CHAPTER 2: THE WOLF'S DEBT
The pack remained beside Walter throughout the night.
Whenever distant predators approached, the wolves growled and chased them away.
The old man drifted in and out of sleep.
By morning, he expected to be dead.
Instead, he woke to a miracle.
Fresh water.
A small puddle sat near his hand.
The wolves had repeatedly carried wet moss from a nearby stream, dropping it beside him during the night.
Walter stared in disbelief.
Tears filled his eyes.
Days passed.
The wolves never left.
Some brought berries.
Others frightened away wild boars and scavengers.
The pack leader remained closest to him.
Watching.
Guarding.
Waiting.
Back in the village, Martha told everyone a lie.
She claimed Walter had wandered into the forest and disappeared.
Most people believed her.
But not everyone.
A young hunter named Ethan became suspicious.
Walter had been unable to walk for years.
How could he possibly wander away?
Determined to find answers, Ethan searched the forest.
Three days later, he discovered something unbelievable.
An old man lying beneath an oak tree.
Surrounded by wolves.
Yet completely unharmed.
Ethan expected the animals to attack.
Instead, the pack calmly stepped aside.
Almost as if they wanted him to help.
He rushed Walter back to the village.
The entire town was stunned.
When Walter finally recovered enough to communicate through writing, he revealed the truth.
Martha had abandoned him.
The news spread like wildfire.
People were horrified.
Neighbors who once sympathized with Martha now looked at her differently.
She became the subject of every conversation.
Every whisper.
Every judgment.
Yet her punishment was only beginning.
Because Walter remembered something no one else knew.
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A secret he had kept for decades.
A secret worth far more than anyone could imagine.
