The forest was quiet in a way that made Kael uneasy.Not peaceful but watchful.

  He crouched low, fingers tight around the spear, breath slow and measured. Beside him, the pup moved differently than before. No longer limping. No longer clinging. Its steps were light, ears flicking at every sound, nose low to the ground.

  Good, Kael thought. That’s good.

  A rabbit darted between roots ahead.

  The pup froze instantly.

  Kael felt a spark of pride he hadn’t expected.

  Slowly, he raised his hand not to stop the pup, but to steady himself. He remembered the wolf. The blood. The way his body had moved without permission. He didn’t want that again. Not unless he had to.

  The rabbit bolted.

  The pup lunged.

  Too fast.Too reckless.

  The rabbit zigzagged through brush, nearly gone but the pup adjusted, cutting wide instead of straight. Kael moved only when he had to, keeping his distance, letting the forest swallow his footsteps.

  A sharp yelp.

  Then silence.

  Kael reached them moments later.

  The pup stood over the rabbit, chest heaving, teeth sunk deep. It looked up at Kael tail stiff, eyes bright waiting.

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  Kael swallowed.

  “You did it,” he said quietly.

  The words felt strange in his mouth. Praise. Trust.

  He knelt, steadying the rabbit with one hand and ending it quickly with the stone knife. Clean. As clean as he could make it.

  The pup didn’t look away.

  That worried him.And relieved him.

  They carried the rabbit back together Kael holding most of the weight, the pup stubbornly gripping a leg, refusing to let go of its victory.

  Back at the tower, Kael worked slowly. Careful. He skinned the rabbit, hands awkward but improving. The pup watched from a short distance, alert but calm.

  Kael noticed something then.

  The fireflies hadn’t come yet.

  The sun was still high.

  He cooked the meat lightly over the fire enough to be safe, not enough to waste. He gave the pup the first piece.

  It took it gently.

  Kael let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

  After eating, he turned his attention to the wolf carcass hanging near the tower. The smell had begun to change. Not rotten yet but close.

  Winter might come, he thought. Or it might not. Either way, wasting this would be stupid.

  He worked through the afternoon, struggling with the thick hide. It fought him at every cut. His arms burned. His hands cramped. More than once he had to stop and breathe through frustration.

  “I’m not quitting,” he muttered, mostly to himself.

  By the time the sun dipped lower, he had salvaged more fur than he expected. Uneven. Ugly. But usable.

  The pup padded over and curled beside him, head resting against Kael’s leg.

  Kael rested a hand on its back.

  Warm.Alive.

  That mattered.

  As evening came, Kael stared at the fire for a long time. Smoke curled upward, thin and steady.

  Too steady.

  He frowned.

  Smoke could be seen from far away.

  The thought settled in his mind like a stone but he didn’t act on it yet. He wasn’t ready to borrow fear from tomorrow.

  That night, as they lay together in the tower, Kael realized something else.

  He wasn’t alone anymore.

  And that made survival easier

  and far more dangerous.