“
When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1))
“
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
”
”
Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Book)
“
All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel.
All of them?
Sure, he says. Think about it. There's escaping from the wolves, fighting the wolves, capturing the wolves, taming the wolves. Being thrown to the wolves, or throwing others to the wolves so the wolves will eat them instead of you. Running with the wolf pack. Turning into a wolf. Best of all, turning into the head wolf. No other decent stories exist.
”
”
Margaret Atwood
“
There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.
This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad in a stricken field and refusing quarter; and it came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf-cry, straining after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the moonlight.
”
”
Jack London (The Call of the Wild)
“
She sighed, annoyed at her restlessness. “So,” she said, disrupting Wolf in another backward glance.
“Who would win in a fight—you or a pack of wolves?”
He frowned at her, all seriousness. “Depends,” he said, slowly, like he was trying to figure out her motive for asking. “How big is the pack?”
“I don’t know, what’s normal? Six?”
“I could win against six,” he said. “Any more than that and it could be a close call.”
Scarlet smirked. “You’re not in danger of low self-esteem, at least.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing at all.” She kicked a stone from their path. “How about you and … a lion?”
“A cat? Don’t insult me.”
She laughed, the sound sharp and surprising. “How about a bear?”
“Why, do you see one out there?”
“Not yet, but I want to be prepared in case I have to rescue you.”
The smile she’d been waiting for warmed his face, a glint of white teeth flashing. “I’m not sure. I’ve never had to fight a bear before.
”
”
Marissa Meyer (Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2))
“
'I killed their pack leader,' Sevro says when I ask why the wolves follow him. He looks me up and down and flashes me an impish grin from beneath the wolf pelt. 'Don't worry, I wouldn't fit in your skin.'
”
”
Pierce Brown (Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1))
“
Now this is the Law of the Jungle -- as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back --
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
”
”
Rudyard Kipling
“
Once upon a different time, there was a girl who lived in a kingdom of death. Wolves howled up her arm. A whole pack of them--made of tattoo ink and pain, memory and loss. It was the only thing about her that ever stayed the same.
”
”
Ryan Graudin (Wolf by Wolf (Wolf by Wolf, #1))
Robin Hobb (Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy, #2))
“
We who are dominant tend to think of that aspect of being a werewolf as rank: who is obeyed, who is to obey. Dominant and submissive. But it is also who is to protect and who is to be protected. A submissive wolf is not incapable of protecting himself: he can fight, he can kill as readily as any other. But a submissive doesn't feel the need to fight -- not the way a dominant does. They are a treasure in a pack. A source of purpose and of balance. Why does a dominant exist? To protect those beneath him, but protecting a submissive is far more rewarding because a submissive will never wait until you are wounded or your back is turned to see if you are truly dominant to him. Submissive wolves can be trusted. And they unite the pack with the goal of keeping them safe and cared for.
”
”
Patricia Briggs (Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, #1))
“
She got to me."
"It happens to the best of us."
"Yeah? Who gets to you?" He was so strong that sometimes she worried. Everyone needed to bend a little, even a panther responsible for the lives of his entire pack.
"That damn wolf. He sent you a present last week."
Sascha smiled at the thought of Hawke's flirting. The SnowDancer alpha did it only to jerk Lucas's chain. "I never saw any present. What was it?"
"How the hell should I know? I stomped on it and threw it into the deepest crevice I could find." He smirked. "Then I called him to ask how Sienna was doing."
She burst out laughing. "Wicked, wicked man.
”
”
Nalini Singh (Hostage to Pleasure (Psy-Changeling, #5))
“
Emperor, right." she retacked the curtain "That's weird to say, after eighteen years of listening to celebrity gossip feeds go on and on about 'Earth's favorite prince'". She claimed one of the lumpy sofa cushions, curling her legs beneath her. "I had a picture of him taped to my wall when I was fifteen. Grand-mere cut it off a cereal box."
Wolf scowled.
"Of course, half the girls in the world probably have had that same picture from that same cereal box."
Wolf scrunched his shoulders against his neck, and Scarlet grinned, teasing. "Oh, no. You're not going to have to fight him for pack dominance now are you? Come here."
She beckoned him with a wave of her hand and he was at her side in half a second, the glower softening as he pulled her against his chest.
”
”
Marissa Meyer (Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4))
“
Why are you talking to the King Loser Dork? You want to talk about ugly? Look at what he’s wearing. (Stone)
I like a man who takes fashion chances. It’s the mark of someone who lives by his own code. A rebel. A real lone wolf is a lot sexier than a pack animal who follows orders and can’t have an opinion unless someone else gives it to him. (Nekoda)
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Infinity (Chronicles of Nick, #1))
“
Something about the howling of a wolf took a man right out of his here and now and left him in a dark forest of the mind, running naked before the pack.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1))
“
Bloodthirsty, thy name is Momma Wolf.
