It was early the next morning, Anika was feeling excited to be getting somewhere with her quest. Taming a wolf was likely to prove the biggest challenge of the three, but she was delighted with the progress she had made so far and quite enjoyed her little pack as it was. Beth, as always, walked by her side, close enough for her to reach out and stroke her fur. She needed that attention and reassurance regularly, and would often bump her side against Anika to get a little stroke or sign of affection throughout the day. Hissy was content to follow from the back, most likely so that she was out of the way and didn't get stepped on. Anika couldn't be sure, but there had been one or two incidences where Beth had stepped on Hissy, and it had become clear that the two of them were not getting along well. Loki would sometimes land on a rock or tree nearby to make her presence known, but the rest of the time Anika let her fly overhead and as far away as she wanted. She wasn't worried about Loki; they seemed to have a strong mental connection, and she always had a great sense of where they were in relation to each other.

The first wolf they spotted was level 10, but it did not prove to be a problem for them. It was very aggressive and went in for the attack as soon as they had spotted it. Beth got into a defensive position, which allowed Anika to step back and do the majority of the damage with her bow and arrows. They only needed a short moment to recuperate before continuing, but Anika was cautious and nervous about running into a larger pack of wolves which might prove to be a problem for them.

She sent Loki ahead on a scouting mission, and when the bird returned, it had spotted the rare wolf they were after. It would have been hard for Anika to explain how she knew, but Loki had singled out a pack leader not too far ahead and had also warned that there were four other wolves and a couple of wolf cubs in the pack. Their location was marked on her map, with separate icons showing what Loki had spotted.

When they got close, Loki squawked to warn them they would soon be too near. From what she could tell, Anika thought there would be some kind of wolf camp up ahead. At that moment, all she could see were a couple of very short rocky cliffs sticking out of the ground, in what was otherwise barren landscape. If they would face down a pack of wolves, they needed an excellent plan. Picking them off one by one and leaving the rare wolf for last would have been the best scenario, but Anika couldn't think of any way of separating them. She knew that they were pack animals and that she would be invading their territory. They would stick together like glue, so she needed to come up with something that didn't involve walking straight up there and attacking.

Her first idea was for Hissy to spend time making a web large enough to trap a single wolf. Although it seemed like an awkward plan to execute, she wondered if it was possible to launch an attack and take down the four wolves as quickly as possible. Then, without hurting the rare wolf, they could run it towards Hissy's web, catch it and get the taming collar around it. Without consulting her companions she ran through the scenario in her head, there were no better ideas presenting themselves, so she gave Hissy the command, and they all watched as the spider built a web. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Hissy had chosen what seemed like a fantastic spot once again. All they would have to do is scale two rocks and get behind the web, Beth would have to understand where to go and leave the wolf to take the most accessible route to get to her, that would lead it straight into the barrier of webbing which Hissy had constructed.

It was as if everyone knew the plan without Anika having to explain things. Despite this, Hissy almost excitedly took them through the project as a tactical advisor. She even showed them a spot where they could jump across the barriers of the web, a bit like an assault course, to get behind it and be ready for the wolf to get trapped.

As they followed the rocky crags, making their way uphill to where the wolf pack would be, Anika gave each of them their final instructions. They must take down the wolves as fast as possible, and nobody was to hurt the pack leader. As soon as the last wolf in the pack had been killed, Beth was to run as fast as she could and scale the rocks, leading the wolf straight into the trap they had prepared. Anika could see it all working out well in her mind, the only risky part would be killing the wolves fast enough.

The wolf pack must have caught their scent before they got close. Two of them were standing guard as they rounded a large rock. They were level 12, so they would already prove to be tough to kill. Beth did what she did best, she got on her hind legs, roared and went in for the attack. Anika split her attention between taking down the wolves and watching to see if anyone was coming from up the hill. As the fight was going on, she spotted the pack leader and two other wolves waiting from further up the mountain. This was the right place to be, the pack leader had an orange icon around its level tag showing that it was the rare creature she was after.

Before Beth and her companions had killed the first two wolves, the other three came pounding down the hill at a ferocious speed. Then all hell broke loose. Beth fought bravely, but they were outnumbered, even with Hissy's effort, who was not adept at fighting in a brawl such as this. When there was only the pack leader, and another wolf left, Beth was severely injured. She had lost most of the ability to fight and was fending off the vicious bites from the wolves. Suddenly Anika's plan had gone to shit. Even if they managed to finish off the last wolf, it looked like Beth could not make it back to their trap. If they carried on as they were, it was very likely that Beth would not even survive the fight. Although Anika was doing most of the damage now, with Beth hardly putting up much of a fight, it was still not enough.

At this point, Anika didn't care about the plan any longer. She wanted to get the wolves off her favourite companion, watching her bear struggle was too much to handle. With no real thought, Anika raced up to the wolves den and spotted a couple of wolf cubs who had been watching from above and were apparently very scared. She wanted to get hold of one of them and hoped that taking it as hostage was going to give her the distraction she needed so that Beth could get away from the fight.

The wolf cubs were fast, and they scattered when she approached. It was only when Loki swooped in to help that Anika got the luck she needed. She was chasing one of the cubs who had decided to run down the hill towards the fighting, but Loki cut it off and forced it to change direction. This gave Anika the distance she needed to get close, she could dive onto it and grab it around the chest, holding its snapping jaws in place. With the struggling wolf cub in her arms, she hurried down to the fighting and saw that Beth was on her last legs, with only a few health points remaining before she would die.

"Hey! Look here!" The two wolves stopped biting Beth and saw what Anika had in her arms.

Her plan had worked, but what would happen next was less obvious. The pack leader, who had not been hurt yet, lowered its head and bared its teeth. Then it approached slowly, letting out a deep and low growl. To Anika's surprise, Beth took the opportunity of the distraction to land an almighty blow from behind on the wolf approaching behind the pack leader. It appeared to be enough to finish it off, but it was also the last of her effort. She then flopped sideways and lay on her side gasping for air.

With the pack leader approaching, Anika considered making a run for the trap they had prepared. Something didn't feel right about this plan though. She was sure that turning her back on this creature would result in her getting her skull and spine split open, or her head bitten off. It was the meanest looking wolf she had ever seen, and right now she was carrying something that was precious to it. If she were going to live through this, she would have to be in control. Turning around and running was giving up any chance of coming out of this alive.

Anika got to her knees and pinned the wolf cub under one leg, then she got out her knife and pressed it against the neck of the cub so that the pack leader could see what her intention was. She didn't feel confident at all that this would work, nothing was stopping the wolf from just diving in and taking its chance with the lady and her knife. Hissy and Beth were in the background licking their wounds and were likely not going to be any help in this situation. The same went for Loki who had landed on the ground close to them but would not be any help.

As the pack leader got close, tensing its muscles and looking as if it was getting ready to pounce. Anika changed her posture. She kept her foot on the wolf cub, pinning it down, but she put her hands in the air and dropped the knife she was holding. It was a sign of surrender, but she had no idea how the wolf saw this playing out. It kept moving closer with its eyes fixed on her. She could feel the cub breathing rapidly underneath her boot and wondered if she had played all of this wrong. There was nothing stopping the wolf from just attacking her, but it was hesitating, it was now looking at the wolf cub periodically while still locking eyes with Anika.

With a hand behind her back, Anika got out the taming collar and was ready to throw it around the wolf's neck as a last resort.

In what seemed like a flash, Loki flew two feet into the air towards the wolf and squawked at it. This distraction gave Anika just enough time to let go of her hostage, move a couple of steps forwards and dive at the wolf with her taming collar in hand.