Once There Were Wolves

Inti’s team locates Number Ten and will have to euthanize her because she is responsible for the livestock attacks. A severe blizzard makes the mountains impassible, and team calls colleagues for backup. Inti knows that Ten will stay with her pack because she cannot cross the mountain either.

Bonnie shows up at Inti’s cottage and asks her why she believed Duncan was responsible for Stuart’s murder. Inti lies and says she was angry because she found out that Duncan was sleeping with Lainey, but she doesn’t have any real proof. Bonnie leaves, and Inti is sure she does not believe her.

Inti goes to Duncan’s house to warn him but finds it empty. The car is still there, and the fire is going, which means he has not left. To her horror, she finds him and Fingal bleeding in the snow. Their throats and stomachs have been slashed open and they are barely alive. Thirty-six weeks pregnant, Inti’s strength and mobility are limited, but she manages to drag Duncan to her car. He cannot speak, but his eyes plead with her to bring Fingal, even though Inti knows he is already dead. She loads Fingal’s body into the front seat and drives to the hospital.

At the hospital, Duncan is taken into surgery. A doctor examines Inti and is astonished that she has not been to the doctor during her pregnancy. Inti can only think about Duncan and the wolves. Inti realizes the wolves killed Stuart all along, and Inti has been in denial.

She knows that Red and the other farmers have all the evidence they need to kill the wolves, and Inti decides that she will kill Ten before they get to her. At least that way she can save the other wolves. Even though the conditions are dangerous, she packs supplies and goes out alone. She rides Gall, who was previously injured and may not be able to handle the forest’s rough terrain.

Gus is charged with Aggie’s rape but is free until the trial begins. He tries to see Aggie in the hospital, but security keeps him out. One night, Inti follows him home and threatens him with a knife. He is in bed, and she sits on top of him, the knife to his throat. She tells him that Aggie will never be able to have children and that he did worse than kill her by torturing her and leaving her alive. Gus cries and says he is sorry, but he cannot tell Inti why he did it. She tells him that if she ever sees him again, she will kill him.

Inti rides Gall into the mountains but does not find Ten. She is angry at the wolf for attacking Duncan, though she knows her anger is irrational. Late that night, she follows deer tracks until she finds Ten in a clearing. She shoots her, and the bullet goes through her neck, killing her.

She loads Ten’s body onto the horse and begins riding home, when she starts to have contractions. She is forced to give birth in the woods alone in the freezing cold. That night, wolves come. She thinks they are going to attack her, but they sleep beside her to keep her and her newborn daughter warm. In the morning, she does not know if this was real or a dream.

The next morning, she begins walking home. Gall has run away in the night, but Aggie arrives riding her. For the first time since the rape, Aggie speaks. Inti tells her to take the baby, and Aggie says she will come back for Inti once the baby is safe. Before Aggie returns, Red McCrae arrives and carries Inti to the hospital.

Inti wakes in the hospital with her baby and Aggie beside her. Aggie confesses that she killed Stuart and attempted to kill Duncan because she thought they were both abusers. Inti tells Aggie that she is wrong about Duncan. She loves Duncan and he never abused her. Aggie is devastated by her mistake, and Inti is devastated that she killed Ten for no reason.

Red arrives with flowers and tells Inti that they need to work together to make the wolf project succeed. He realizes he was wrong for killing Number Nine and understands why Inti is devoted to the wolves’ survival.

Duncan is alive. He cannot speak because his throat has been slashed, but he will live. He is in the hospital, and Inti brings the baby to him.

Duncan, Inti, Aggie, and the baby live together. Duncan states that he was attacked by a wolf, and the matter is put to rest. They consider Number Ten responsible for Stuart’s death as well. The wolf is dead, and they close the case.

Duncan communicates by writing on a pad. He tells Inti that Aggie needs to be in a facility. Inti refuses, knowing she cannot part with her, no matter what she’s done. Her mother calls and tells Inti that she is getting remarried. She does not know anything about what has happened in Scotland. Inti invites her to come so they can be together as a family.

One night, Aggie takes Gall and disappears. She leaves a note that says, “Gone home. xx.” Inti knows she has ridden into the forest like their father, and they will never see her again.

A year has passed, and it is spring. Inti removes the wolves’ radio collars so they can be truly wild. Her team stops monitoring them, their work complete. Number Six has died, but her offspring are strong and one of her daughters is the new pack leader. The wolves are thriving, and the landscape is showing signs of renewal.

Inti takes her daughter into the forest to teacher her about nature and to track wolves. Inti does not know if they will stay in Scotland, but she knows that the Highlands have become a part of her.