ELLIE‘S POV
The wind shifted again. It was subtle at first, then sharper, cutting through the air like a blade dipped in ice. It carried with it a scent I couldn’t name, something faint yet potent, crawling under my skin with the promise of danger. It was there and gone in the same breath, elusive enough to make me question whether it had been real at all.
I stilled, forcing my breathing to slow, my senses straining beyond sight. The treeline loomed ahead, dark and motionless, yet my instincts whispered otherwise. Something was there. Waiting and watching.
And then I knew.
I couldn’t see it, there was no shift of movement, no glint of an eye between the branches but I felt it. That cold, suffocating weight, pressing on my shoulders and seeping down my spine, the way a predator announce