”
”
Carrie Ann Ryan (Trinity Bound (Redwood Pack #2))
“
Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm.
”
”
George R.R. Martin
“
Get the intel, and then come back to Reno so we can cover you.” He paused, his tone softening. “Getting involved in their Pack won’t make you a hero, Luke, it’ll make you a casualty.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Wolf Moon (Moon, #7))
“
A howl is as infectious to a wolf as a yawn is to a human.
”
”
Kevin Ansbro
“
Family doesn’t have to be blood.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (The Lone Wolf's Wish (Sedona Pack #0.5))
“
Most girls celebrate their birthdays with friends. I spent mine with a pack of wolves.
”
”
Ruth Emmie Lang (Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance)
“
They were never my pack, not even Hot Pie and Gendry. I was stupid to think so, just a stupid little girl, and no wolf at all.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3))
“
If one kiss screwed up our friendship,” he whispered, “what the hell did we just do?
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Seduction (Sedona Pack #2))
Lisa Kessler (The Lone Wolf's Wish (Sedona Pack #0.5))
“
If I’m dreaming, I never want to wake up.”
I brushed a kiss to that dimple and whispered, “I can’t get enough of you.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Seduction (Sedona Pack #2))
“
He had no clue my wolf was ready to choose china patterns.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Seduction (Sedona Pack #2))
“
Being normal was highly overrated.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Seduction (Sedona Pack #2))
“
The one-eyed view of our universe says you must not look far afield for problems. Such problems may never arrive. Instead, tend to the wolf within your fences. The packs ranging outside may not even exist. —
”
”
Frank Herbert (Children of Dune (Dune, #3))
“
I wanted her in my arms more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (The Lone Wolf's Wish (Sedona Pack #0.5))
“
How could I make the wolf understand that our mate had betrayed us? She had chosen the wrong man. And so had I.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Seduction (Sedona Pack #2))
“
When she was like this, the wildness of her barely contained, it was hard to believe she'd come into his pack Silent, her emotions blockaded behind so much ice, it had infuriated his wolf.
”
”
Nalini Singh (Kiss of Snow (Psy-Changeling, #10))
“
You’re still the best kisser.”
“You make me want to be.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (The Lone Wolf's Wish (Sedona Pack #0.5))
“
Her dark eyes sparkled in the sunlight as she stared up at me. "You are a moon child. She calls to you.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Harvest Moon (Moon, #4))
“
Everything was fucked up the second I stitched a hole in a wolf’s leg, and then woke up to a naked ex-boyfriend.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (The Lone Wolf's Wish (Sedona Pack #0.5))
“
I know I’ve been running all night and I should be exhausted, but…”
Mischief flashed in his bright eyes.
“Almost seemed like foreplay.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Seduction (Sedona Pack #2))
“
Tell me what you want, kitten,” I growled.
She pulled my hair a little harder, making the jaguar inside me restless in the best way. “You,” she gasped.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Seduction (Sedona Pack #2))
“
I want to come all over you. I want to mark you as mine, so that every wolf in the pack knows who you belong to. ”
- Wolf Shifter Ryker Black
”
”
Kara Swynn (Bound By Her Scent)
“
Reed couldn’t have agreed more with his wolf. Tonight the three of them would spend the night in the same house. He just hoped they were together in the same bed when they did it. Preferably naked and sweaty with lots of intimate touching.
”
”
Carrie Ann Ryan (Trinity Bound (Redwood Pack #2))
“
I stole a kiss and whispered, “I’ve never had anyone in my corner before. I like it.”
“Me too.”
A spark of mischief flashed in her dark eyes. “You know what else I like?”
“What’s that?” Her hand slid down to grab my
ass.
“Being naked with you.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Seduction (Sedona Pack #2))
“
Her soft lips met mine over and over, scorching my soul as she gradually pulled back. "If I had known werewolves were such great kissers, I would've found one much sooner.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Harvest Moon (Moon, #4))
“
I buried my fingers in her thick, silky hair. Her teeth brushed my neck, her scent filling my lungs, and I tightened my grip, growling against her ear. "Dream come true.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Harvest Moon (Moon, #4))
“
One bad wolf can hurt the whole pack.
”
”
Connie Glynn (Princess in Practice (The Rosewood Chronicles))
“
What now? We can't go to my place or the hospital or the fight club. Should we lay low at the grocery store?
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Harvest Moon (Moon, #4))
“
...the band broke into a cover of "Hungry Like the Wolf." I smiled up at mine. He was sexy even in soaking wet blue jeans. "Dance with me.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Harvest Moon (Moon, #4))
“
You should've known this ring belongs to me. Eye of the tiger."
I shoved him. "But I have the heart of the wolf, asshole.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Harvest Moon (Moon, #4))
“
I’m not ready to say goodnight yet.”
“Then don’t.”
I raised a brow. “If I go with you, I might not be able to resist kissing you again.”
