Paws hit the ground once he and Grady shifted, and soon they were pulling the sleigh. We were off at about the same pace as last time, even with two wolves, since we had more weight. Grady didn't appear to be limping in his wolf state, but over the racket we made, I couldn't be sure.
The air tasted wetter, heavier, like the sky could barely contain the white-out it would unleash on everyone in just a few hours when winter was officially here. If there was ever a time I hoped winter didn't come any earlier, it was right now. Our success tonight to start a raging fire depended wholly on if winter held off like it was supposed to. I had no reason to doubt that it would come when it always came, but my luck lately had been epically shitty.
My ears burned for any sounds of distress from Sasha behind me in her box, and I was certain Archer and Grady were too. But she stayed quiet, hopefully enjoying an innocent adventure. Me? Not so much. I was shivering cold by the time we stopped.