PAULINE POV
I’d lost track of time, and if I didn’t pick up the pace, I wasn’t going to make it back to the car before the sun dipped below the horizon.
Great. Just what I needed. To be that girl. You know the one—shows up on the local news with the headline “i***t Hiker Rescued After Attempting to Befriend Wolves.” Bonus points if I get frostbite and lose a toe.
I quickened my pace, boots crunching against the icy trail. Mew, my judgmental Husky with the emotional depth of a scorned Roman empress, shot me a look that said Finally. She trotted ahead, tail swaying, nose twitching like she could smell my poor life choices.
But what unsettled me most?
The two... dogs? Wolves? Direwolf-sized beasts that had been following us.
Not chasing. Not threatening. Just... there. Big, silent, and
