Wild

By M.L. Kessler

Ned Fitzgerald is a handsome young man on the fast track attending Harvard Law School. His world is suddenly turned upside down when his parents die in a car crash. He is forced to return home to Seattle to take care of his sister Jordan, and as a result is unable to go to New York for his summer law internship.

Fred Thompson, Ned's father's attorney friend, suggests that Ned take an internship with an environmental organization in Alaska. Ned's Uncle Mark agrees and offers to take care of Jordan.

Once in Alaska, Ned meets up with Tom Andrews (a wolf-hating ranger) and Jack Welch (a Pawnee Indian ranger) and they begin their trek. Ned, the inexperienced outdoorsman, is caught in a landslide that takes him from the mountainside into the river below. He spots a wolf on the shore right before he passes out. He comes to curled up on the shore with a beautiful girl he calls Moriah. They cuddle until she hears Andrews and Welch coming. Ned blinks and instead of beautiful Moriah in front of him, there is a wolf! The wolf runs away before anyone else can see it.

Ned finds out that Andrews works for the state and Welch is a Fed and he figures out that there is some bad blood between them. It becomes clear that Andrews likes to operate outside the law. He tells Ned that wolves killed his sister. He gives Ned the heads up that there will be a big wolf hunt and if anyone gets in the way, there will be consequences.

Moriah visits Ned at night, when Andrews and Welch are sleeping. Ned and Moriah determine that they are soulmates. She shows him that she is a wolf who has left her den and "crossed the winds" to be with him. She is able to show him that there is more to the world than life on the fast track. But one night, as they are lying together, Andrews surprises them. He sees Moriah as a snarling wolf. Ned fights Andrews to protect Moriah. Moriah runs away. Ned hits Andrews in the head with a rifle and knocks him unconscious. Welch tells Ned that he must leave because Andrews will be after him.

Right when he is about to leave, Ned runs into the woods and asks Moriah to come with him. She agrees.

Once back in the city, Ned is at home but Moriah soon becomes restless. Ned is forced to decide what is important to him. He must choose between keeping his soulmate trapped in the confines of civilization or letting her free. And he must decide what to do with the knowledge that Moriah's family might be in grave danger.

Moriah proves to him what life and love are really about. Ultimately Ned makes the right decision, but once they return to Alaska to save Moriah's family, he discovers that they may be too late.