Wolf Brother: Chapters 5–9

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 21 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. cloven
    (used of hooves) split, divided
    All day, Torak had followed its trail of bitten-off twigs and cloven prints: trying to feel what it was feeling; guessing where it would go next.
  2. uncanny
    surpassing the ordinary or normal
    Still, there was one thing he knew he’d never be able to master, because he wasn’t a wolf. This was what he’d taken to calling ‘wolf sense’: the cub’s uncanny knack of sensing his thoughts and moods.
  3. incessantly
    without interruption
    Sometimes he was the cub, with a puppyish love of berries and an inability to keep still: like the time he’d wriggled incessantly when Torak had held a naming rite for him, then licked off all the red alder juice daubed on his paws.
  4. pact
    a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
    That was the age-old pact between the hunters and the World Spirit. Hunters must treat prey with respect, and in return the Spirit would send more prey.
  5. daunting
    discouraging through fear
    It was a daunting task. It takes many summers of practice to use prey well. Torak didn’t make a very good job of it, but he did his best.
  6. rawhide
    animal skin, especially of cattle, that has not been tanned
    After a final round of soaking and drying, he had a reasonable skin of rawhide for rope and fishing-lines.
  7. grouse
    popular game bird having a plump body and feathered legs
    He sat by the fire, pleasantly full of meat, whittling a whistle from a piece of grouse bone.
  8. surreptitiously
    in a secretive manner
    Torak coughed and rubbed his throat, surreptitiously reaching for his knife.
  9. mystified
    totally perplexed and mixed up
    Torak was mystified.
  10. deftly
    with dexterity; in a dexterous manner
    Her buckskin jerkin and leggings were scruffy, but her bow and quiver were beautiful, the arrows deftly fletched with owl feathers for silent flight.
  11. clarity
    the quality of being coherent and easily understood
    With a clarity born of fear, he took in every detail.
  12. bedraggled
    limp, untidy, and soiled
    He looked bedraggled, but was gazing curiously down at the two dogs slavering beneath him.
  13. unwieldy
    difficult to use or handle because of size or weight
    It felt as heavy and unwieldy as a haunch of deer meat. He wondered what he was supposed to do with it.
  14. incompetence
    lack of physical or intellectual ability or qualifications
    Feigning total incompetence, which wasn’t hard, he hit out wildly, tempting Hord with a glimpse of his unprotected chest.
  15. smattering
    a small number or amount
    There was a smattering of encouragement for Torak, although he guessed it was less genuine support than pleased surprise that he was lasting longer than expected.
Created on Wed Dec 31 19:54:10 EST 2025 (updated Mon Mar 02 12:27:44 EST 2026)

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