“Oh, I’m counting on it.” She grinned. “Get in.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Sin (Sedona Pack #1))
“
I’m not ready to say goodnight yet.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Sin (Sedona Pack #1))
“
We are not here to earn riches with a bow. The wolf does not think of fine things, only that his pack is strong and no other wolf dares to cross his path. That is enough.
”
”
Conn Iggulden (Bones of the Hills (Conqueror, #3))
“
You are one hell of a kisser."
A sexy, crooked smile curved on his lips. "You inspire me.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Harvest Moon (Moon, #4))
“
I needed to touch her skin. The Earth didn’t tilt this time, but my wolf calmed inside me. Everything did. I bent to kiss her and paused, enjoying the heat of her breath on my skin.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Sin (Sedona Pack #1))
“
Jason lifted me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. His forehead rested against mine. "I've never liked dancing." He started to sway with the music and the tide, turning us slowly. "But maybe I just never had the right partner.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Harvest Moon (Moon, #4))
“
I kissed her one more time, slow, and whispered, “I don’t have a condom.”
“Don’t need a condom in a dream.” She mumbled against my lips, her heavy lips drifting closed.
“You should get some sleep.”
“Sleep? You’re half naked.” Her hips rocked under me, shaking my will. “I can’t get lucky even in my dreams?
”
”
Lisa Kessler (The Lone Wolf's Wish (Sedona Pack #0.5))
“
A long time ago, she remembered her father saying that when the cold winds blow the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.
He had it all backwards.
Arya the lone wolf, still lives, but the wolves of the pack had been taken and slain and skinned.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4))
“
I pressed my lips together, trying to find a safe place to focus my attention. He filled the entire shower stall, his skin clean and wet, every part of him chiseled. His gym shorts clung to a package I had no business noticing.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Harvest Moon (Moon, #4))
“
Well, what if..." Scarlet listed her head. "You said the control when your animal instincts will overpower your own thoughts right? But fighting and hunting aren't the only instincts wolves have. Aren't wolves...monogamous, for starters?" Her cheeks started to burn and she had to look away, scratching her fork into a set of initial. "And isn't the alpha male the one who's responsible for protecting everyone? Not only the pack, but his mate too?" Dropping the fork, she threw her hands into the air. "I'm not saying I think you and I are--after just--I know we just met and that's...but it's not out of the questions, is it? That your instincts to protect me could be as strong as your instincts to kill?
”
”
Marissa Meyer (Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2))
“
The highest ranking wolf in the pack isn't the one that uses brute force. It's the one who can, and chooses not to.
”
”
Jodi Picoult (Lone Wolf)
“
Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire, 5-Book Boxed Set: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons (Song of Ice & Fire 1-5))
“
A Wyoming vegetarian is someone who only eats meat once a day.
”
”
C.J. Box (Wolf Pack (Joe Pickett, #19))
“
If I’m going to give my heart to someone, it’s going to be my choice, not my wolf’s.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Sin (Sedona Pack #1))
“
Need you naked,” I gasped into the kiss, my voice so breathless I almost didn’t recognize it.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Sin (Sedona Pack #1))
“
I have never in my life wanted a woman more than I want you right now.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Sin (Sedona Pack #1))
“
A long time ago, she remembered her father saying that when the cold winds blow the lone wolf dies and the pack survives.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4))
“
If instead you feed the wolf and tame him and turn his pups into your guard dogs, they will protect the flocks when the pack comes ravening.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire))
“
This visit has compacted the court's quarrels and intrigues, trapped them in the small space within the town's walls. The travelers have become as intimate with each other as cards in a pack: contiguous, but their paper eyes blind.
”
”
Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, #1))
“
Wolves travel in packs, but the fiercest travel alone.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
The queen's prized artic wolf. Once an alpha male." He turned to Scarlet. "But you need a pack to be an alpha, don't you?
”
”
Marissa Meyer
“
inside the restaurant young Strattonites carried on their time-honored tradition of acting like packs of untamed wolves.
”
”
Jordan Belfort (The Wolf of Wall Street)
“
So, you tumbled that wolf you were with?” Mercy was too much a pack animal to take offense at the personal question. She grinned. “How did you know it was me?” “Do I look senile to you?”
...
“Yes,” Mercy said. “And I'm not doing it again.” If she kept telling herself that, maybe her traitorous body would actually notice and shut up with its demands. The older woman gave her a sour look. “Damn shame. What, you like them prettier?” A snort. “In my day, we liked men who looked like men.
”
”
Nalini Singh (Branded by Fire (Psy-Changeling, #6))
“
Somehow suppressing her wolf, who was eager to slice open Marley’s stomach, Jaime simply gave her an unpleasant smile. “You know, I watched an old episode of Friends yesterday. It was so damn funny it could have made your boobs fall off…Oh, you saw it.
