CHAPTER 2 – The First Snow
Night fell heavy.
Forest turned black, and the moon hid behind thick grey clouds like it was refusing to shine light on ugly truths.
Sulak returned to the den area slowly.
He didn’t tremble. Didn’t rage. He just walked in silence like every step was a weight.
He did not want to think about Lisa’s expression.
He never thought she would think him unfaithful.
Iccy stayed a few steps behind, watching him like a guardian shadow. She didn’t speak. She knew when silence is needed more than words.
---
Meanwhile…
Lisa paced in a clearing with breath shaking from anger.
She couldn’t stop seeing Iccy near Sulak.
Every second that image grew in her mind:
Iccy helping Sulak, Iccy talking quietly to him, Iccy always near him.
Lisa muttered:
“Maybe I wasn’t special. Maybe he always had someone better waiting.”
Isakk watched her from a rock, eyes flickering with satisfaction.
“You don’t need Sulak,” he said smooth like snake oil. “He is old tree. Strong… but boring. You want fire. Heat. Excitement.”
Lisa’s ears lowered.
“I don’t know what I want.”
Isakk leaned closer, voice like velvet poison:
“You want someone who chooses you. Not someone you have to chase.”
Lisa swallowed.
Her pride told her Isakk was right.
Her heart told her he was wrong.
But pride is louder in youth.
She nodded weakly.
Isakk smiled. Another victory. Not love. Victory.
Because his real target… was always destroying Sulak’s dignity.
---
Back with Sulak
At night, only two wolves stood guard on perimeter — Sulak and Iccy. Others slept.
Snowflakes began to fall. First winter flake landed on Iccy’s nose.
“Winter started,” she whispered.
Sulak did not respond. He looked into white sky.
Iccy then said quietly:
“You could clear this with Lisa by one sentence.”
Sulak closed his eyes.
“I could. But the fact she thinks I need to explain… means she already lost trust in me.”
Iccy blinked slowly. Sulak’s pain was not explosive; it was heavy, patient, and deep.
“That’s why,” she said, “Lisa will regret. Because she didn’t betray just your love—she betrayed your character.”
Sulak finally looked back into forest.
In his silence, a single truth came out:
“Soul loyalty is heavier than pretty face.”
Iccy stepped a bit closer, respectful distance.
“Then what now?”
Sulak breathed out white mist.
“I will not fight for Lisa. I will not beg. I will not explain.”
Iccy understood. “You will let truth eat her from inside.”
“Yes,” Sulak said. “Time is the coldest punishment.”
---
Days Pass…
Routines changed.
Lisa and Isakk became a “pair” publicly. They were rarely productive in hunts. They mainly played around, flirted, chased each other.
Forest started starving. Food became hard to find.
Sulak hunted quietly and brought meat back to pack silently. He didn’t brag.
Every pup, every elderly wolf got his meat.
He gave, gave, gave.
Others began to notice.
Lisa saw from corner of eye:
Sulak sharing meat with a weak elder female.
Sulak carrying two deer legs alone without help.
Sulak helping pups learn to stalk silently.
And Isakk?
He brought nothing.
Only empty promises and empty charm.
Lisa’s breath became heavier.
Her chest hurt in the way regret hurts.
She looked at Iccy one morning, watching Sulak bring food.
“I underestimated him,” Lisa whispered to herself.
And Iccy, who overheard, replied quietly:
“You didn’t underestimate him. You forgot who he already was.”
Lisa’s body stiffened.
Regret was starting.
Real regret.
---
That night, Lisa dreamed of the ridge.
Not the moment she saw Isakk.
The old memory—when Sulak first brought her there. When she felt safe simply because he was near.
She woke up with tremor.
Her tail curled around herself.
She whispered:
“…he was gold. And I traded him for glitter.”
Outside, snow piled deeper.
Winter had begun.
And winter always reveals truth.
