I enter the cabin fully alert, body loose but ready, the way Marcus drilled into me until it stopped feeling like a stance and started feeling like a state of being. My hand closes the door behind me without sound. I do not announce myself. I do not call out. Sound is an invitation, and tonight I am not offering one.
I stand still for three breaths.
The room holds. Wood creaks as it always does when the temperature shifts. The faint hum of the fridge in the corner. Nothing new. Nothing loud. My wolf lifts her head inside me, attentive, ears forward, not tense. Curious.
I start my scan.
First pass is wide and fast. Corners. Windows. The narrow hallway that leads to the bedroom. The line of sight to the back door. Nothing overt. No shadows where there should not be shadows. No broken lin
