The Wolf her name given by the Great Spirit to the Shaman of the tribe decades  before her birth, in a vision of light and love. The Great Spirit  heralded her arrival into this world and  the awakening that  would begin with her arrival.  She would be both strength undefined  and weakness beyond repair, a student who knows something and teacher who knows nothing. Her heart would be unconditional love ,something lost to the world for many an eon. Her spirit would be unconditional acceptance of self evolved to unconditional acceptance of all. Her mind heightened to the  tenth degree to see the things  that reside past ego. The Great Spirit echoed in the Shamans ear she will be everything and nothing, she is The Wolf, sister of the Moon daughter of the people, guided the by the winds of all directions that blow under the sun.

She had been on the road for weeks, her paws were scabbed sore and blood. Her ribs showed prominently through her thick blue black fur. There was a sense of determined peace within her icy blue eyes, as the scrawny road weary wolf continued towards the mountains of her people. The Great Spirit had called her home, to Great- Grandfather, it was time , the whisper was strong  in her soul.  The rain pelted down on her rejuvenating her stubborn spirit to continue up the ridge.  Slowly but steadily the skin walker made her way over the uneven ground. Weaving through the trees as she enter her tribes territory..." Aho" ... The familiar word  of both greeting and blessing stops the wolf in her steps as the  hunched white haired figure approached her. She sat on her haunches her ears perked forward and tail wagging wildly behind her as it swept the ground. Her grandfather the tribal Shaman had come to take her home, is ancient form moved as if still in it youth. Stopping at her side he ruffled the fur between her ears, as a parent would their child.  The wolf jumped up with an excited yipe and tenderly  bit her Great-Grandfather's chin in a wolfish greeting. " My dear Tosti, I see your stubbornness has sustained you." The wolf dropped back to the  ground and turned towards their family camp , her great grandfather at her side.

 The figure wrapped in the bear hide diligently placed his feet in just the proper spots as he continued the ceremony.The smell of sweet grass and sage wafted on the air. Each of the four corners of the lodge was lined with tribal sisters and brothers, playing  the music of the Great Spirit. Swaths of bundled wormwood were hung over and on both sides of the entry. Between him and the sacred fire lay a large blue black wolf covered in a hide made of many species of animals. His great granddaughter in her skin walker form, only those born of Bear Lodge, of the Raven hearth had this cursed blessing.  Skin walkers are erroneously misjudged, believed to be evil witches by the ignorant. These souls are in reality shamans of the people, reincarnated generation after generation to do as the great spirits compels them to within the sacred spiral to maintain the balance of energies with love and understanding for all creatures.

As they started chanting the sacred words  the wolf under the hide  seemed to jerk and convulse with the rhythm. Low growls and grunts of painful pleasure added to the music in the the lodge. As her tribe called her to her human form for the first time in this cycle of the spiral. Birth was never meant to be an easy cycle of life, for many tests a soul will face, the first transformation always took the tribe for guidance. The skin walker had to be gifted with the song  from the people before they could transform at will. Just as quickly as the skin hide began to convulse it also ceased. Laying in a fetal position as the flutes songs floated on the air the female took in steady breaths feel a fatigue like never before. The thumpthump thump, thumpthump thump  of the drums gave her the energy to to rise into a sitting position.

Her raven black cascading down her body as she pulled the multi-skin hide over her nude form. Her icy blue were tired , but bold with the vivid energy of love and light. " Much appreciation for the gift of the song. I will do my best to honor the way of the wolf." Her voice had a hidden strength behind the tiredness.  The musician laid down their instruments, nearly in union the approach their newly initiated Shaman and gingerly picked the spent from the ground. Together they carried her to the bed of wormwood, sage and rose petals covered with a white buffalo hide. They laid the spent on the blessed bed, simultaneously laying their right hands over their chest they said in one voice."AHO". Then quietly left Tosti to gain the much needed rest her spirit would require.

  Upon her return to humanity in the city, an old family friend contacted her. His family had worked with hers in the past. They had gotten along well enough, having similar beliefs about mutual respect ,loyalty and omerta.  He was starting a crew of his own asked to be her by his side.  She accepted the offer with great pride , after all when the Great spirit offers an opportunity for growth  one must accept or stay stagnant.