Runt

In the early spring in Minnesota, a wolf named Silver gives birth to four pups. Despite their closed eyes and flattened ears, she knows what role each will play in the pack and names them Leader, Sniffer, Runner, and Thinker accordingly. In another cave, King, the leader of the pack and the father of the new pups, celebrates with his two yearling children (Helper and Hunter), as well as Bider, an older wolf who was driven from his previous pack and is secretly biding his time until he can dethrone King and take this pack as his own. King returns to Silver to look upon his new pups but finds her cleaning a tiny fifth pup that isn’t breathing. When the pup finally comes alive, King is dismayed at his small size and names him Runt. Silver agrees that he will be known as Runt for now but notes that his name may change because “who knows what gift he may bring to the pack” (5).