The Wolf I Buried

Chapter 15

Follow the Tracks

Elena barely slept.

Again.

The black hair lay on her bedside table.

Proof. Evidence.

A question wrapped inside another question. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw silver eyes staring back at her.

Not threatening. Not hungry. Familiar.

That was the part she couldn't stop thinking about—the familiarity. Because fear would have made sense, recognition didn't. Yet the feeling lingered.

Persistent. Unwelcome. Impossible.

Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains. Soft gold spreading across the room. The anniversary was over. The date on the calendar had changed—one year and one day. The world expected her to move forward. Instead, she found herself standing at the beginning of something. Something she didn't yet understand. Elena sat on the edge of the bed. The wolf's hair rested between her fingers.

Dark. Silky. Real.

No matter how many times she looked at it, the memory remained unchanged. The creature had been enormous.

Beautiful. Terrifying.

And somehow, she couldn't convince herself it was dangerous. That realization should have worried her. Instead, it only deepened the mystery. Her phone buzzed.

A text from Lily.

Please tell me you're having a normal morning.

Elena immediately smiled. Then replied.

Define normal.

The response arrived almost instantly.

That answer already concerns me.

A second message followed.

Coffee?

Elena glanced toward the black hair. Toward the silver fragments. Toward the growing collection of clues covering her kitchen table.

Then she typed,

Half an hour.

The reply came immediately.

If you bring evidence of a giant wolf into the café again, I'm pretending not to know you.

A laugh escaped her. The first genuine laugh she'd had in days.

Maybe weeks.

Lily had always been good at that. Making impossible situations feel manageable. Even when they weren't. The café was busy. Saturday crowds. Tourists. Families. Students. The usual chaos. Lily already occupied their corner table. A muffin sat untouched in front of her.

Elena immediately pointed.

"You ordered food and haven't eaten it."

Lily looked offended.

"I was waiting."

"Why?"

"So I could dramatically judge your life choices in person."

"How thoughtful."

Lily nodded solemnly.

"I care deeply."

Elena sat. Coffee arrived moments later—one of the advantages of becoming predictable.

The warmth seeped pleasantly through her hands. For a few minutes, they discussed normal things. Weather. Work. The bookstore downtown. Anything except mysteries. It lasted approximately four minutes. Then Lily sighed.

"Okay."

Elena groaned.

"No."

"Oh yes."

"No."

"The wolf."

Elena closed her eyes.

The interrogation had begun. Unfortunately, she deserved it. So she told Lily everything. The overlook. The silence. The creature. The eyes. The black hair. All of it. The more she spoke, the more surreal the story sounded.

By the end, even she wasn't entirely convinced it had happened. Lily listened quietly. Which somehow made Elena more nervous. Normally, Lily interrupted constantly. Today she didn't.

When the story ended, silence settled between them. Finally, Lily asked,

"Did it threaten you?"

"No."

"Did it growl?"

"No."

"Chase you?"

"No."

Lily frowned.

"That's weird."

Exactly.

Elena had been thinking the same thing. The encounter made no sense. A wild animal should have fled or attacked. Or behaved like a wild animal. Instead, it had watched her, recognized her. The thought returned again.

Recognition.

The word echoed through her mind.

Dangerous. Impossible. Persistent.

Lily stirred her coffee. Thinking. Then asked,

"What are you going to do?"

The question landed heavily. Because Elena already knew the answer. She had known since waking up. Maybe since the overlook. Maybe longer. She looked out the window, toward the distant forest visible beyond town. The woods seemed closer now.

Not physically. Emotionally.

As though some invisible thread connected her to them. Connected her to whatever waited inside.

"I'm going back."

Lily closed her eyes.

Slowly. Painfully.

Like someone mourning the death of common sense.

"Of course you are."

"I have to."

"You absolutely do not."

"I do."

Lily opened one eye.

The look she received suggested her best friend was reconsidering their entire friendship. Unfortunately, Elena's mind was already made up. Because, for the first time in a year, she had something.

Not answers. Not proof. Direction.

The difference mattered.

Later that afternoon, Elena spread everything across her kitchen table. The investigation report. The photographs. The silver fragments. The black hair. Her notebook. Every clue. Every question. Every mystery. For hours, she worked. Cross-referencing notes. Highlighting details. Building timelines. Searching for patterns. And eventually, she found one. The attacks. The sightings. The howls. The strange reports she'd uncovered. All of them clustered around the same section of forest. The deeper section. The place locals avoided. The place where Ronan had died. The place she'd never explored completely.

Elena stared at the map. A pulse of excitement shot through her.

Not certainty. Possibility.

Because if she followed the pattern—if she followed the evidence—it led somewhere. Somewhere hidden. Somewhere important. Her heartbeat quickened. The feeling reminded her of standing at the edge of a cliff. One step from discovery. One step from disaster. Possibly both. The thought should have frightened her. Instead, it made her determined. She reached for her notebook. Turned to a fresh page.

Then wrote,

Tomorrow.

Beneath it,

Follow the tracks.

The words looked simple.

Harmless.

Yet something about them felt significant.

Final.

A choice. A commitment. A line she couldn't uncross.

Elena stared at the sentence for a long moment. Then closed the notebook. Decision made. Tomorrow, she would stop waiting. Tomorrow, she would stop hoping that answers would find her. Tomorrow, she would go looking for them herself. No matter where they led.

The following dawn arrived cool and quiet. Mist drifted between the trees. The forest looked almost dreamlike. Elena stood at the edge of the trail. Backpack slung over one shoulder. Notebook tucked inside. Determination settling firmly into place. The woods stretched before her.

Ancient. Silent. Waiting.

The same woods she'd spent a year fearing. The same woods she'd spent a year avoiding.

Not anymore.

She stepped forward. Then stopped. Fresh tracks crossed the trail. Her breath caught. Large paw prints. Far larger than any wolf should possess. The same tracks she'd found outside her house. The same tracks she'd followed before. Only these were fresh.

Very fresh.

The surrounding earth remained damp from morning dew. The edges sharp. Recent. Impossible to ignore. Elena slowly crouched. Studying them. The tracks continued deeper into the forest. Leading toward the oldest section of woods. Toward territory, she'd never explored toward answers.

Her pulse quickened. A mixture of excitement and dread. Because for the first time, it felt as though the mystery wasn't hiding anymore. It was inviting her forward. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. Slowly, Elena rose. Looked toward the shadowed path ahead. Then toward the tracks. Then back again.

One final chance to turn around. To walk away. To choose safety. She didn't. Instead, she followed the prints. Deeper into the woods than she had ever gone before.

And somewhere ahead—unseen among the shadows—something began moving.

Watching. Waiting. Ready.

Because Elena Hart had finally chosen a path.

And that path was leading straight toward the wolf she buried.