A Retired Navy SEAL Hid from the World — Until Three Lost Dogs Pulled Him Back to Life…

Chapter 2

By morning, the storm had loosened its grip, leaving the forest buried under a clean white silence. Elias woke in the chair beside the stove with a stiff neck, one hand resting near the blanket where Sage slept. The fire had burned low, but the cabin no longer felt empty enough to echo.

Kodi was already awake. He lay near the front door with his head lifted, ears angled toward the porch, eyes following every soft shift of wind against the wood. When Elias stood, the big shepherd rose too, stretching once before moving to the window as if checking whether the night had left anything behind. He did not ask for food right away. He checked the room first.

Sage lifted her head from the blanket when Elias crouched beside her. The bandage around her hip had held through the night, though the fur near it still clumped where snowmelt had dried. Elias warmed a little water, cleaned the edge of the dressing, and worked slowly enough that she stopped bracing before his hand touched her.

Dash woke halfway through the process and entered the morning like a dropped sack of laundry. He rolled off the edge of the blanket, blinked at the stove, then charged toward Elias with more confidence than balance. His paws slipped on the floorboards, and he bumped nose-first into Elias’s boot before sitting down with great dignity, as if that had been the plan all along.