= Mikael =
The rogue didn’t notice us at first. He was too consumed by his own desperate flight, paws pounding against the uneven earth, muscles coiled for escape. Every instinct screamed to outrun, to vanish into the forest, but his panic made him sloppy, predictable.
But when he burst through a thick wall of thicket and found a delta of open clearing blocking his path, he skidded hard, claws scraping dirt and loose stones in a spray behind him. The sound echoed like a warning, sharp and loud in the quiet forest.
Another delta emerged from the left, a shadow in the trees, deliberate and patient. Then I appeared from the right, circling with measured steps, feeling the rhythm of the chase in my bones. The air was thick with tension, the scent of earth and blood and adrenaline pressing i