”
”
Suzanne Wright (Wicked Cravings (The Phoenix Pack, #2))
“
His gaze wandered over my face like a caress. “I can’t stop thinking about kissing you.”
I ran my hand up his chest, my voice suddenly a raw whisper, each word a puff of fog. “What are you waiting for?”
A playful gleam sparked in his dark eyes, and suddenly he was on the move, gripping my hand as we wove through the people toward a dimly lit archway.
He stopped underneath and pointed up. “Finally found some mistletoe.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (The Lone Wolf's Wish (Sedona Pack #0.5))
“
Then the only other creature who is allowed at the Pack Council—Baloo, the sleepy brown bear who teaches the wolf cubs the Law of the Jungle: old Baloo, who can come and go where he pleases because he eats only nuts and roots and honey—rose upon his hind quarters and grunted.
”
”
Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Book)
“
It is now. It is always now. Now is good. Now could be the best. My name is Catcher. My name was Catcher.
My name...my name...
I am...
I am lost, I am found and then I am free and I am happy.
When I jump over that edge, someone leaps with me, shoulder to shoulder. I smell kinship on him. Kinship is all. I'm not alone.
Never alone.
I land, earth below me, moon above. I am wolf. We are pack.
And that is all I need.
”
”
Rob Thurman (Roadkill (Cal Leandros, #5))
“
Once a month, for one evening, we are free to wear our natural skins. We are on the outside as we are internally.
”
”
D.R. Hedge (The Geri Rogue)
“
Scott's always been about one thing. Saving his friends. He will do anything and everything to save the people he cares about. When there's no chance of winning, he keeps fighting. When all hope is lost, he finds another way. And when he's beaten down, he stands up again. You want to earn a place in his pack? You want redemption? Find another way to stand and fight.
”
”
Derek Hale
“
So she looked upon the wolves, who were dwindling in number, and back at the humans who no longer cared for their own, and combined their spirits. She took the loyal, protective, possessive natures of the wolf and took the intelligence, emotions, and love of the human and brought them together. She designed us to be a pack.
”
”
Quinn Loftis (Out of the Dark (The Grey Wolves, #4))
“
I'm an exile. A disappointment. An Alpha without a Pack. A leader no one wants to follow. A flashy vessel hiding something unspeakable sacred and undeniably fragile. I am a monster; neither one thing, nor the other, belonging nowhere.
”
”
Maria Vale (A Wolf Apart (The Legend of All Wolves, #2))
“
Akela, the great gray Lone Wolf, who led all the Pack by strength and cunning, lay out at full length on his rock, and below him sat forty or more wolves of every size and color, from badger-colored veterans who could handle a buck alone, to young black three-year-olds who thought they could. The Lone Wolf had led them for a year now. He had fallen twice into a wolf-trap in his youth, and once he had been beaten and left for dead; so he knew the manners and customs of men.
”
”
Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Book (Jungle Book, #1))
“
Wolves did not keep secrets from one another. They didn’t worry about having enough money or finishing school or winning races . They didn’t interfere with nature and have to figure out what was too much and what was enough. They were nature.
”
”
C.D. Bell (Chimera (Weregirl #2))
“
See, I was never a guy who had a whole heap of friends to belong to. Besides Greg Fienni, I never really had friends. I kind of stayed on my own. I hated it, but I was proud of it too. Cameron Wolfe needed no one. He didn't need to be amongst a pack. Not all of us roam like that. No, all he needed was his instincts. All he needed was himself.
”
”
Markus Zusak (Underdog (Wolfe Brothers, #1))
“
Wow,” the bobcat muttered from his desk. “Your sister’s right. Your legs really are skinny.”
Toni briefly thought about swiping all the cat’s crap off his desk, but that wasn’t something she’d do to anyone who wasn’t one of her siblings. But that was the beauty of being one of the Jean-Louis Parker clan . . . sometimes you didn’t have to do anything at all, because there was a sibling there to take care of it for you.
“It must be hard,” Kyle mused to the bobcat. “One of the superior cats. Revered and adored throughout history as far back as the ancient Egyptians. And yet here you sit. At a desk. A common drone. Taking orders from lowly canines and bears. Do your ancestors call to you from the great beyond, hissing their disappointment to you? Do they cry out in despair at where you’ve ended up despite such a lofty bloodline? Or does your hatred spring from the feline misery of always being alone? Skulking along, wishing you had a mate or a pack or pride to call your own? But all you have is you . . . and your pathetic job as a drone? Does it break your feline heart to be so . . . average? So common? So . . . human?”
Toni cringed, which helped her not laugh.
