An old box truck transporting wolves for release in the Adiron-dacks crashes onto the ice covered Allegheny River. Some of the wolves do not survive; the rest escape. Rumors of the pack's whereabouts reach Hawk, an old Susquehannock storyteller, who, along with his young friend Jimmy, undertake a journey through the Allegheny Plateau to locate the wolves. In four days time, they plan to meet up with Sherry, Jimmy's high school sweetheart. Each evening, at Jimmy's beckoning, Hawk tells a story: Wind Wolf's story, the story of his vision quest, the story of his lost wife and daughter, as well as others, which when woven together comprise the forces that forged his character. Hawk and Jimmy meet Reba Snow, an irascible, large woman who lives alone in the woods in a school bus. Even though she prefers to shoot first and ask questions later, she does help the trackers find the wolves. Storm clouds gather on the horizon as evidence is uncovered that poachers are on the Plateau looking for black bears. Hawk and Jimmy fear that the poachers might discover the wolf pack and do them harm. They never imagine the real tragedies they will find in the woods.