The forest was thick with the scent of rain and pine as night settled over Hawthorne Ridge. The day had been long, filled with trials, lessons, and the subtle tension of unspoken challenges. My muscles ached, my senses were stretched to their limits, and yet the wolf inside me pulsed with restless energy, refusing to let me rest. There was something in the air tonight, a shift that made the hairs on my arms stand on end.
Kael moved beside me silently, as always, his golden eyes scanning the forest for signs I could barely perceive. “The hunters are close,” he said quietly, breaking the silence that had hung between us like a dense fog. His voice was calm, but there was an unmistakable edge to it. “Not the kind you ran from in the village. These hunters know the forest, know the wolves, an
