The lost tourist thought the hungry wolf was going to eat him alive: the wolf slowly approached him, placed its paws on his chest, sniffed his face and neck — and then did this…

The lost tourist thought the hungry wolf was going to eat him alive: the wolf slowly approached him, placed its paws on his chest, sniffed his face and neck — and then did this… 

As night fell, the tourist realized in horror that he had gotten lost in the vast forest. There was no cell signal, his phone had long since died, and the friends he had been walking with had disappeared from sight.

He tried several times to find a familiar path, but it was useless — identical trees, darkness, and not the slightest sign of a road. When his strength began to fade, he decided to stop and rest for a while.

The sun had long since set behind the horizon. The forest was swallowed by cold and silence, broken only by the cracking of branches and a distant growl.

The air was damp and icy, his fingers numb, and his teeth chattering from the cold. Fear slowly crept in — that sticky, paralyzing fear when you don’t know where to go, what to do, and are even afraid to call out because you’re not sure who will answer first — a human or a beast.

He stumbled over roots until he slipped and fell into a narrow stream. The icy water burned his skin, his clothes clung to his body instantly, and he gasped for breath.

He climbed out onto the bank, shivering from the cold, realizing he had no dry clothes and no strength left to continue. He collapsed onto the ground and knew — this was the end.

But just then, a loud howl echoed nearby. It was so close, it felt as though the creature was standing right behind him. The tourist slowly turned his head and froze. Behind him stood a wolf — huge, dark, with gleaming fur and eyes glowing in the twilight. Behind it, small shapes moved — wolf pups.

The man couldn’t think of anything better than to lie on his back and play dead. He froze, trying not to move, not to breathe, not to look. The wolf came closer, placed its paws on his chest, and began sniffing his face, neck, and hands.

He could feel its hot breath, hear its soft snorting.

— That’s it… it’s going to eat me alive, he thought.

But at that very moment, the wolf did something completely unexpected — something that left the man in shock 
To be continued in the first comment 

Suddenly, the wolf whimpered softly, lay down beside him, and… started licking his hands. Then his neck. Then his face — as if checking whether he was still alive. The pups came closer and began mimicking their mother’s movements.

The man couldn’t believe his eyes. He lay motionless while the animals seemed to embrace him, pressing their warm bodies against his. The wolf lay beside him, breathing heavily but calmly, warming him with her body.

He didn’t even notice when he fell asleep from exhaustion. The animal’s warmth spread through his body, the fear faded away, and he drifted off.

When he woke up in the morning, sunlight was already breaking through the branches. The wolf was gone. At first, he thought that everything that had happened during the night had been a dream or a hallucination.

Only the paw prints in the damp earth and a few dark tufts of fur reminded him that it had all been real.