Chapter 17 ☾ Wild animal

Opal POV My nose twitches while my stomach twists with a wrench of pain. I'm starving. The instincts running through my veins are screaming at me to stalk. To find. To kill. I put one paw in front of another, following a scent of something with a heart and blood and meat. The snow blows this way and that way, just another distraction from my real mission. It pulls the scent all over me, washing me with its pungent, delicious odor. There are no thoughts in my empty skull expcept for the thoughts of a wild animal. I can feel myself slipping away as someone else entirely takes control. Maybe this new me is good. Maybe this is where I'm meant to be. I quicken my steps, panting as my body feels heavier than normal despite how thin I've become. Food is scarce, and it's a fight to survive. My ears perk when the sound of wood cracking reverberates through the trees. It's a new noise, something to break the silence. M