CHAPTER 1 – The Wind on The Ridge
The sun was sliding down behind the pine hills, bleeding orange light across the valley. The air smelled of cold stone, wet leaves, and far thunder. Sulak stood on the highest ridge, his dark fur catching the last burn of daylight. This ridge was his place. His fortress. The place he always used to bring Lisa.
He remembered how her pawprints used to match his step-for-step. He remembered her eyes always following his, trusting him without words.
But today, Lisa wasn’t looking up.
She was below, down in the valley clearing… and she was pressed close against another wolf.
Isakk.
Silver fur, perfect polished face, the wolf who loved attention more than loyalty. The wolf who always wanted eyes on him, tails wagging for him. He never hunted for others. He hunted only to show off.
Sulak watched them from above. He didn’t move. He looked like carved stone.
Then another wolf approached him—light beige fur, eyes calm like forest water. Iccy. His younger sister. The wolf who always understood him without asking.
“You’re watching them again,” she said.
Sulak didn’t answer. He just kept staring. His heart wasn’t loud. It was quiet. Quiet pain hurts worst.
“She doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Iccy said softly. “Isakk shines in summer. But winter is coming.”
Sulak’s voice was almost a whisper:
“She didn’t choose strength. She chose style.”
Below, Lisa laughed at something Isakk said. Sulak’s ear twitched. Not jealousy—disgust. Because he knew exactly what Isakk was doing.
Isakk wasn’t interested in Lisa.
Isakk was interested in beating Sulak.
Isakk knew Sulak respected Lisa. That’s why he targeted her.
“You could fight him,” Iccy said. “You can beat him easily.”
Sulak shook his head. “If I fight for her like a toy… I lose dignity. If she wants me, she would stand by me. If she wants him…” he swallowed his bitterness, “…then she was never mine.”
Iccy lowered her head. “You deserve better than to be tested like this.”
And then—Isakk turned.
He spotted Sulak’s silhouette on the ridge.
He smiled. Not friendly smile. Predator smile. Smile made to stab.
Then… Lisa also looked up.
She saw Sulak.
For a moment.
Their eyes were like two arrows crossing.
Sulak waited for her to look shocked. Guilty. Embarrassed.
But Lisa looked away first.
That broke more than bones.
That broke trust.
Sulak stepped back.
Iccy spoke gently: “You still love her.”
“That is the problem,” Sulak replied.
Then footsteps behind them.
Isakk had circled quiet through the rocks and reached the ridge.
He stood behind Sulak, like a shadow snake.
Lisa followed behind Isakk, but slower, unsure, her tail low.
Isakk smiled with poison. “You stand high on ridge, Sulak. But mountain is useless if no one climbs it.”
Sulak faced him calmly. “Speak your intention.”
Isakk tilted his head. “Simple. If you want Lisa, claim her. Say she is yours.”
Lisa’s heart jumped. She looked at Sulak, waiting.
Sulak looked at Lisa, voice low:
“I never stopped wanting you.”
Her eyes softened. One second. Just one. There was still a bond.
But Isakk leaned close to Sulak’s ear and whispered:
“Then why was I able to take her away?”
A cut deeper than fang.
Before Sulak could respond, Lisa’s eyes moved to Iccy. She saw Iccy standing close to Sulak. Supportive. Loyal.
Lisa misread everything.
Her face changed.
“You have her already,” Lisa snapped bitterly. “You pretend to miss me while you spend nights with Iccy?”
Sulak’s eyes widened instantly. “Iccy is my—”
Lisa didn’t let him finish. She turned, tail stiff, and stormed off down the slope.
Isakk followed her with a grin. But something flickered in his eyes—a tiny fear. Because Sulak didn’t react in rage. Sulak reacted with pain. And a wolf who carries pain silently… is the most dangerous type.
Iccy touched Sulak’s shoulder gently.
“Lisa is blind right now,” she whispered. “Truth will hit later. And when winter arrives, truth always arrives with it.”
Sulak looked down at the valley again.
His voice was low, steady, cold like sharpened ice:
“I didn’t lose my mate to a stronger wolf.
I lost her to her own foolishness.”
The thunder finally broke in the distance.
Sulak didn’t move from the ridge.
He simply said:
“when winter comes… masks fall.”
The first cold wind of the season blew across their fur.
It was the beginning.
To be continued
