The Bracken Woods witiko wind, skeleton trees

Within minutes, she located a winding deer trail. Her heart sped up slightly, yet when she lowered her smudged muzzle to brush it over the muddy ground, she detected no sign of ungulates—nothing fresh, anyway. Wildfire licked her chops, then raised her head again and squinted further along the path before beginning to walk along it. She supposed the forest had been thick and shady just a week or so ago, yet now it felt almost haunted. It was as if the wilderness had been plunged into a sudden winter, minus the cold. Still, she shivered, unsettled as she passed through the dead wood.

She heard the slightest of sounds—a footfall on soft earth, maybe, or fur whispering against a tree trunk—and froze. The hunter tipped her muzzle into the wind, trying to pinpoint the scent again. It was definitely getting stronger. The bare limbs overhead rocked and clicked in a slight breeze and suddenly Wildfire sensed that the wolf in question was perhaps a hundred yards further north along this very game trail.

But when she slowly ventured in that direction, she found... nothing. Wildfire paused and tipped her smudged snout upward once more. Strangely, the scent had begun to grow weaker. As she plodded forth and still came up empty-handed, she reflected on her earlier errant thought about the forest being haunted. She didn't really believe in that kind of thing, yet a slow shudder passed down her spine all the same. She searched for a few more minutes before giving up on the brackish woods altogether and heading back to Drageda.

I edited a conclusion onto this since @Souvik went inactive. :)