Noctisardor Bypass stone craft

AW but tagging @Dione

uktark moved along the rim of the bypass like a shadow stitched to the stone—silent, unbreaking, carved from the same cold that shaped the ridges themselves. frost clung to his whiskers, breath steaming in slow, controlled bursts as he swept the perimeter with the precision of a wolf who trusted nothing unless he had tested it himself.
every drift, every windcarved hollow, every faint thread of scent was marked and memorized. he paced the choke points where predators could slip through, the narrow spine where snow thinned, the low place where scent pooled heavy. claws clicked against ice-slick rock; ears turned to every whisper of wind.
uktark did not rest.
not while there was territory to secure, not while moondancer and the boy slept below, while his first fang and wife rested, not while winter sharpened its teeth.
always working.
always watching.
a guardian tracing the borders of the life he was building—one cold track at a time.