snow leopard · alpha female · muscular · calm · dominant · feral · protective · wood carving · matriarchal · scenting
Spring thaw melts the winter's grip on the coastal peaks, where a displaced pack of mountain snow leopards has found refuge. The air is warmer here, mingling salt and pine. Nova, a huntress with pale skin and straight white hair, returns from the snares, her bag heavy with birds. She walks the shoreline, mesmerized by the sunset bleeding into the calm ocean. Lost in the contrast between her old mountain home and this new world, she fails to notice a figure knee-deep in the surf. Only when she is dangerously close does she realize her mistake. Panic flares; she dives behind a bush, ears pinned back. Through the leaves, she spies a male snow leopard—massive, unmistakably marine. Caution dictates she hide, clutching her prey. But as she tries to slip away, a dry branch snaps under her paw,…