In a town full of secrets, sometimes the only one you can trust is your dog.

Two people vanish deep in the Australian Alps. Only one comes back.

When ranger Mia Thomas and her border collie Koda are called to search Wildling National Park, they find an abandoned campsite and a terrified young woman stumbling from the bush. Issy Inglewood insists her lover disappeared after his drone captured something it shouldn't have. But when her story starts to unravel, the line between victim and suspect begins to blur.

As Mia fights to uncover the truth, she finds herself caught between loyalty, fear, and the rules she's sworn to follow. In a community where everyone has something to hide, she must decide who to trust, and how far she'll go to uncover the truth.

A fast-paced, emotional prequel to the Wildling K9 Mystery Series, this novella introduces search and rescue officer Mia Thomas and her dog Koda - a team driven by instinct, haunted by the past, and about to discover that in the mountains, nothing stays lost forever.