Today was the day; the day Aria Harman finally manned up and faced her fears. She has been terrified of climbing Mt. Cardigan ever since she was a little girl. Aria had heard the stories of the wild wolves that ate just about anything they could get their jaws on. It was a realistic fear, but Ethan, her brother, made fun of her for it anyway. Aria had gotten tired of having Ethan think that she was afraid of everything, including her own shadow. This was her way of showing him he was wrong, and proving the stories of the wolves were just that, stories. Plus if she did die up there it would be Ethan’s fault and he would have to live with the guilt for the rest of his life.
         After Ethan dropped Aria off, she headed to the AMC Lodge thinking it was best if she filled her water bottles now. When she was done, Aria started hiking up the mountain and stopped when she reached the Ill-well Trail. She looked at her surroundings where she would be setting up camp; to the east she could see Welton Falls. As Aria started to set up her camp, she watched a hare hop hastily from the woods, pass her, and into another section of the woods.
         Aria, thinking nothing of it, continued to set up her tent. She glanced around a minute later, having the feeling someone or something was watching her. As she glanced back at the forest where the hare came from, she saw a pair of crystallized cobalt blue eyes staring at her. Aria started to back away from the animal, which started coming forward and did not stop until she was trapped against a tree. Aria gulped remembering Mrs. Schmitt, a lady she met at the Lodge, describing a wolf with cobalt blue eyes, and fur as black as night, being the most dangerous wolf on the mountain.
She watched as the wolf walked up to her and sniffed her hand that was holding a piece of jerky that she was about to eat. Aria held out her hand a bit, trying to keep the wolf away from her, as well as give him the jerky. She could not help but think that if she made it back home, she was going to kill Ethan. The wolf took the jerky and ate it, while taking a couple steps back. Once the wolf was a good distance away, Aria relaxed a bit and tried to think of a way to leave without him chasing her.
As Aria came to the realization the wolf wasn’t going to hurt her and that it seemed content in being in her presence, she decided to give him a name. Many names flew through Aria’s head until one stuck, Ash. She turned to Ash and smiled at him. Aria finished, set up the tent, and then watched the sun set. When it became dark, it was almost pitch black, with moon being the only source of light. Ash blended right in with the night, only his eyes shining brightly against the black. Aria took a walk in the woods using her different senses. When she got back to her campsite, she tucked into her sleeping bag and fell asleep.
Aria awoke to nine wolves around her tent not including Ash. She gulped and watched as all the wolves stared at her curiously. Aria looked down to see that Ash was snuggled up against her and they seemed mystified by that. She nudged Ash, hoping he could help her and know what to do in this situation. It was one thing for her to deal with Ash, as he seemed civilized, but to be surrounded by all these wolves, she could feel her fears come back full forced.
Immediately Aria scrambled away from the wolves and further into the tent. She watched as Ash stood in front of her as if to protect her from the nine new wolves that had invaded the campsite. Aria could not understand what the wolves were growling about, but suddenly they were fighting. The new wolves were fighting each other as well as Ash. All you could hear was growls. All you could see was teeth, claws, and their bodies crashing and smashing against each other.
As sudden as the fight started, it ended.  The remaining five wolves left, leaving Ash on the ground bleeding slowly to death. Aria rushed over to Ash trying to see if there was anything she could do. On closer inspection Aria could see that his whole stomach was shredded, to the point where she could see his insides. Immediately, she brought him closer to her, hugging him, making the blood soak through her clothes, staining them a blood red color. Ash was making a whimpering sound and all Aria could do was sit there and cry. She knew there was no way he could be saved, which just made her cry harder. She stayed with him until he stopped breathing.
Aria wiped her face, trying to clear it from all the tears. She started gathering all the rocks and stones she could find, putting them all into a big pile. Once Aria gathered enough she started placing them on top of the wolf giving him a burial. Even though she only knew Ash for a few hours, she felt she owed him this much, especially after he protected her while being outnumbered.
Aria started packing up her things not wanting to be on the mountain anymore. Even though she had attempted to conquer her fears of wolves, the nine wolves that had attacked Ash had made it clear wolves could not be trusted.  Ash was a different type of wolf, he was one that would have wanted to live in peace and harmony, but not all wolves are like that and Aria knew she would always be scared of wolves.
The hike back down the mountain was a somber one. She called her brother to pick her up and watched as he pulled up grinning. Aria knew he would think she had chickened out, that she had gotten scared and wanted to go home. Truth be told, she was scared, scared the other wolves that lived would come back for her and do the same to her as they did Ash. Instead of answering Ethan’s questions, Aria sat there in silence remembering Ash, the fear she felt and will always feel towards wolves, the hare that lead Ash to her, and the tears she shed at the fact that Ash was dead.