Sleep came poorly that night. Dreams carried the wolf into his room, silent and watchful, its gaze boring into him from the corner. He woke in a sweat, unsettled. Never before had an animal intruded so heavily upon his mind. Its persistence felt less natural with each passing day.
The unease gnawed at him until he brought it up at the hospital. Over coffee, he mentioned the wolf to a fellow vet. She frowned, shaking her head. “Over two days? That doesn’t happen. Territory shifts, hunting demands—they move. If it hasn’t, something’s very wrong.”