When Elowen moves into a new house with her son, Cassian, and husband, Gideon, she’s excited for a fresh start. Cassian needed a new place and a new school, and Elowen just wanted him to be happy. But one day, a husky wanders into their yard, eating their food and getting close to Cassian. Soon after, the husky leads Elowen and Cassian into the woods, ready to show them something heartbreaking…
When we moved into our new house, I had a great feeling. It was a new start for us, and I was all in. Gideon, my husband, and I were thrilled to give our son, Cassian, a chance to begin again. He’d just gone through some tough times with bullies at his old school, and we all wanted to leave that behind.
The house used to belong to an older man named Alden, who’d passed away not long ago. His daughter, Lila, a woman in her forties, sold it to us. She said it was too hard to keep and that she hadn’t stayed there since her dad died.
“There’s a lot of memories in that place, you know?” she told me when we first walked through the house. “I don’t want it going to just anybody. I want a family who’ll love it like we did.”
“I get it, Lila,” I said with a smile. “We’ll make this house our home for good.”
We couldn’t wait to settle in, but right from day one, something weird happened. Every morning, a husky showed up at our front door. He was an older dog, with grayish fur and bright blue eyes that seemed to see right into you.
The sweet guy didn’t bark or cause a scene. He’d just sit there, waiting. Naturally, we gave him some food and water, thinking he must belong to a neighbor. After eating, he’d stroll off like it was no big deal.
“Do you think his owners aren’t feeding him enough, Mom?” Cassian asked one day while we were at the grocery store, picking up our weekly stuff and some food for the husky.
“I’m not sure, Cassian,” I said. “Maybe the old man who lived here used to feed him, so it’s just his habit?”
“That makes sense,” Cassian said, tossing some dog treats into our cart.
At first, we didn’t make much of it. Gideon and I planned to get Cassian a dog someday, but we wanted to wait until he was settled at his new school.
But the husky kept coming back. Day after day, always at the same time, always chilling by the porch.
It felt like he wasn’t just some stray. He acted like this was his place, and we were just visitors. It was odd, but we didn’t dwell on it.
Cassian was over the moon. I could tell he was falling hard for the husky. He spent every spare moment playing with him, throwing sticks, or sitting on the porch, chatting with the dog like they were old buddies.
I’d watch from the kitchen window, smiling at how fast Cassian had clicked with this mystery dog.
It was just what Cassian needed after everything he’d been through at his old school.
One morning, while petting him, Cassian’s fingers brushed over the dog’s collar.
“Mom, there’s a name here!” he shouted.
I walked over and knelt beside the dog, pushing back some fur to see the worn leather collar. The name was faint, but there it was:
Rune.
My heart skipped a beat.
Was it a coincidence?
Alden, the man who owned our house—could this husky have been his? A shiver ran through me. Lila hadn’t said a word about a dog.
“Do you think he keeps coming here ‘cause this used to be his home?” Cassian asked, his eyes wide.
I shrugged, feeling a bit uneasy.
“Maybe, sweetie. It’s hard to say.”
Still, it felt like the husky wasn’t just any stray. He acted like he owned the place, like we were just passing through. It was strange, but we let it go.
Later that day, after Rune had eaten, he started acting funny.
He whimpered quietly, pacing back and forth near the yard’s edge, his eyes fixed on the woods. He’d never done that before. It was like he was begging us to follow him.
“Mom, I think he wants us to come with him!” Cassian said, already grabbing his jacket.
I wasn’t so sure.
“Honey, I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”
“Come on, Mom!” Cassian pleaded. “We gotta see where he’s going. I’ll text Dad so he knows. Please?”
I didn’t want to, but I was curious. Something about the dog’s urgency told me this wasn’t just a random stroll.
So, we went.
The husky led the way, looking back now and then to check we were still there. The air was cool, and the woods were quiet, except for the occasional crunch of twigs under our shoes.
“You sure about this?” I asked Cassian.
“Totally!” he said, all excited. “Dad’s got our location, don’t worry, Mom.”
We walked for about twenty minutes, deeper into the forest than I’d ever gone. I was about to suggest heading back when the husky stopped dead at a small clearing.
He stood still, staring straight ahead, and that’s when I saw it.
A pregnant fox was caught in a hunter’s trap, barely moving.
“Oh my gosh,” I whispered, hurrying toward her.
She was weak, her breathing faint, her fur dirty and matted. The trap had cut into her leg, and she was shaking with pain.
“Mom, we have to help her!” Cassian said, his voice trembling. “She’s hurt bad!”
“I know, I know,” I said, my hands shaking as I tried to free her from the trap. The husky stayed close, whining softly, like he felt her pain.
After what seemed like forever, I got the trap loose. The fox didn’t budge at first. She just lay there, breathing hard.
“We need to get her to a vet right now, Cassian,” I said, pulling out my phone to call Gideon.
When Gideon showed up, we carefully wrapped the fox in a blanket he brought and rushed her to the nearest vet clinic. The husky came along, of course.
It felt like he wasn’t leaving her side, not after this.
The vet said the fox needed surgery, and we waited anxiously in the small, clean room. Cassian was quiet, sitting next to the husky, his hands on the dog’s thick fur.
“You think she’ll be okay, Mom?” Cassian asked.
“I hope so, buddy,” I said, squeezing his shoulder. “She’s strong, and we did all we could.”
The surgery went well, but when the fox woke up, she was howling, her cries filling the clinic.
The vet couldn’t calm her, and neither could Gideon. But when I walked in, she stopped. Her eyes met mine, and she let out one last soft whimper before going quiet.
“It’s like she knows you saved her,” the vet said.
We picked her up two days later and brought her home. We made a cozy spot in the garage for her to rest and heal. Rune, the husky, as Cassian called him, stayed by Sable the fox the whole time.
A few days later, she gave birth to four tiny kits. It was the most incredible thing I’d ever seen. And she let me be part of it.
“She only lets us near her babies,” Cassian told me one day when we checked on Sable and her kits. “She trusts us.”
I nodded and smiled.
“And the dog, too,” I said. “Rune’s right at home with us.”
When the kits were old enough, Gideon and I knew it was time to let them go. We built a proper den for them in the forest and watched as Sable slipped into it with her babies.
Now, every weekend, Cassian, Rune, and I hike to the forest to visit them. The fox always comes out to say hi, her kits scampering behind her, just as curious as ever.
