Once There Were Wolves

Aggie Flynn is Inti’s twin sister and a double for Inti throughout the novel. She is a former language teacher who is more outgoing and spontaneous than her sister. Aggie and Inti have always lived together and developed a secret sign language as children. Neither can imagine life without the other.

For most of the novel, Aggie remains inside Inti’s cottage in Scotland, suffering from PTSD. At times, Aggie is lucid and capable. In these moments, she can make dinner, read, or carry on a conversation. Such changes are spontaneous and unpredictable, however; most of the time, she is nearly comatose.

While living in Sydney, Aggie married an abusive man, Gus. Inti tried to get her to leave, but Aggie stayed because Gus threatened to kill Inti if Aggie tried to escape. Aggie is severely psychologically impacted by the lasting trauma of the rape, often hallucinating that Gus is coming to attack her.

Fear of sexual abuse motivates Aggie to kill Stuart and attempt to kill Duncan. Even when she realizes the men are not Gus, she knows (or assumes in Duncan’s case) that they are abusers and takes justice into her own hands. In the end, Aggie knows that she cannot be part of Inti’s new life. Like their father, Aggie disappears into the forest.

Alexander Flynn is Inti’s and Aggie’s father. He is Canadian and lives in the woods outside of Vancouver. A former logger, he is a naturalist who lives a subsistence lifestyle. He became passionate about protecting the environment after he realized that trees are more valuable alive than as timber. He abhors anything manufactured and has an almost spiritual connection with the forest. In the novel, he voices concerns about the urgency of reversing climate change and the dangers of supporting industries that pollute the environment.

Alexander and his wife are divorced, and the girls visit him for three months each summer. During these trips, Alexander teaches them to hunt, track, and live off the land. Both sisters form a connection with the forest and internalize his conservationist values.

In his later years, Alexander develops dementia. He becomes violent toward Aggie. Knowing that his only option is be placed in a home, he takes supplies and rides into the forest. Inti and Aggie search for him, but they know he has gone into the woods to die on his own terms.

Inti’s mother is the opposite of their father, and throughout the novel, she voices the danger of caring too much, either for nature or other people. Her work as a detective in Sydney exposes her to the worst side of human nature, especially regarding domestic violence. She warns Inti to curb her empathetic tendencies, knowing that her mirror-touch synesthesia makes her vulnerable. She does not have a warm personality, and Inti feels that she cares about her murder victims more than she cares about her daughters. Eventually, Inti comes to understand that her mother cares about her and her sister deeply.

Inti’s mother is a catalyst for the plot because she provides Inti with the information she needs to conduct her investigation. On her mother’s advice, Inti creates a timeline of the events leading up to Stuart’s murder, which ultimately proves that neither Duncan nor anyone else in town could have killed him. This knowledge leads to the novel’s climax of Inti killing Number Ten and Aggie’s confession.

Duncan MacTavish is the police chief in the rural community in the Scottish Highlands where Inti is carrying out her project. Duncan is a rugged man who is personable and intelligent. His notable physical feature is his limp, which Inti later learns was caused by his abusive father.

Duncan becomes interested in Inti after she helps him save a horse that has fallen into down a steep embankment onto a frozen river. Her fierceness impresses him, even as he is skeptical about her wolf project. Like the other locals, he thinks it will only cause trouble.

When Duncan learns Inti is pregnant with his child, he tries to convince her that not all people are bad and that she should open herself to deeper relationships. He tries to convince her to let him help raise the child.

Duncan is a foil for Inti. As the police chief, he represents the law that she believes fails survivors of domestic violence. As a romantic partner, represents her fear of intimacy and lack of trust in men. Inti is suspicious that Duncan might eventually become violent towards her because he killed his father and potentially Stuart. However, Duncan’s only intention is to protect Inti, and in the end, she lets him into her life as a trustworthy partner. 

Stuart Burns is the husband of Lainey Burns. He abuses her, though she never admits it. He is the owner of Burns Farm and is a well-known member of the community.

Stuart is known for his violent, volatile temper. Everyone avoids provoking him. They know he abuses Lainey, but because she never comes forward, no one talks about it. This accommodating behavior incenses Inti, who has had too much experience with abusive men. She antagonizes Stuart, hoping he will attack her to provide concrete and public evidence of his true character. Duncan steps in to stop this from happening, but Inti’s dislike of Stuart is common knowledge.

Stuart is a plot catalyst because his murder forces Inti to confront difficult realities and make choices that have life-changing consequences. He is a double for Gus, though it is unclear if Aggie’s murder of Stuart brings her closure.

Red is a prominent member of the agricultural community where the wolf project is taking place. He is the greatest voice of opposition in the novel, making valid points about how the introduction of wolves into the Highlands threatens the farmers’ way of life. Red makes no secret of his dislike for Inti and her wolves. He even threatens her with exterminating the wolves if any of the community’s livestock are killed.

Red is the first person to shoot a wolf, sparking a series of plot events. He claims he thought Number Nine was a wild dog, and without proof to the contrary, Inti cannot charge him. In the end, Red saves Inti after she gives birth in the forest. Later, he admits that he regrets having killed the wolf and promises to work with the biologists to make the wolf project succeed.

Red challenges Inti’s beliefs about human nature. Inti has an all-or-nothing approach to people; they are either all good, or all bad. At first, she believed that people were fundamentally good, but after her traumatic experiences, she switches to believing that all people, including herself, are inherently bad. Red confuses Inti because he has a change of heart, something she did not believe possible. When she is bleeding in the woods, she believes Red has come to kill her, but instead he saves her. His transformation is one of the events that helps Inti develop a more hopeful view of human nature.

Wolf Number Six is the female partner of Number Nine. They are the leaders of the Abernathy Pack. Evan decides to name “Ash,” even though it is against protocol to name the wolves. The scientists are not supposed to become attached because the wolves are often killed, and the scientists are sometimes responsible for euthanizing them. Nevertheless, Inti becomes attached to Number Six, whose survival mirrors her own. Inti watches tensely as Six and Nine bond and Six becomes pregnant. Inti worries about the safety of Six and her pups, especially after Red kills her mate.

Number Six is symbolic because she represents hope and strength. Inti has more positive feelings about the wolves than she does about humans. She identifies with them, and though she does not realize it, her investment in Six’s survival reflects her desire to thrive as part of a family.