Chapter 44

• Author's POV
• Daytime bathed the forest clearing in golden light, filtering through the canopy above and casting dappled shadows over the soft, leaf-covered ground. A fresh kill—a hefty deer—lay on a flat rock, its rich crimson blood staining the earth beneath. The air was thick with the metallic scent of it, mixed with the earthy tang of moss and pine.
• Shirin, his hazel-green eyes glinting mischievously, leaned against a nearby tree, twirling a knife between his fingers as his brothers worked on butchering the deer.