Nobody moved.
The growl faded almost as quickly as it had appeared, swallowed by rain and distance until silence settled over the forest once again. The sound had not been loud. It had not needed to be.
Every wolf standing on that trail knew exactly what it had been. A warning.
My fingers curled instinctively as I scanned the darkness beyond the trees. Rain continued drifting through the forest in a fine mist now, collecting on branches overhead before falling in slow drops to the earth below. Lantern light barely reached beyond the perimeter of our small group, leaving the rest of the woods swallowed by shadow.
The feeling that had followed me all day tightened viciously beneath my ribs. That was what instinct had been trying to tell me.
Beside me, Braxton's posture shifted almost im
