And Bram, monstrous and half animal himself, loved them.

To him they were brother, sister, wife--all creation.

He slept with them, and ate with them, and starved with them when food was scarce.

They were comradeship and protection.

When Bram wanted meat, and there was meat in the country, he would set his wolf-horde on the trail of a caribou or a moose, and if they drove half a dozen miles ahead of Bram himself there would always be plenty of meat left on the bones when he arrived.