Chapter 2: The Ember Wolf

The cub was wolf-shaped, more or less, with embers where its eyes should have been and ash sifting from its fur when it shook.

The bond took root the way frost takes a window: slowly, then all at once. Shen Lie felt the spark inside the cub like a second heartbeat.

He named it Tan. The wilds named it something older, and the wilds turned out to be right.