*Isabella*
The scent of sweat, dust, and blood thickens in the air, settlin’ heavy in my lungs. My paws press into the damp earth, muscles coiled tight as I follow Chet’s lead through the darkened forest. We are nearly done checkin’ our perimeters, but somethin’ feels off.
Then I hear it—the distant clash of weapons, the guttural war cries of men locked in battle.
Chet slows beside me, his massive black wolf blendin’ into the shadows. “Do you hear that?” he asks through the mind-link.
“Yeah. And I smell ‘em, too.” The metallic tang of blood, the musk of too many bodies movin’ at once—it all comes together now.
Takoda and Ginny, just behind us, tense at the same time.
“Two groups. Both human,” Takoda confirms, his wolf’s ears twitchin’ forward.
I peer through the trees, eyes lockin’
