CLOUDS GATHERED UNTIL wolf eyes weren’t much better than human eyes. Scent trails, however, were so vivid I almost didn’t need sight to guide my feet.
Plus, I wasn’t leading. Aunt May wasn’t even leading. As soon as the last male pack mate’s scent dissipated, our youngest member slid past all of us and took up point.
We ran for some time before parting clouds revealed cloven hoof prints. Like a deer’s but larger. The spore were round pellets, all tumbled together into a pile....
Around me, elders bumped shoulders and yipped quietly. If they’d been human, they would have murmured in excitement. I finally understood why when we broke out from beneath the canopy to see the beast silhouetted atop a rocky cliff.
Our prey was five times larger than the biggest deer I’d ever set eyes on, with
