Chapter 6 Cold Trails

The city smelled of burnt bread and oil that morning. Rain crouched near the corner of a newspaper stall, pretending to tie her shoelace, though the soles had long worn out. Her eyes followed a man selling roasted nuts across the street, his stand steaming in the chill air. Her stomach growled, but she didn't move. Not yet.

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a girl walking beside her father-laughing, wrapped in a thick coat. Rain turned away.

She didn't remember her own father. The memories she had were like scattered feathers in the wind, drifting too far to catch. All she remembered was the cold. And hunger.

The roasted nut vendor stepped away, and she made her move. Quick steps. Careful hands. Just enough for a small handful-

"Oi!"

She froze. The vendor turned. Their eyes locked.

Rain bolted.

She ran through the narrow walkways, past honking cars and voices shouting behind her. She didn't stop until her chest burned, and her breath came in short, ragged gasps. She ducked into an alley, pressed her back to the wall, and waited. No footsteps. No pursuit. Her heart thudded like a war drum in her ears.

She opened her palm. Three nuts. That was it.

She chewed slowly. Letting the warmth sit on her tongue before swallowing. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Far away, somewhere deep within the mountains cloaked in shadow, a gathering was taking place beneath the moon.

A chamber carved of stone and silence.

The wolves sat in a circle, eyes sharp, postures stiff. The council had not convened like this in decades.

"The trail has gone cold," growled an elder, a male with a coat as silver as winter frost. "Mister and Missus Austin vanished without a trace."

Another leaned forward, her voice cold and cutting. "They knew how to hide. But no one disappears without leaving a scent."

A deep-chested wolf stood, younger, his golden eyes flickering. "Permission to take a search unit into Sector Nine. It's the last place their scent was traced."

The Alpha, seated above the rest, nodded once. "Form a team. Move at night. Do not alert the humans."

"As you wish," said the younger wolf, bowing slightly.

"And find out why they vanished," the Alpha added. "We need answers."

The council dissolved into murmurs as the pack moved like shadows into the dark woods.

Back in the city, Rain wandered toward the underpass where she sometimes slept. A man had once left a tarp there, and if she curled just right, she stayed mostly dry. She was halfway there when she felt it.

Eyes.

She turned quickly. No one.

But the feeling stayed. Like invisible threads pulling on her skin.

She walked faster.

A black car passed slowly at the end of the road. Its windows were tinted. She paused, waiting for it to move. It did. But her heartbeat didn't slow.

Later that night, a shadow leaned against a lamppost a block away from her alley. Watching. Waiting.

She was still just a child. But something was beginning to stir in the dark.

The wolf's has made a move.