White Fang, with eBook recap

Born to a she-wolf and the old wolf One Eye in the northern wild, an unnamed gray cub survives famine and learns that life depends on strength, caution, and food. Indigenous hunter Gray Beaver takes in the cub and names him White Fang, but bullying by the camp dogs leaves him isolated and severe. At Fort Yukon, Beauty Smith acquires White Fang and turns him into a caged fighting animal. Mining engineer Weedon Scott rescues him from a near-fatal match with a bulldog and patiently teaches him to trust affection. White Fang follows Scott to California, where he learns the rules of a peaceful household. When escaped convict Jim Hall breaks into the Scott home, White Fang saves the family and nearly dies from his wounds. He recovers and is welcomed back to the estate, where the once-solitary wolf-dog rests beside Collie and their puppies.

In the frozen North, Bill and Henry struggle to haul a coffin to safety with a small dog team while famine has driven a wolf pack to follow them. A reddish she-wolf with experience of human camps repeatedly lures their dogs away from the fire, allowing the pack to eat them. Bill pursues her after losing patience and is killed along with more of the dogs. Left alone, Henry keeps the wolves back with fire until another party reaches him. With the worst hunger passing, the pack separates. The she-wolf chooses an old, one-eyed gray wolf as her mate after he survives challenges from two rivals. Together they leave the others and range through the country in search of food and a place for her litter.

The she-wolf makes a den and gives birth to several cubs. One Eye hunts for the family, but renewed scarcity kills all the young except a sturdy gray male. One Eye disappears after approaching a lynx's lair, leaving the mother to provide alone. The surviving cub explores the den, then crosses its bright entrance into a world he does not yet understand. Through falls, hunger, prey, and dangerous encounters, he learns limits by experience. He eats young ptarmigan, barely escapes a hawk, and meets a weasel whose mother nearly kills him. Later he joins his mother in a desperate fight against the lynx that killed One Eye. Both survive, and the carcass feeds them. The cub's early life teaches him that living creatures either eat or are eaten, and that every new power must be approached with caution.

The gray cub encounters people for the first time and is overwhelmed by their command of fire, tools, and animals. Gray Beaver recognizes the she-wolf as Kiche, a dog with wolf blood once owned by his family, and claims her and her cub. After the cub bites him, Gray Beaver notices his white teeth and names him White Fang. Camp life places White Fang under human law, but it offers little fellowship. The older puppy Lip-lip persecutes him and turns the other dogs against him. When Kiche is taken away, White Fang becomes increasingly solitary and learns to strike quickly at weaker dogs. He nevertheless accepts Gray Beaver's mastery. Traveling with the people, he develops into a strong and cunning sled dog under Mit-sah. During a severe famine he survives alone by returning to wild hunting, kills Lip-lip when they meet without the pack, and ultimately chooses to rejoin Gray Beaver when the camp reappears.

At Fort Yukon, White Fang sees white newcomers and judges them more powerful than the people he already knows. Their dogs rush him, but his speed and the support of the Indigenous dogs make him a feared fighter. Beauty Smith covets him and repeatedly supplies Gray Beaver with alcohol until Gray Beaver sells the animal. White Fang resists and escapes several times, but each return ends in a beating and tighter confinement. Beauty Smith deliberately cultivates his rage, displays him in a cage, and profits by matching him against other dogs. White Fang defeats every familiar kind of opponent until Tim Keenan brings the bulldog Cherokee. White Fang cannot use his usual slashing tactics against the low, compact dog. Cherokee fastens onto his throat and slowly tightens his grip. Weedon Scott and Matt stop the fight before White Fang is suffocated, force Beauty Smith to surrender him, and take the injured animal away.

Weedon Scott rejects the idea that White Fang must be killed and begins trying to undo the effects of Beauty Smith's abuse. White Fang initially expects every hand to hurt him and responds with suspicion, but Scott's patient voice, food, and gentle touch gradually establish trust. The change is difficult rather than immediate: White Fang remains dangerous around other dogs and once bites Matt when confused by preparations for travel. His attachment to Scott grows into devotion, and he learns both restraint and play. When Scott leaves on a trip, White Fang becomes ill with grief and recovers only after his return. Scott later prepares to leave the North permanently and believes the wolf-dog cannot live safely in California. White Fang escapes confinement by breaking through a window and reaches the departing steamer. Recognizing the strength of their bond, Scott takes him along.

White Fang travels with Weedon Scott to California and enters a world of crowded streets, warm weather, livestock, and an extended household. At the Scott estate he resists Collie's attacks, learns to tolerate the friendly deerhound Dick, and gradually understands that chickens and other domestic animals belong to his master's protected world. He becomes a trusted guardian and proves his intelligence by carrying news when Scott is injured while riding. Collie eventually draws him into the woods and later bears his puppies. The household faces a greater danger when Jim Hall, an escaped convict who holds Judge Scott responsible for his imprisonment, breaks in at night. White Fang attacks and kills Hall before he can reach the family, but bullets and the struggle leave the animal near death. After surgery and a long recovery, White Fang survives. The family welcomes him outside as the Blessed Wolf, and he rests in the sun while Collie's puppies tumble over him.

White Fang settles into life on the Scott estate and becomes deeply attached to Weedon Scott while learning which animals and people are protected by the household. Collie's hostility gradually softens, and she draws him away with her into the woods. The family's safety is then threatened by Jim Hall, an escaped convict who blames Judge Scott for his imprisonment and enters the house at night seeking revenge. White Fang attacks Hall before the family can be harmed. He kills the intruder but is shot and terribly injured, and a surgeon gives him little chance of surviving. The household nurses him through a long recovery. When he is finally strong enough to go outside, Collie leads him to a litter of puppies she has borne. White Fang lies in the sun as the puppies climb over him, fully accepted by the family and transformed from an animal formed by hunger and abuse into their protective companion.