”
”
Shelly Laurenston (Wolf with Benefits (Pride, #8))
“
I’ve spent my entire life never really fitting in anywhere. That’s part of why I love being outdoors. The Red Rocks don’t care if you’re an orphan. They don’t give a shit about the color of your skin or how pure your bloodline is.” I laced my fingers with hers. “I feel that same sense of peace and acceptance when I’m with you, and that has nothing to do with my wolf or yours. It has everything to do with who you are.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Sedona Sin (Sedona Pack #1))
“
Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm. Septa Mordane is a good woman, and Sansa... Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you... and I need both of you, gods help me.
”
”
George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1))
“
Wolves and women have much in common. Both share a wild spirit. Women and wolves are instinctual creatures, able to sense the unseen. They are loyal, protective of their packs and their pups. They are wild and beautiful. Both have been hunted and captured. Even in captivity, one can see in the eyes of a woman, or a wolf, the longing to run free, and the determination that should the opportunity arise, whoosh, they will be gone.
”
”
Clarissa Pinkola Estés (Women Who Run With the Wolves)
“
Feeling Robyn grow still, Shay’s heart stopped for a microsecond. Dread cut through her like ice. She looked at the female and noticed her staring at Shay’s upper thigh. She swallowed hard, afraid of what the woman might be thinking of her now, of the symbol tattooed into her skin.
Just under the denim, but poking out enough, was the brand she’d worn her whole life. The dark moon rising out of the clouds. The mark of the Onyx Pack
”
”
Lia Davis (A Tiger's Claim (Shifters of Ashwood Falls, #2))
“
What happens to the wolf if his drüskelle is killed?”
Matthias was silent for a time. He did not want to think about this. Trass had been the creature of his heart.
“They are returned to the wild, but they will never be accepted by any pack.” And what was a wolf without a pack? The isenulf were not meant to live alone.
When had the other drüskelle decided Matthias was dead? Had it been Brum who had taken Trass north to the ice? The idea of his wolf left alone, howling for Matthias to come and take him home, carved a hollow ache in his chest. It felt like something had broken there and left an echo, the lonely snap of a branch too heavy with snow.
”
”
Leigh Bardugo (Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2))
“
Scholars of the Therin Collegium, from their comfortable position well inland, could tell you that the wolf sharks of the Iron Sea are beautiful and fascinating creatures, their bodies more packed with muscle than any bull, their abrasive hide streaked with every color from old-copper green to stormcloud black. Anyone actually working the waterfront in Camorr and on the nearby coast could tell you that wolf sharks are big aggressive bastards that like to jump.
”
”
Scott Lynch (The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1))
“
Our whole image of wolf packs and alphas is completely wrong. Instead, wolves live the way people do:7 in families made up of a mom, a dad, and their children. Sometimes an unrelated wolf can be adopted into a pack, or one of the mom’s or dad’s relatives is part of the pack (the “maiden aunt”), or a mom or dad who has died could be replaced by a new wolf. But mostly wolf packs are just a mom, a dad, and their pups.
”
”
Temple Grandin (Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals)
“
Firekeeper still could not understand the human penchant for eating in company. Even less so, she could not understand the human desire to combine business and meals.
True, a wolf pack shared a kill, but not from any great desire to do so—rather because any who departed the scene would be unlikely to get a share...
She struggled...not to bolt her food and almost always remembered that growling when a person spoke to you was not a proper response.
”
”
Jane Lindskold (Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart (Firekeeper Saga, #2))
“
That's the real distinction between people: not between those who have secrets and those who don't, but between those who want to know everything and those who don't. This search is a sign of love, I maintain.
It's similar with books. Not quite the same, of course (it never is); but similar. If you quite enjoy a writer's work, if you turn the page approvingly yet
don't mind being interrupted, then you tend to like that author unthinkingly. Good chap, you assume. Sound fellow. They say he strangled an entire pack of Wolf Cubs and fed their bodies to a school of carp? Oh no, I'm sure he didn't; sound fellow, good chap. But if you love a writer, if you depend upon the drip-feed of his intelligence, if you want to pursue him and find him -- despite edicts to the contrary -- then it's impossible to know too much. You seek the vice as well. A pack of Wolf Cubs, eh? Was that twenty-seven or twenty-eight? And did he have their little scarves sewn up into a patchwork quilt? And is it true that as he ascended the scaffold he quoted from the Book of Jonah? And that he bequeathed his carp pond to the local Boy Scouts?
But here's the difference. With a lover, a wife, when you find the worst -- be it infidelity or lack of love, madness or the suicidal spark -- you are almost relieved. Life is as I thought it was; shall we now celebrate this disappointment? With a writer you love, the instinct is to defend. This is what I meant earlier: perhaps love for a writer is the purest, the steadiest form of love. And so your defense comes the more easily. The fact of the matter is, carp are an endangered species, and everyone knows that the only diet they will accept if the winter has been especially harsh and the spring turns wet before St Oursin's Day is that of young minced Wolf Cub. Of course he knew he would hang for the offense, but he also knew that humanity is not an endangered species, and reckoned therefore that twenty-seven (did you say twenty-eight?) Wolf Cubs plus one middle-ranking author (he was always ridiculously modest about his talents) were a trivial price to pay for the survival of an entire breed of fish. Take the long view: did we need so many Wolf Cubs? They would only have grown up and become Boy Scouts. And if you're still so mired in sentimentality, look at it this way: the admission fees so far received from visitors to the carp pond have already enabled the Boy Scouts to build and maintain several church halls in the area.
