"She can't accept it," Polgara said.
"Does she think you're lying?" Garion asked, dropping the sack.
"Wolves don't understand the meaning of that word. She thinks we're mistaken. We're going to have to show her. She met you first, so she might trust you a little more. Change back. You'll need your hands to untie the knot in that sack, anyway."
"All right." He drew his own image in his imagination and changed.
"How remarkable," the she-wolf said in amazement.
Belgarath looked at her sharply. "Why did you say that?" he asked her.
"Did you not find it so?"
"I am accustomed to it. Why did you choose those particular words?"
"They came to me. I am no pack-leader, and I have no need to choose my word with care in order to protect my dignity."
Garion had opened the sack and he laid meat and cheese on the ground in front of her. She began to eat ravenously. He knelt beside the starving pup and began to feed him, being careful to keep his fingers away from the needle-sharp teeth.
"A little bit at a time," Polgara cautioned. "Don't make him sick."
When the she-wolf had eaten her fill, she limped to the spring which came bubbling out from between two rocks and drank. Garion picked up the puppy and carried him to the spring so that he could also drink.
"You are not like the other man-things," the she-wolf observed.
"No," he agreed. "Not entirely."
"Are you mated?" she asked.
"Yes."
"To a wolf or to one of the shes of the man-things?"
"To one of the shes of this kind." He tapped his own chest.
"Ah. And does she hunt with you?"
"Our shes do not usually hunt."
"What useless things they must be." The wolf sniffed disdainfully.
"Not altogether."
"Durnik and the others are coming," Polgara said. Then she looked at the she-wolf. "The others of our pack are coming to this place, little sister," she said. "They are the man-things of which I spoke. Do not be afraid of them, for they are like this one." She pointed her nose at Garion. "Our leader here and I will now also change our forms. The presence of wolves alarms the beasts we have with us, and they must drink from your water. If it please you, will you go with this one who fed you, so that our beasts may drink?"
"It shall be as you say," the she-wolf replied.
Garion led the limping wolf away from the spring, carrying the now drowsy puppy in his arms. The puppy raised his muzzle, licked Canon's face once, and then fell asleep.
Durnik and Toth set up their camp near the spring, while Eriond and Silk watered the horses and then took them back to picket them in the woods. After a while, Garion led the now wary she-wolf toward the fire. "It is time for you to meet the other members of our pack," he told her, "for they are now your pack-mates as well."
"This is not a natural thing," she said nervously as she limped along at his side. "They will not harm you," he assured her. Then he spoke to the others. "Please stand very still," he told them. "She'll want to smell each of you so that she can recognize you later. Don't try to touch her and, when you speak, do it quietly. She's very nervous right now." He led the wolf around the fire, allowing her to sniff at each of his companions.
"What's her name?" Ce'Nedra asked as the she-wolf sniffed at her little hand.
"Wolves don't need names."
"We have to call her something, Garion. May I hold the puppy?"
"I think she'd rather you didn't just yet. Let her get used to you first."
"This one is your mate," the she-wolf said. "I can smell your scent on her."
"Yes," Garion agreed.
"She's very small. I see now why she can't hunt. Is she fully grown?"
"Yes, she is."
"Has she had her first litter yet?"
"Yes."
"How many puppies?"
"One."
"One only?" The wolf sniffed. "I have had as many as six. You should have chosen a larger mate. I'm sure she was the runt of her litter."
"What's she saying?" Ce'Nedra asked.
"It wouldn't translate," Garion lied.
After the wolf had grown a little more at ease, Polgara boiled a number of herbs in a small pot, mixed them with a paste of soap and sugar, and applied the poultice to the wolfs injured paw. Then she wrapped the paw in a clean white cloth. "Try not to lick this or chew it off, little sister," she instructed. "It will not taste good and it needs to stay where it is to heal your hurt."
"One is grateful," the wolf replied. She looked into the dancing flames of the fire. "That is a comforting thing, is it not?" she observed.
"We find it so," Polgara said.
"You man-things are very clever with your forepaws."
"They're useful," Polgara agreed. She took the sleeping puppy from Garion’s arms and nestled him beside his mother.
"I will sleep now," the wolf decided. She laid her muzzle protectively on her puppy's flank and closed her eyes.
Durnik motioned to Garion and led him aside. "I think I’ve come up with a way to bring her along without frightening the horses," he said. "I can make a sort of sled for her to ride in. I'll put a long enough towrope on it to keep her smell away from them, and I'll cover her and her puppy with an old horse blanket. She might make them a little jumpy at first, but they'll get used to her." The smith looked gravely at his friend. "Why are we doing this, Garion?" he asked.
"I couldn't bear the thought of just leaving the two of them here. They'd have both died before the week was out."
"You're a good man," Durnik said simply, putting his hand on Garion's shoulder. "You're decent as well as brave."
"I'm a Sendar." Garion shrugged. "We're all like that."
"But you're not actually a Sendar, you know."
"That's how I was raised, and that's all that matters, isn't it?"
The sled Durnik contrived for the wolf and her puppy the next morning had wide-set runners and was built low to the ground so there was little chance of its overturning. "It might be better if it had wheels," he admitted, "but I don't have any wheels to work with, and it would take too long to make some."
"I'll ransack the next village we come to," Silk told him. "Maybe I can find a cart of some kind."