“Stay put,” James urged. “I’ll be there as fast as I can, and we’ll figure this out together.” Tina hesitated, caught between waiting and moving forward. She decided to send him her live location, hoping he’d find her quickly. But as the minutes stretched on, the urgency inside her grew impossible to ignore. Something deeper was driving her—a force she couldn’t explain—pushing her to follow the wild wolves further into the unknown.
The forest grew thicker around them, and with it, Tina’s anxiety tightened like a knot. A creeping sense of being watched made her skin prickle, and every rustle from the shadows felt like a warning. Strange noises drifted from the distance, heightening her unease.
Just as she teetered on the edge of turning back, a sudden, loud noise shattered the heavy silence—sending a jolt through her whole body.
Tina’s phone buzzed with an incoming call, but the weak signal turned James’s voice into an unintelligible jumble. She caught fragments—something about coming back. Now she faced a choice: keep following the wolves deeper into the forest, or heed James’s warning and turn around.
Pushing through the thickening woods, the eerie whispers of the wind and the rustle of distant leaves seemed almost alive, as if the forest itself was watching her. Her name drifted on the breeze—twisted, unfamiliar—like a cryptic warning. Fear tightened its grip around her chest, and she hesitated, feeling the weight of unseen eyes tracking her every move.
Then the voice came again—her name, clear and urgent. The forest seemed to hold its breath. The sound sent a shiver down her spine, but as she turned toward it, relief washed over her. It was James.
The fear that had clouded her mind began to lift.
But the wolves, unfamiliar with James, acted on instinct and charged toward him. In a split second, Tina stepped in front of James, ready to shield him from the approaching pack.
Then, miraculously, the wolves stopped just short of them, freezing in place as if sensing something in Tina’s presence. The confrontation was narrowly avoided.
Tina’s quick intervention, along with the relief evident on her face, seemed to signal to the pack that James wasn’t a threat but a potential ally. Gradually, the wolves shifted their stance and slowly turned away, silently inviting Tina and James to follow.
The sudden rush from the wolves had left James stunned. He stumbled, falling to the ground, gasping for breath. Turning to Tina with wide eyes full of confusion and concern, he asked urgently, “What’s happening? What exactly are we following here?”