Wolf Brother: Chapters 1–4

by Michelle Paver
Twelve-year-old Torak and his wolf cub companion must defeat the demon-bear of the Forest to fulfill an oath to his father and to save his present world. Torak and Wolf face many dangers but also make friends that help them along the way.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–9, Chapters 10–17, Chapters 18–23, Chapters 24–32
15 words 93 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. surge
    rise rapidly
    Ravens screamed. Pines cracked. And out of the dark beneath the trees surged a deeper darkness: a huge rampaging menace in bear form.
  2. welter
    a confused multitude of things
    A frenzy of claws. A welter of sound to make the ears bleed. In a heartbeat, the creature had smashed their shelter to splinters.
  3. bracken
    large coarse fern often several feet high
    Torak couldn’t see beyond the firelight, but he knew that the clearing, too, was a wreck of snapped saplings and trampled bracken.
  4. scrabble
    grope, scratch, or feel searchingly
    He divided up the arrows, pricking his fingers on the sharp flint points. Then he shouldered his quiver and bow, and scrabbled in the wreckage for his small black basalt axe.
  5. jerkin
    an old-fashioned sleeveless and collarless jacket
    His Hazelwood pack had been smashed in the attack; he’d have to cram everything else into his jerkin, or tie it to his belt.
  6. fathomless
    too profound or mysterious to be understood
    Looking down into his father’s eyes, he saw the tiny scarlet veins, and at the centers, the fathomless dark.
  7. beady
    small, round, and shiny
    The bird folded its stiff black wings and fixed him with a beady eye.
  8. scavenger
    any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying matter
    No scavenger had dared feed on them. Not even the flies would touch them.
  9. cache
    save up as for future use
    When a normal bear feeds, it peels back the hide of its prey and takes the innards and hind parts, then caches the rest for later. Like any other hunter, it wastes nothing.
  10. appalling
    causing shock, dismay, or horror
    He remembered the bear’s eyes, glimpsed for one appalling heartbeat.
  11. churning
    (of a liquid) agitated vigorously; in a state of turbulence
    He’d never seen such eyes. Behind them lay nothing but endless rage and a hatred of all living things. The hot, churning chaos of the Otherworld.
  12. flash flood
    a sudden and great flow of water in a short period of time
    Some time before, a flash flood had come roaring down from the mountains.
  13. famished
    extremely hungry
    Noises boomed unnaturally loud: the gurgle of the river, the hoo-hoo of an owl; the famished yipping of that infuriating cub. Why couldn’t it leave him alone?
  14. skimp
    limit in quality or quantity
    He knew the rules. Never skimp on your shelter. Never use more effort than you need when gathering food. Never leave it too late to pitch camp.
  15. amulet
    a trinket thought to be a magical protection against evil
    At the mouth of the shelter, the cub sat watching him. Its slanted eyes were a strange, dark gold. Amber, thought Torak, remembering the little seal amulet that Fa had worn on a thong around his neck.
Created on Wed Dec 31 11:42:04 EST 2025 (updated Mon Mar 02 12:18:56 EST 2026)

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