”
”
Julian Barnes (Flaubert's Parrot)
“
There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive. This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad on a stricken field and refusing quarter; and it came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf-cry, straining after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the moonlight. He was sounding the deeps of his nature, and of the parts of his nature that were deeper than he, going back into the womb of Time. He was mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint, and sinew in that it was everything that was not death, that it was aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars and over the face of dead matter that did not move.
”
”
Jack London (The Call of the Wild)
“
From time to time you'll see documentaries about low-ranked wolves who somehow rise to the top of the pack - an omega that earns a position as an alpha. Frankly, I don't buy it. I think that, in actuality, those documentary makers have misidentified the wolf in the first place. For example, an alpha personality, to the man on the street, is usually considered bold and take-charge and forceful. In the wolf world, though that describes the beta rank. Likewise, an omega wolf - a bottom-ranking, timid, nervous animal - can often be confused with a wolf who hangs behind the others, wary, protecting himself, trying to figure out the Big Picture.
Or in other words: There are no fairy tales in the wild, no Cinderella stories. The lowly wolf that seems to rise to the top of the pack was really an alpha all along.
”
”
Jodi Picoult (Lone Wolf)
“
All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel. All of them? Sure, he says. Think about it. There’s escaping from the wolves, fighting the wolves, capturing the wolves, taming the wolves. Being thrown to the wolves, or throwing others to the wolves so the wolves will eat them instead of you. Running with the wolf pack. Turning into a wolf. Best of all, turning into the head wolf. No other decent stories exist. I
”
”
Margaret Atwood (The Blind Assassin)
“
Someone knocked on the back door. He push back the chair and had to pause. The wolf was angry that someone had breached his sanctuary. Not even his pack had been brave enough the past few days to approch him in his home.
By the time he stalked into the kitchen, he had it mostly under control. He jerked open the back door and expect to see one of his wolves. But it was Mercy.
She didn't look cheerful—but then, she seldom did when she had to come over and talk to him. She was tough and independent and not at all happy to have him interfere in any way with that independence. It had been a long time since someone had bossed him around the way she did—and he liked it. More than a wolf who'd been Alpha for twenty years ought to like it.
She smelled of burnt car oil, Jasmine from the shampoo she'd been using that month, and chocolate. Or maybe that last was the cookies on the plate she handed him.
"Here," she said stiffly. And he realize it was shyness in the corner of her mouth. "Chocolate usually helps me regain my balance when life kicks me in the teeth."
She didn't wait for him to say anything, just turned around and walked back to her house.
He took the cookies back to the office with him. After a few minutes, he ate one. Chocolate, thick and dark, spread across his tongue, it's bitterness alleviated by a sinfull amount of brown sugar and vanilla. He'd forgotten to eat and hadn't realized it.
But it wasn't the chocolate or the food that made him feel better. It was Mercy's kindness to someone she viewed as her enemy. And right at that moment, he realized something. She would never love him for what she could do for her.
He ate another cookie before getting up to make himself dinner.
”
”
Patricia Briggs (Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5))
“
bandaged. The wound is mortal and yet you do not die. That is its own impossible agony. But grief is not simple sadness. Sadness is a feeling that wants nothing more than to be sat with, held, and heard. Grief is a journey. It must be moved through. With a rucksack full of rocks, you hike through a black, pathless forest, brambles about your legs and wolf packs at your heels. The grief that never moves is called complicated grief. It doesn’t subside, you do not accept it, and it never—it never—goes to sleep. This is possessive grief. This is delusional grief. This is hysterical grief. Run if you will, this grief is faster. This is the grief that will chase you and beat you. This is the grief that will eat you.
”
”
Jill Alexander Essbaum (Hausfrau)
“
NOW this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back —
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
Wash daily from nose-tip to tail-tip; drink deeply, but never too deep;
And remember the night is for hunting, and forget not the day is for sleep.
The Jackal may follow the Tiger, but, Cub, when thy whiskers are grown,
Remember the Wolf is a Hunter — go forth and get food of thine own.
Keep peace withe Lords of the Jungle — the Tiger, the Panther, and Bear.
And trouble not Hathi the Silent, and mock not the Boar in his lair.
When Pack meets with Pack in the Jungle, and neither will go from the trail,
Lie down till the leaders have spoken — it may be fair words shall prevail.
When ye fight with a Wolf of the Pack, ye must fight him alone and afar,
Lest others take part in the quarrel, and the Pack be diminished by war.
