I lay hidden in the dry grass beside Route 315, staring at the vehicles passing in the distance.
I knew that if I didn't find food soon, I wouldn't last much longer.
Headlights flickered on and off along the highway.
Scents drifted out of open windows—sausage, bread, snacks…
They drove me half-mad with hunger.
But there was a problem.
I was a wolf.
A wolf bowing its head to humans?
That was a betrayal of everything wolf instinct stood for.
But if I didn't?
I'd starve right here.
In the end, hunger won.
I dragged my broken leg to the edge of the road.
A jeep pulled over.
The driver stepped out and lifted his camera to photograph the sunset.
This was my chance.
I took a deep breath and forced my tail to wag like a dog's.
"Woo… woo…" I whimpered quietly, trying to make the sound soft, harmless.
But when the driver turned around and saw me—
His entire body froze.
Then his expression snapped from surprise to rage.
He lifted his foot and kicked me—hard.
"What kind of wolf pretends to be a dog?!" he shouted, eyes full of hostility.
Pain shot across my ribs.
I stumbled back, tail clamped tight between my legs, and scrambled into the grass.
I lay on the ground panting heavily, shame flooding through me like a tide.
A wolf, humiliated by a human like that…
But I didn't have time to wallow.
The night cold was already creeping into my bones.
My body was growing weaker by the minute.
"Maybe the method was wrong," I muttered, licking the dirt from the corner of my mouth.
Next time, I needed to look more like a dog.
I crawled back to the roadside again, this time even more cautious.
A truck pulled over slowly.
A man climbed down to check his tires.
I watched for a while, making sure no one else was around, then crept forward.
My tail wagged harder, my head lowered even more—
my entire posture a display of submission.
"Arf… woo…"
I tried to imitate the sound of a dog, hoping to draw his attention.
The man glanced at me.
Just one glance.
Then he snorted, "Where'd this wild wolf come from?"
He picked up a stone and hurled it at me.
I fled in panic, collapsing back into the grass.
My limbs trembled, barely able to hold me up.
My chest heaved violently.
I'd thrown away every shred of pride a wolf was supposed to have.
But even so, neither the humans nor the wolves would accept me.
God really had a cruel sense of humor.
I curled up tightly, ears pressed to the ground, listening to distant engines and faint human voices.
For some reason, the taste of that egg-yolk pie surfaced in my mind again.
Sweet.
Soft.
Warm in its own strange way.
Maybe… there were other ways.
If I needed to survive, there would always be another method.
I opened my eyes and looked toward the highway.