CHAPTER 1 ā THE DOG NO ONE BELIEVED IN
The first scream came just after midnight.
It wasn't human.
It was the desperate cry of a newborn lamb echoing across the dark hills, followed by the chilling chorus of wolves.
Old farmer Thomas Carter bolted upright in bed.
For weeks, neighbors had been losing livestock. Sheep disappeared without a trace. Calves were found torn apart by dawn. Everyone knew a massive wolf pack had moved into the mountains after a brutal winter.
Tonight...
They had finally reached Carter Farm.
Thomas grabbed his flashlight and old hunting rifle, but before he could reach the door, another sound shook the entire property.
A thunderous bark.
One bark.
Deep enough to rattle the windows.
It belonged to Ranger.
A huge Great Pyrenees that everyone laughed at when Thomas adopted him from a rescue shelter two years earlier.
"Heās too old."
"Too gentle."
"He'll never protect anything."
Some even called Ranger a useless oversized pet.
They were all wrong.
Outside, twenty terrified sheep crowded together near the wooden fence.
Across the field...
Six pairs of glowing yellow eyes slowly emerged from the darkness.
The wolves had surrounded the flock.
The largest alpha stepped forward.
Its scarred face and enormous body made it look more like a monster than an animal.
Even Thomas froze.
There were too many.
No single dog could stop them.
But Ranger didn't move backward.
He slowly walked between the wolves and every frightened animal behind him.
His thick white fur glowed beneath the moonlight.
His ears flattened.
His breathing slowed.
He wasn't afraid.
He was waiting.
The alpha wolf growled.
Ranger answered with a roar-like bark so powerful that birds exploded from nearby trees.
For several long seconds...
Nobody moved.
Then the alpha charged.
Everything erupted into chaos.
Dust flew into the night.
The sheep scattered in panic.
Thomas raised his rifleābut couldn't shoot.
Ranger was already fighting in the middle of the pack.
One wolf lunged.
Ranger slammed it into the ground.
Another attacked from behind.
His massive body twisted with unbelievable speed.
Blood stained the grass.
Growls echoed through the valley.
Thomas had never seen anything like it.
But then...
Out of the darkness...
More glowing eyes appeared.
Not six.
Not eight.
Nearly fifteen wolves were now closing in.
And for the first time...
Even Ranger slowly began backing toward the barn.
Not because he wanted to retreat.
Because something far more important was hiding inside.
Thomas suddenly remembered.
His granddaughter Emily was asleep in the hay loft.
The wolves weren't hunting sheep anymore.
They were hunting...
May you like
Her.
End of Chapter 1ā¦
