I warmed up to the family very quickly. Or maybe the family was warming up to me. So much so that I was able to start sleeping at the foot of the kids' beds, alternating between the two so it was fair. The mother, who I soon leaned was named Lynn, got used to the idea of having a dog around as well.

     The father, Daniel, was the one who I was closest with, even if he didn't show it around anyone else. Everyone else was in bed at maybe 11:00 at night. I'd lay on the couch and lay my head on Daniel's lap as he scratched my ears, watching a hockey game. Many times, we'd fallen asleep there and were woken by Lynn in the morning. She'd taken pictures of us and hung them on the wall.

     I heard a creaking noise when I was half asleep, followed by a few footsteps. I pried my eyes open, blinking for a couple of seconds to get the blurry film from my vision. I could see Daniel watching from the kitchen as he pulled a piece of bacon out of his mouth.

     "Marie, we have a surprise for you and Felix," Lynn said in a light, cheerful voice. She tapped Marie on the shoulder gently to wake her up. "We're going to Itasca State Park!"

     Marie flipped the comforters off of her bed and over my head, squealing and bouncing into her mother's arms. "Just like I've always wanted! Are we going to see the wolves?"

     "Yes, and I've even arranged for Kami to go with us!" Lynn pointed over to me as I shook the covers off of my head, getting up and wagging my tail.

     "Is Kami a wolf?" Marie asked, anticipation littering her voice.

     "Kami is whatever you think he is. He looks like a wolf to me," Lynn whispered and grinned. Marie screamed and ran over to me, hugging my neck. She tugged on my collar for me to come off of the bed, then jumped onto my back as I walked out of the room.

     "Yah, Kami! Yah!" Marie shouted as I did laps around the island where Daniel was dishing out breakfast. Soon I heard another squeal from Felix's room, Lynn coming out with that same smile.

     "We packed your bags last night. We're leaving in two hours, so eat your breakfast and get dressed," Lynn informed, lifting Marie off of my back.

Marie and Felix tumbled for their premade breakfast plates and practically fell into their food. They ate faster than any animal I'd seen before, they were done in only two minutes. Flying around the house, they threw their clothes on and got ready for the day as Daniel loaded me into the kennel on the back of the truck.

I was glad we didn't go to Minnesota by plane. I didn't do heights, and the ear popping and ringing along with the roaring engines didn't 'fly' well with me. I sat in the back and was let out of the kennel. The parents had laid out blankets and pillows on each side of the back so the kids could sleep while the adults drove. The drive was 28 hours long with David and Lynn splitting the drive, a quarter on, a quarter off, repeat.

The kids ended up sleeping for the entire drive, the only stops being gas stations and Subways. On more than one occasion, the kids ended up making me into a pillow or hugging me like a teddy bear in their sleep. It felt good, knowing that they had no fear of the wolf-dog.

Finally, we arrived at a rentable log cabin fifteen minutes from the park. The family unpacked while I gnawed on the green bone from the volunteer. Once unpacked, we went to explore the site that we were on. Luckily it was summertime so the lake for swimming was unfrozen, and surprisingly warm. Since it was a lake and not a pool, dogs were allowed too.

     "Let's go swimming, Kami!" Marie cheered and tugged on my scruff for me to get out of the suburban. She has a lisp, so it was more like "leth go thwimming". Felix almost fell when getting out of the car because of how excited he was. He bolted for the dressing rooms with swimming trunks in hand. When Marie and Felix were dressed, they stood side by side in a ready-to-run stance.

     "One..." Felix started to count. "Two three!"

     "No fair! You got a head start 'cause you counted!" Marie stumbled over her own feet as she tried to catch up to her much faster brother. Felix splashed Marie as soon as she got into the water, the two giggling uncontrollably. I followed soon after, dancing in the water like they did.

     I heard a gasp and then panic. People were rushing out of the water and staring at me, then at the kids.

     "Everyone! Out of the water! There's a wild animal in there! Get to your cars!" I heard a frantic mother call. No sooner did I realize what was going on did a game warden's jeep haul to a stop on the gravel road.

"Where's the wolf?" The armed warden shouted as he got out of his jeep.

Spotting me in the water, he ran down the rocky beach and aimed straight for my head, ordering for Felix and Marie to get out of the water and away from me. Just before the warden fired, Daniel sprinted across the beach and pulled the barrel up as he shot. I heard a loud splash behind me, which was the bullet. The warden looked confused at first, but then Daniel explained. The warden got back into his jeep and glared at the nervy parent who had called him as he drove off.

     "Oh Kami, are you okay?" Marie hugged my neck tight and started to cry. When Lynn finally pulled her off of me and sat her in her lap, Marie's arms and stomach was covered in my grey hairs.

     When we finished swimming, we got back into the car and went down town where we walked down the streets, trying different foods and checking out small stores. Many children and adults alike were delighted to see a wolf walking down the street, and even got pictures.

     The kids started complaining about their feet hurting after about two hours, so we went back to the cabin. The parents glommed over their haul for the day while the kids played with a few plastic toys that they brought to Minnesota. By the end of the night, everyone was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as they hit the beds. I slept at the foot of Daniel and Felix's bed that night. That day was just the warm up before we got to explore Itasca State Park.

A/N: Sorry this one is short compared to the other one. The first one was long because it was a prologue. The next chapter gets exciting!