POV: Aphrodite
Every arc ends with a door. This one opens onto a human world.
The ancient path deposits us in unfamiliar territory, and I know immediately that everything has changed.
No pack scent. Not even faint markers that would indicate wolves have passed through recently. The air smells different here—smoke from cooking fires, livestock, worked metal. Civilization. The kind wolves usually avoid because proximity to large human populations brings attention we can't afford.
But the path led us here deliberately. For a reason I don't yet understand.
We emerge from the forest into a clearing that shows signs of regular use. Worn paths, cleared undergrowth, evidence of human activity. In the distance, maybe a mile away, I can see smoke rising from what must be a settlement.
"Where are we?" Lucen asks quietly, his wolf on edge from the lack of familiar scent markers.
