Raya was so lost in her thoughts, tangled in the web of Zola’s dangerous proposition, that she almost didn’t notice when Kaius’s wolf came to a sudden halt in front of her, his entire form shifting into an alert stance, his muscles tense, ears pointed forward, tail stiff.
It took her a second to register that something was wrong, and when she did, she immediately copied his posture, her senses going on high alert. She quickly scanned their surroundings, ears twitching, nostrils flaring as she tried to pick up whatever had caught his attention.
At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary—just the endless stretch of damp forest, the lingering scent of rain mixed with pine and earth, the distant rustling of small animals moving in the underbrush, but then, a new scent drifted toward her,
