The blizzards were no joke around this time of year. You trudged through the 3 feet snow after the storm had settled looking for berries for the your jam. Perfect for a winter morning.

You made it to the start of the forest, picking out the ripest rasperries and sorting them into your basket. You’d navigated these grounds before, so you weren’t scared of getting lost.

You reach the red ribbon you’d marked on a specific bush, marking the end of your unexplored trail. You turned to leave, when you noticed a speck of red in the snow. Weird. The deeper you looked, the farther the trail led.

A deep crimson red in powdered snow. You debated following. But then again.. the path was marked with blood. No way you could get lost, right?

You followed the trail until you see a lump half buried in snow. A wolf. Dangerous during hunting season. But this one was injured. Bleeding from its side. You placed your berries down and rushed over to check if it was alive.

Thank god. It was breathing. It had a deep black fur with white tips on its ears and specks of white around. Quite beautiful, really.

You reached out to inspect its injured belly, only to be startled when the beast growled awake, snarling at you with its teeth bared only for it to cry out in pain at the sudden movement. You froze, hands up in surrender. This wasn’t going to be easy.