When a pack of wolves moves close to the camp, one of the large wolves attempts to attack Buck, and the wolf is immediately killed. Three others attack and withdraw, streaming with blood from slashed shoulders and throats. The entire pack, then, pins Buck down so that he cannot escape, and he is forced to fight the entire pack alone. At this point, one of the wolves advances cautiously, and in a friendly manner, he touches his nose to Buck's. It is the wolf that Buck had run with earlier. Buck has now become a member of the wolf pack, and, as London says, he "ran with them side by side . . . yelping as he ran."
London closes the novel by telling us that Buck becomes mythic in proportion, and a legend spreads from generation to generation. The rumor becomes so widespread, in fact, that the valley where Buck first encountered the Yeehats becomes known as the home of the Great Evil Spirit, and no one dares to approach that valley. Furthermore, over the years, Buck creates a new breed of animal — marked with light patches of hair, which is, of course, inherited from Buck. Buck has truly answered the call of the wild; the civilized animal has become the leader of a pack of wolves. The call of the wild has been heard, and it has been answered magnificently.
