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“No. No, no, no.”

His throat—

I stopped looking. Couldn’t.

Looked anyway. Too clean.

Something red circled one front leg.

Faded. Frayed.

Twine. I touched it.

My fingers came away shaking.

He hadn’t fallen here. I knew that too.

His legs were wrong. Too straight. Placed.

His head was turned away from me.

Toward a narrow break between the trees. Pointing.

I looked where he was looking. Dark woods.

A way through. Something inside me tightened.

Max had been put here. Not left.

Put. For me.

My hand stayed buried in his fur.

The woods were silent.

Then, somewhere ahead—

Snap.

Running. Dark. My foot hit something hard and rolled. Pain shot up my ankle. I kept moving.

Branches. Breath. Trees.

Max.

No. Gone.

My lungs burned. My mouth was dry enough that swallowing hurt.

I ran. Something caught my shirt and tore.

I kept going.

Down. Across. Through.

My hands came up in front of my face when the branches got too thick.

One cut my palm.