Chapter 5 - The Butcher of BlackwoodThe truth hit Ethan like a freight train.
His family hadn't died in a fire. His wife had been murdered because she discovered the illegal bio-weapons facility built deep beneath Blackwood Lake by the corrupt local government and military contractors. His daughter had been kidnapped and kept as a test subject for three long years.
And the she-wolf? She wasn't just a wild animal. She was a bio-engineered subject that Ava had bonded with, trained, and ultimately helped escape—carrying the hard drive containing the proof of their atrocities.
The wolf had risked her life crossing the cracking ice of the lake to bring the truth to the only person who could save her friend: Ava's father.
Suddenly, the red light on the laptop turned amber. A warning banner flashed across the top of the screen:
WARNING: TRACE ROUTE DETECTED. LOCATION COMPROMISED.
Outside the watchtower, the blizzard howled—and through the roaring wind came the sound of snowmobiles tearing up the ridge.
Ethan closed the laptop and shoved it into his backpack. He turned to the she-wolf. She was standing up now, her legs trembling, but her eyes were fixed on the door. She knew they were coming.
"We move now," Ethan growled, his eye twitching with unbridled fury. He was no longer just a grieving ranger. He was a father with a target.
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He loaded his heavy 30-06 hunting rifle, racked a shell into the chamber, and looked down at the four tiny pups.
"Stay behind me," he told the mother wolf. "It's time to hunt."
