Chapter 404: The Messenger Beneath the Snow
Meanwhile, back at the pack compound:
Frost clung stubbornly to the low branches, dusting bark and brittle leaves with a pale sheen that cracked softly beneath every step. The light filtering through the canopy was thin and cold. Even the birds had chosen silence, as though the trees themselves were holding their breath.
Wesley walked ahead of the small group, his boots pressing deep into the packed snow, every step measured. Daniel followed close behind, flanked by two others — one a guard, the other a hunter — Tomas and Elric, their shoulders squared, hands never straying far from their weapons.
They were heading toward the clearing.
Toward the body Dren had found.
The air carried the faint, sour edge of decay long before the clearing came into view, slipping into the lungs like an unwelcome memory. It was subtle — just enough to confirm what they already knew.