The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, and where he has made him his home,
Not even the Head Wolf may enter, not even the Council may come.
The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, but where he has digged it too plain,
The Council shall send him a message, and so he shall change it again.
If ye kill before midnight, be silent, and wake not the woods with your bay,
Lest ye frighten the deer from the crop, and your brothers go empty away.
Ye may kill for yourselves, and your mates, and your cubs as they need, and ye can;
But kill not for pleasure of killing, and seven times never kill Man!
If ye plunder his Kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride;
Pack-Right is the right of the meanest; so leave him the head and the hide.
The Kill of the Pack is the meat of the Pack. Ye must eat where it lies;
And no one may carry away of that meat to his lair, or he dies.
The Kill of the Wolf is the meat of the Wolf. He may do what he will;
But, till he has given permission, the Pack may not eat of that Kill.
Cub-Right is the right of the Yearling. From all of his Pack he may claim
Full-gorge when the killer has eaten; and none may refuse him the same.
Lair-Right is the right of the Mother. From all of her year she may claim
One haunch of each kill for her litter, and none may deny her the same.
Cave-Right is the right of the Father — to hunt by himself for his own:
He is freed of all calls to the Pack; he is judged by the Council alone.
Because of his age and his cunning, because of his gripe and his paw,
In all that the Law leaveth open, the word of your Head Wolf is Law.
Now these are the Laws of the Jungle, and many and mighty are they;
But the head and the hoof of the Law and the haunch and the hump is — Obey!
”
”
Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Book (Jungle Book, #1))
“
Then it dawned on Kramer. The cops weren’t all that much different from the assistant D.A.s. It was the muck factor. The cops got tired of packing blacks and Latins off to jail all day, too. It was even worse for them, because they had to dive deeper into the muck to do it. The only thing that made it constructive was the idea that they were doing it for somebody—for the decent people. So they opened their eyes, and now they were attuned to all the good people with colored skin…who rose to the top…during all this relentless stirring of the muck… You couldn’t exactly call it enlightenment, thought Kramer, but it was a fucking start.
”
”
Tom Wolfe (The Bonfire of the Vanities)
“
Love like a dog.
As long as it’s been treated with kindness and respect a dog will love you. A dog doesn’t care about your age, sex, gender identity, orientation, religion, race or socioeconomic bracket. A dog doesn’t care if you’re skinny, have stretch marks or scars. A dog doesn’t care how many people you’ve slept with, what hardships you’ve had to overcome; and if you’re crying a dog will come put its little chin on your chest and love you regardless. A dog doesn’t let these things dictate to whom or how much it extends its heart. A dog just loves.
Love like a dog.
A dog never tries to play it cool, hard to get or shies away from showing how much it loves. A dog’s composure is never betrayed by its tail because it freely and without hesitation shows how ecstatic it is to see you every time you walk through the door. When a dog is around other dogs it doesn’t pretend that it doesn’t really love tennis balls. A dog loves what it loves and is never embarrassed about showing how it feels.
Love like a dog.
A dog is loyal to and would fiercely defend those whom it loves. “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” Life is not always easy. At times you will have to be brave. At times you will be hurt. But a dog will never leave you. Stay close. Be faithful. Protect your pack.
Love like a dog.
That is my advice to you. Love like a dog.
”
”
Oliver Tremble
“
And it is I, Raksha [The Demon], who answers. The man's cub is mine, Lungri—mine to me! He shall not be killed. He shall live to run with the Pack and to hunt with the Pack; and in the end, look you, hunter of little naked cubs—frog-eater—fish-killer—he shall hunt thee! Now get hence, or by the Sambhur that I killed (I eat no starved cattle), back thou goest to thy mother, burned beast of the jungle, lamer than ever thou camest into the world! Go!" Father Wolf looked on amazed. He had almost forgotten the days when he won Mother Wolf in fair fight from five other wolves, when she ran in the Pack and was not called The Demon for compliment's sake. Shere Khan might have faced Father Wolf, but he could not stand up against Mother Wolf, for he knew that where he was she had all the advantage of the ground, and would fight to the death. So he backed out of the
”
”
Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Book)
“
Meg slashed through the last of Tarquin’s minions. That was a good thing, I thought distantly. I didn’t want her to die, too. Hazel stabbed Tarquin in the chest. The Roman king fell, howling in pain, ripping the sword hilt from Hazel’s grip. He collapsed against the information desk, clutching the blade with his skeletal hands.
Hazel stepped back, waiting for the zombie king to dissolve. Instead, Tarquin struggled to his feet, purple gas flickering weakly in his eye sockets.
“I have lived for millennia,” he snarled. “You could not kill me with a thousand tons of stone, Hazel Levesque. You will not kill me with a sword.”
I thought Hazel might fly at him and rip his skull off with her bare hands. Her rage was so palpable I could smell it like an approaching storm. Wait…I did smell an approaching storm, along with other forest scents: pine needles, morning dew on wildflowers, the breath of hunting dogs.
