The pain was becoming unbearable for me. It was like something was crawling under my skin, trying to break out, yet at the same time, something was pressing down on my chest so heavy that I couldn’t breathe. My paws trembled slightly on the cold ground of the cave. Limene shifted inside me, restless, her fur bristling, her instincts sharper than mine.

I felt it again—that strange presence. I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t smell it properly, but I could feel it. Like eyes that refused to ...