21

"I spent a lot of time thinking about 21 over the years and why he went up to that meadow. For a while, I thought that it might have been like a dying king in Scotland, back in the time of Druid priests, climbing a peak in the Highlands to take one last look at the territory he ruled. But then I realized that 21 would not have done it for that reason. My take on him was that he was never impressed by the size of his pack, the extent of his territory, the rivals he had defeated, or the battles he had won. 21 was a warrior king who never had a crown, and that insignificant hill was the closest thing he had to a throne room.

If 21 didn't climb that mountain to see the extent of his territory, why did he make such an arduous journey at the end of his life, when his great strength was rapidly diminishing? I think it was because 21 still didn't know 42 was dead, only that she was missing. He had not found her during his extensive travels throughout the Druid territory, so perhaps he decided to use his final days to go on a quest, to visit one last spot, the Opal Creek rendezvous site, and look for her there. That is the meaning of such a site: it is a place to meet up.

She wasn't in that meadow, but 21 would have sniffed the lone tree and gotten her scent on the trunk from the many times she and 21 had marked it. It would have been old, but it was her scent. At least he had that.

Can a wolf feel happiness and joy? I think 21 did at that moment.

I imagined him then walking the few feet to the hilltop, where he had bedded down so many times next to his life partner, and lying down to rest. As he slowly drifted off into sleep, I would like to think that the scent from that tree triggered a picture. If so, then the last thing in 21's mind as he lost consciousness for the final time was an image of 42."

- Rick McIntyre, The Reign of Wolf 21

_{21 at eight years old with a lot of gray on his black coat. He had been the alpha male of the druid pack for over five years. (Photo credit: Doug Dance)}

21 and 42 on their last day together. They were nearly nine years old, twice the average life-span of Yellowstone wolves, and had been a pair for 70 percent of their lives. (Photo credit: Kim Kaiser)

Found in rainforest 09.08.2021