It took another half a second before Sophia’s conscious brain caught up and recognized it as the faint scent of animal scat. Although Wolfgirl couldn’t make out anything on the forest floor in the dim light, she traced it to a pile of pine needles. Getting to her hands and knees, she sniffed at it even as melted snow soaked into the knees of her jeans. 

It was definitely scat and… that was about all she could tell. After a few more sniffs, she gave up detecting anything useful from it in frustration. Her sense of smell was just too human. 

So cold… Sophia stumbled over an unseen root, barely keeping her balance. 
After a few dozen yards, Shadow stopped in front of a bulge in the hill and whined softly. There, a large pine tree had fallen, excavating a large hole in the side of the hill with its roots. Shadow nudged her leg tenderly, and Sophia dropped to all fours and crawled into the small cave. Lying down on the hard ground, she struggled to get her backpack off before curling up into a ball. 
What little light there was in the cave disappeared as Shadow clambered in after her. Wiggling forward, he shifted his back until it was pressed up against her. Grateful, Sophia uncurled as much as she could and embraced his warm body. After several long minutes, feeling started to return to her legs, and her violent shivering subsided. 
“Thank you,” Sophia whispered.