Shadow of the White Wolf 3D Render, Digital Artwork by Eswe

! REPORT

Shadow of the White Wolf

3D Render by Eswe

Her feet had long since become nothing more than numb, icy appendages, heavy as lead and yet devoid of all feeling. All through the night she had fled—Ayame, who had dreamed for so long of escaping the chains of her prison. In the final darkness, the chance had finally revealed itself, and she had seized it, clad in nothing but a thin kimono and a heart burning for freedom.

The snow-covered wilderness of the forest swallowed her as the freezing wind cut across her skin like a thousand blades. Each breath was sharp and bitter as ice, each step a battle against exhaustion. Yet a will as unyielding as the roots of the ancient trees around her carried her onward—the will to survive, no matter the cost.

And then there was the wolf.

For hours she had known he was following her. Not like an ordinary hunter, not like a beast chasing prey. No—he was something different. Ayame had not heard his approach but felt it: a tingling deep within her soul, as though unseen eyes were watching her every step.

In the fragile light of dawn, as the first shimmer of the sun gilded the snow-laden crowns of the trees, she dared a glance back. There he stood—a mighty white wolf, so beautiful he seemed to belong to another world. His coat glowed like moonlight on fresh snow, his eyes shone with the brilliance of ancient stars.

He kept his distance, always the same, as though he were not following her body but her destiny. He could have overtaken her effortlessly, yet he did not. Instead, he strode on through the snow with unwavering grace—majestic, untouchable—like neither hunter nor guardian, but a messenger of a power older than the forest itself.

Ayame did not know whether she should fear him or entrust herself to him. Yet in the still, crystalline air of morning, she felt it: the white wolf had come to test her.