A large silver wolf licked my face. Lupa? A hallucination? No…a whole pack of the beasts had trotted into the store and were now sniffing the bookshelves and the piles of zombie dust.
Behind them, in the doorway, stood a girl who looked about twelve, her eyes silver-yellow, her auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was dressed for the hunt in a shimmering gray frock and leggings, a white bow in her hand. Her face was beautiful, serene, and as cold as the winter moon.
She nocked a silver arrow and met Hazel’s eyes, asking permission to finish her kill. Hazel nodded and stepped aside. The young girl aimed at Tarquin.
“Foul undead thing,” she said, her voice hard and bright with power. “When a good woman puts you down, you had best stay down.”
Her arrow lodged in the center of Tarquin’s forehead, splitting his frontal bone. The king stiffened. The tendrils of purple gas sputtered and dissipated. From the arrow’s point of entry, a ripple of fire the color of Christmas tinsel spread across Tarquin’s skull and down his body, disintegrating him utterly. His gold crown, the silver arrow, and Hazel’s sword all dropped to the floor.
I grinned at the newcomer. “Hey, Sis.
”
”
Rick Riordan (The Tyrant’s Tomb (The Trials of Apollo, #4))
“
THE FORTRESS
Under the pink quilted covers
I hold the pulse that counts your blood.
I think the woods outdoors
are half asleep,
left over from summer
like a stack of books after a flood,
left over like those promises I never keep.
On the right, the scrub pine tree
waits like a fruit store
holding up bunches of tufted broccoli.
We watch the wind from our square bed.
I press down my index finger --
half in jest, half in dread --
on the brown mole
under your left eye, inherited
from my right cheek: a spot of danger
where a bewitched worm ate its way through our soul
in search of beauty. My child, since July
the leaves have been fed
secretly from a pool of beet-red dye.
And sometimes they are battle green
with trunks as wet as hunters' boots,
smacked hard by the wind, clean
as oilskins. No,
the wind's not off the ocean.
Yes, it cried in your room like a wolf
and your pony tail hurt you. That was a long time ago.
The wind rolled the tide like a dying
woman. She wouldn't sleep,
she rolled there all night, grunting and sighing.
Darling, life is not in my hands;
life with its terrible changes
will take you, bombs or glands,
your own child at
your breast, your own house on your own land.
Outside the bittersweet turns orange.
Before she died, my mother and I picked those fat
branches, finding orange nipples
on the gray wire strands.
We weeded the forest, curing trees like cripples.
Your feet thump-thump against my back
and you whisper to yourself. Child,
what are you wishing? What pact
are you making?
What mouse runs between your eyes? What ark
can I fill for you when the world goes wild?
The woods are underwater, their weeds are shaking
in the tide; birches like zebra fish
flash by in a pack.
Child, I cannot promise that you will get your wish.
I cannot promise very much.
I give you the images I know.
Lie still with me and watch.
A pheasant moves
by like a seal, pulled through the mulch
by his thick white collar. He's on show
like a clown. He drags a beige feather that he removed,
one time, from an old lady's hat.
We laugh and we touch.
I promise you love. Time will not take away that.
”
”
Anne Sexton (Selected Poems)
“
THE SHEEPDOGS
Most humans truly are like sheep
Wanting nothing more than peace to keep
To graze, grow fat and raise their young,
Sweet taste of clover on the tongue.
Their lives serene upon Life’s farm,
They sense no threat nor fear no harm.
On verdant meadows, they forage free
With naught to fear, with naught to flee.
They pay their sheepdogs little heed
For there is no threat; there is no need.
To the flock, sheepdog’s are mysteries,
Roaming watchful round the peripheries.
These fang-toothed creatures bark, they roar
With the fetid reek of the carnivore,
Too like the wolf of legends told,
To be amongst our docile fold.
Who needs sheepdogs? What good are they?
They have no use, not in this day.
Lock them away, out of our sight
We have no need of their fierce might.
But sudden in their midst a beast
Has come to kill, has come to feast
The wolves attack; they give no warning
Upon that calm September morning
They slash and kill with frenzied glee
Their passive helpless enemy
Who had no clue the wolves were there
Far roaming from their Eastern lair.
Then from the carnage, from the rout,
Comes the cry, “Turn the sheepdogs out!”
Thus is our nature but too our plight
To keep our dogs on leashes tight
And live a life of illusive bliss
Hearing not the beast, his growl, his hiss.
Until he has us by the throat,
We pay no heed; we take no note.
Not until he strikes us at our core
Will we unleash the Dogs of War
Only having felt the wolf pack’s wrath
Do we loose the sheepdogs on its path.
And the wolves will learn what we’ve shown before;
We love our sheep,
we Dogs of War.
Russ Vaughn
2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66
”
”
José N. Harris