CHAPTER 115

Liam POV

The shadows grew deeper and more intense, almost tangible, as we ventured beyond the relatively secure perimeter of the enclosure, creating the illusion that the forest was encroaching from all sides. A dense, stifling mass that was almost impossible to choke on stuck to the air with every breath.

"Is that tasteable to anyone else?" Reese rumbled from my side, his raspy rasp having a distinct edge. "Like a fetid and decayed substance that lingers on the tongue,"

Our little company of scouts murmured a somber, tightly grouped agreement at his comments. Now even the inexperienced could smell the sickening stink of hideous decay, which was woven into the air itself like a pervasive poison and became thicker with every step.

I felt my hackles progressively rise as the wolf snarled restlessly beneath me, its senses picking up on the ever increasing corruption that surrounded us. An overpowering, almost palpable sense of animosity made all of one's deepest instincts growl and make