RHETT
The winter air did not just bite, it hungered. As we broke from the tree line of the estate and plunged into the ancient, unmapped heart of the northern woods, the silence of the forest felt like a physical weight against my chest. I stayed half a step behind Nola, my eyes scanning the perimeter with a predatory focus that made the world appear in shades of silver and sharp obsidian. Behind us, thirty of our strongest, most loyal wolves moved with a ghostly grace, their paws hitting the frozen earth in a rhythmic thud that sounded like a war drum.
I could feel every single one of them. The connection between an Alpha and his pack was usually a steady, low hum, a background noise that told me who was tired, who was hungry, and who was ready to kill. But tonight, that hum was being c
