Chapter 382: Where the Scent Goes Cold
A few minutes before.
The forest swallowed sound the way it tended to swallow light too. No birds sang in the air. None even moved past. The forest was eerily silent.
Snow lay thin over the earth in broken patches, disturbed by heavy movement and frantic motion that had not yet settled back into stillness.
Gale moved fast. He slipped between the trees like a shadow given muscle and intent, muzzle low to the ground, breath slow and controlled as he followed the thread of scent that mattered above all others.
Sophia.
Her scent cut through the forest clearly as they moved closer, the scent picking up, getting clearer and more distinct.
Joren's heart hammered in sync with Gale's stride.
She had been here.
Gale pushed faster, weaving through thick roots and narrow spaces between trunks, his paws barely disturbing the snow as he tracked the invisible line winding deeper into the trees.
