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would give anything to be out digging roots with his second Milk Giver.
    The mother bear had a full belly and had stretched out to bask in the midday sun for a quick nap. It was odd, but Faolan himself had begun to feel sleepy. It was almost as if he had eaten all that meat and could hardly keep his eyes open to watch the cubs playing.
    “I suppose, now that the wolves are gone and the mother bear seems full, we could help ourselves to what’s left of the moose, couldn’t we?” Edme said.
    “I suppose so.” Faolan yawned. “But I’m really not that hungry.” He felt satiated though he had eaten nothing.
    He soon fell into a dreamless sleep.
    Faolan would never be quite sure what it was that awakened him or how long he had slept. But he was immediately alert. Something was not right. He laid back his ears, raised his muzzle, and slitted his eyes.
No! It can’t be!
He’d resisted his own yearning to go closer to the mother grizzly — and now Edme was there playing with the cubs! Thankfully, the mother grizzly was still slumbering. If the mother bear woke up, Edme would be dead before he could warn her off. He rose up trembling. His guard hairserect, he began walking stiff-legged as quietly as he could toward Edme and the frolicking cubs. He glanced at the mother. She was sleeping deeply. As he got closer, the cubs spotted him. He growled low at Edme.
    Edme turned. There was shock in her eyes. “Faolan, whatever is the matter with you?”
    “Get away from those cubs! Get away. She’ll kill you if she wakes up!”
    The cubs looked up, startled. Edme read the horror in Faolan’s eyes and immediately backed away.
    “Follow me!” he ordered and immediately began to run at press-paw speed. He looked over his shoulder. One of the cubs had tried to run after them but stopped when he realized he couldn’t keep up. He had a forlorn look in his eyes.
By my marrow, he’s about to cry,
Faolan thought, but he ran on.
    When they had put a good distance between themselves and the grizzly, Faolan stopped. He glared at Edme.
    “What is wrong with you, Faolan? You … you don’t seem yourself at all. You really scared me!” she said.
    “I’m sorry, but I was scared. If that mother grizzly woke up, we would both be dead. You can never, ever touch or even come near a grizzly’s cubs like that. They go crazy,
cag mag — cag maglosc.”
    Edme blinked. Faolan was speaking Old Wolf again. And she could have sworn she’d heard him muttering strange phrases in his sleep that sounded like Old Wolf.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Edme said.
    “You know how she-wolves are about their pups. It’s a thousand times worse with grizzlies. We’re used to aunties and other wolves around. But grizzlies aren’t very social. They lead solitary lives.”
    “I’ll never do it again. I promise.” Edme paused. “But you have to admit they were about the cutest things ever.”
    “Yes, they were,” he said, almost longingly. Deep within him he felt a pang — a pang of regret? A pang of loss? He wasn’t sure.

CHAPTER NINE
T HE H OT G ATES
    AS THE TWO WOLVES TRAVELED, the cones of the volcanoes became clearer and clearer, and they could see that at least three of the five volcanoes were erupting. More and more owls scored the sky. The rims of the craters loomed in the distance like ragged crowns, and from them, towering flames leaped up, raking the pale lavender of the twilight sky.
    Faolan and Edme could just make out the cairns of bones on which the wolves of the Watch perched, vigilant against intruders.
    “Can you believe it, Faolan?” Edme said as they drew close enough to see the wolves leaping into the air, sometimes twisting and flipping themselves about in ways they had never seen wolves move before. “Can you believe that we shall soon be there?” Edme paused. “And we’re not
malcadhs
anymore! We’re true gnaw wolves of the Watch!” Her voice was filled with wonder.
    Faolan felt a shiver deep in his