Chapter 98

*Kaelen*

We were two days past the riverline when Valerius said we were being followed.

I had felt it too—a pressure on the back of my neck, a pattern in the silence. The birds stopped singing every time we crossed into a new clearing. The air grew heavier, like it had lungs of its own and was holding its breath. Wolves moved differently when they hunted in shadow. It wasn’t loud. It was intention