A hit landed on the tree trunk, sending bark chips flying. Another hit and the young umbrella tree fell down. Ferko inspected it, marking it with his pencil on the tender white bark. Cutting down the firewood didn’t require precision, but even this little act of drawing dashes was a bonus for him in this routine task. The guy raised his axe, but before he could start chopping the trunk to pieces, a huge shadow jumped out of the grove.

  'It’s terrible! Terrible, I tell you!' Hailstone almost shouted. Ferko put his hand to his heart. His heart beated like a scared stork hopper’s.

  "Please, Hail. Don’t appear out of nowhere," the guy pleaded. "I can’t smell or hear you beforehand. You will scare me to death one day."

  The wolf was breathing heavily after a long run. A sudden reprimand made him drop his ears. Ferko wasn’t angry to begin with, and the sight of an embarrassed wolf made him pet the black beast to cheer it up. It also gave him time to calm his racing heart down and ask, "What is so terrible?"

  Hailstone had forgotten all about being dejected. He reported eagerly, "The queen, I mean the hive queen, started singing!" The blank look on the human’s face pushed the wolf ant to explain, "She started searching for a mate. If I don’t win her over soon, I’m done!"

  Ferko wanted to say that first love rarely ends happily, but the despair in the wolf’s golden eyes made him hold back from making this comment. The guy glanced at the unfinished work. He went to the grove’s edge to collect more firewood. Winter was approaching, and the days were getting shorter and colder. If he skipped work again, it could lead to trouble. Ferko subconsciously placed his hand on the back of his neck. His father’s hand could sometimes be really heavy.

  "Alright," said Ferko. He couldn’t leave the wolf alone with his problem. The guy took a pear out of his bag. He then took off his scarf and wrapped the fruit, then hung it around the soldier wolf’s neck.

  'Do you advise giving her food? As others told me to do?' Hailstone sounded a bit disappointed.

  "I bet she hadn’t tried this before," answered Ferko, making sure the improvised pouch wouldn’t fall off the wolf’s neck. "You need to give her a delicious treat or share something very important with her."

  Ferko already knew that the wolf siblings would do so when they were confused or thinking about something. Reminding himself of Hailstone’s sister made him sigh. She had been avoiding him for several days.

  'She’s fine,' consoled Hailstone. 'She’s just... busy. You know, with winter and everything.'

  His clumsy way of finding words made Ferko smile.

  "Thank you, Hail. I hope she will stay well. And I hope everything will work out for you this time."

  Hailstone raised his forepaw. Since the first day the guy taught him, the wolf has used this gesture as often as he could. As soon as Ferko offered his palm, the soldier wolf slapped it with his paw. He turned towards the grove and then glanced at the human.

  'If I’ll succeed, please name the hive queen.'

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  "You want me to name her?" asked Ferko. The request took him aback.

  'Yeah. Mom was good at naming, but I’m not.' Hailstone lowered his gaze. Then he looked at the guy again. 'Oh. I need to visit our nest first. And I need to hurry before she goes to sleep.'

  ***

  Two wolf ants were lying quietly beneath the low grass. When Hailstone returned suddenly wearing a strange cloth around his neck and searching for something in his room, the commotion woke up the entire nest. The swarm had already become accustomed to the young wolf’s odd patterns of courtship. But while others simply went back to sleep, his siblings became curious. They both could smell Ferko’s scent on him.

  Rainstorm became vexed and gently bit his brother’s paw. Even this didn’t affect Hailstone’s determination. He headed for the hive, with his siblings following him. They exchanged glances when the soldier wolf on guard duty hissed. The swarm was tired of Hailstone approaching their queen. Still, the soldier called the she-wolf and glared at Hailstone from a distance.

  While the queen of the hive walked towards him, Hailstone shook his head, taking the pear out of his cloth “bag”. The she-wolf glanced at the fallen fruit and sniffed it. Hailstone’s ears rose as the queen ate the pear. She did not seem impressed with his gift much and was already looking towards her nest. The siblings were watching their brother’s attempts to win the queen’s heart. Their jokes stopped when Hailstone approached the she-wolf and laid something down before her

  For a moment, Storge and Rainstorm stared in silence at the scene. Hailstone lowered his muzzle and rolled a walnut toward the queen’s hive. It was the very same old walnut that he had been persistently carrying all the way from their birth nest. The queen sniffed the nut and carefully picked it up with her fangs. Contrary to Storge’s expectation, the she-wolf didn’t eat it. Although they were too far away, whatever Hailstone wanted to say to the queen by sharing his thoughts seemed to reach her.

  Storge lay her head down on her forepaws.

  'Don’t be jealous.'

  She glanced at Rainstorm. The soldier wolf said that, but his own ears were drooped. They were both thinking about their mother.

  'I’m not,' replied Storge. 'I just feel sad because he might leave us.'

  'I will stay, and Dad too. Don’t worry. Besides, he will still be nearby.'

  It was true. The two swarms lived close enough to each other. But visiting wasn’t the same as living in the nest.

  Hailstone’s steps made them look at the approaching wolf ant.

  'We thought you would stay a bit longer,' noticed Rainstorm.

  His brother shook his head. 'The sun is up. She needs to rest.' Hailstone shyly lowered his gaze. 'I’ll visit her tonight. She invited me to a hunt.'

  'Good for you,' congratulated Storge. 'Try not to miss the prey, then.'

  Hailstone gave her a long look. 'How about you visiting Ferko? He misses you and...'

  He didn’t finish. Storge rose up and walked back to their nest. The brothers followed her with their gaze. Then Rainstorm glared at his younger brother, but Hailstone chose not to notice this. Instead, he proposed, 'You should learn how to share thoughts, too. Iphrita can teach you, especially since Storge has been avoiding her. You could talk to Ferko then.'

  Rainstorm hissed shortly, attracting the attention of the hive’s guard. They didn’t want any trouble, so the brothers chose to follow their sister.

  'I have nothing to say to this human,' grumbled Rainstorm, as he trotted through the grass. 'He is a temporary solution, anyway. Storge will find a suitable mate. She simply had little time.'

  He slowed down, and Hailstone turned to look at his brother.

  'What if the cubs are more like him and less like us?'

  The lost and worried look on Rainstorm’s muzzle worried Hailstone. He approached his older brother and nuzzled into his mane. 'It will be fine. Beforehand, they will be our nephews and nieces. We will soon become uncles.' Hailstone smiled. His comforting words and gesture eased Rainstorm’s anxiety. He was right - the sun was high, they were sleepy, and the future of their swarm was bright.