21.

At the eastern border, Natalia abruptly halted in her steps, her nose twitching as she caught a faint but familiar smell in the air. She turned her head, scanning the horizon for any sign of movement, but there was nothing but trees. Her partner, Lena, who was walking beside her, noticed her sudden change of expression and asked, "What is it? What do you smell?"

Natalia didn't answer. She felt a surge of adrenaline and fear in her veins. She recognized the smell of chloroform, a dangerous drug that only meant trouble. She also detected three other scents that she didn't know, nothing good would come out of anything involved with that. The smell led towards the southern border of their pack's territory, where the land was barren and desolate.

Without a word, Natalia shifted into her wolf form, a sleek grey creature with amber eyes, and sprinted towards the source of the scent, leaving Lena behind along with her clothes. She had to find out what's going on before it's too late.

Lena was