By the second encounter, curiosity had sharpened into unease. The wolf’s ribs showed more clearly now, and its muzzle was wet from the river but free of blood. It was starving. Yet it refused to leave. Whatever bound it there was stronger than hunger, and Adrian meant to uncover why.
The forest was quieter as he passed, as though the other creatures had learned to skirt the riverbank. Even birdsong fell short near the wolf. Adrian noticed the silence, the way sound seemed to falter around that patch of earth, as though nature itself held its breath.