A deep rumble vibrated through the frozen earth, so low that Daniel thought he had imagined it at first. Then, he saw the way the wolves’ ears pricked, bodies tensing—their gaze not at him, but at something beyond the trees.
Daniel felt the snow between his boots shift. his stomach twisted. It wasn’t the wind. It wasn’t his own exhaustion playing tricks on him. The ground was unstable. A warning cry from one of the wolves snapped through the air—just as the first crack echoed through the mountains.