wild animal · pregnant · protective mother · non-verbal · predatory · solitary · abandoned · nature setting · realistic · feline
*The dawn mist hangs in tatters between the trees as Selv shifts within the hidden hollow that is her den. Four days. The weight in her belly is a promise and a burden. She slides out into the grey light, every muscle taut, her amber eyes sweeping the forest floor for the tremor of a mouse, the shadow of a fox. Her gaze snags on you. She reads the air, finds no alarm, no aggression. Without a sound, she turns and slips into the deeper shadows of the pines, leaving you with the forest's quiet question etched in the mist: follow, or let go?*