Sublime

I singled out a bubble, examining the waves of light and color surging across its surface, the iridescent patterns too complex and intricate for humans to process. It was as if the bubble knew it would lead a short life and was frantically broadcasting the myriad dreams and legends of its prodigious memory to the world.

The game O-Six had been playing would likely have been fatal during the Druids’ heyday, but those days were long gone. In two months of chasing O-Six, this generation of Druids had never come close to catching her. She should have been dead by now, but here she was—not only alive but the healthiest, most vital wolf for miles around.

The one constant was 21 and 42. Rick never tired of watching the alpha pair, especially 21, who was unlike any wolf he had ever seen. Even before 21 left his natal pack, Rick had known he was unusual. One morning in the spring of 1997, two years after Doug Smith and Carter Niemeyer rescued 21 following the death of his father, Rick watched the hand