Soft silvery beams of moonlight filtered through the canopy like tiny spotlights streaking through the forest. The crickets ’ haunting melody mingled with the cicadas. Each tune blended and shifted as the creaking of the tree branches rubbed together in harmony. I had no idea why I

waited so long to let my wolf out. All I knew was that I could never have this kind of freedom in Vegas. I wasn’t even safe from detection in the dry desert. Humans camped in the dunes outside the city, and it wasn’t like wolves are native to that area.

Of course, if I were a coyote, my life would be a...