He took one step forward.
And I saw it.
Not the blood on his chest.
Not the red dripping from his muzzle.
His flank.
The fur there was darker in a way that didn’t match the others. Thicker. Heavier. And when he shifted his weight slightly, I saw it, a tremor in his hind leg that did not belong to a creature built like that.
“You’re bleeding,” I said before I could stop myself.
My voice didn’t come out horrified.
It came out angry.
Drake’s ears flicked back slightly, and for the first time since I had stepped into the clearing I saw something other than violence in his expression.
Confusion.
As if he hadn’t noticed.
As if the fact that his own blood was spilling into the leaves had simply not registered as important.
I moved before thinking.
Boots sinking into damp earth, the
