Emberwood ﹌ Txumtsyìp

his frown deepened—not at her, but at the nothing she confirmed.
no People. just river-dwellers, strangers. not theirs.
tey’gan moved with a quietness unnatural for a wolf his size, slipping through the underbrush like current over stone. he didn’t speak at first. just watched her work. the way she covered the kill. the way she didn’t look at him.
close, he said. hunting..
then, finally, he looked at her.
he says likes you.
he cracked a smile.
you smell like bone, he added suddenly. not cruel, not soft. just truth. but you bury what you take.
a pause.
why?