5/4/2025, 3:05 AM
the wind carried her scent faint on its back—salted, light, softened by time and distance.
cole paused, nostrils flaring as he stood over the downed fawn, its neck already broken, blood warm at his paws. he’d dragged it from the grove in his teeth, leaving a dark trail behind him, streaked through brittle grass and low stone. the sun hung low in the sky, burnt orange and fading—too low for how long she'd been gone.
his heart thudded against bone.
he sniffed again. nothing close. just the whisper of her, lingering.
his eyes narrowed. jaw tightened. he shifted the weight of the fawn across broad shoulders, blood soaking into the thick fur of his nape. the pain in his joints sang a low, familiar song, but he bore it without thought. one paw after the other. through the reeds. down toward the old trail by the creek bed, where she'd sometimes gone when she needed quiet.
he was not afraid yet.
but he would be. if her scent faded much further.
he adjusted the kill across his back and kept going.
cole paused, nostrils flaring as he stood over the downed fawn, its neck already broken, blood warm at his paws. he’d dragged it from the grove in his teeth, leaving a dark trail behind him, streaked through brittle grass and low stone. the sun hung low in the sky, burnt orange and fading—too low for how long she'd been gone.
his heart thudded against bone.
he sniffed again. nothing close. just the whisper of her, lingering.
his eyes narrowed. jaw tightened. he shifted the weight of the fawn across broad shoulders, blood soaking into the thick fur of his nape. the pain in his joints sang a low, familiar song, but he bore it without thought. one paw after the other. through the reeds. down toward the old trail by the creek bed, where she'd sometimes gone when she needed quiet.
winnie,he muttered under his breath, not quite a call.
he was not afraid yet.
but he would be. if her scent faded much further.
he adjusted the kill across his back and kept going.