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The ink on the adoption papers was barely dry in the secret biometric vault fifty floors above the city, but the target was already painted. Vincent Crowe—the Wolf—did not know that his deepest vulnerability had just been digitized, sold, and weaponized before the boy, Leo, even woke up in the master suite. / Chapter 7 / 20

Chapter 7 - The Safehouse in the MountainsFour hundred miles away, nestled deep within the jagged, snow-capped peaks of the Cascade Mountains, stood the Obsidian Lodge—a fortress carved directly into ancient granite rock, completely off the grid.

Leo pressed his face against the reinforced glass of the helicopter window, watching the endless sea of white pines below.

"Is this where the bad men live, Dad?" Leo asked, holding a worn-out stuffed bear Vincent had bought him at a gas station stop.

"No, son," Vincent said softly, wrapping a heavy woolen blanket around the boy’s shoulders. "This is where the bad men come to die if they ever find us."

Inside the lodge, blazing fires roared in massive stone hearths, casting dancing orange shadows across timber walls lined with antique weapons and leather-bound books. For the first time in a week, Leo smiled, chasing a golden retriever mix that belonged to the lodge keeper across the thick Persian rugs.

Vincent sat at a massive oak desk, examining a satellite uplink terminal. Julian patched through via encrypted video link.

"Boss, Vance has gone underground. But our corporate intelligence picked up something worse. Vance isn't working alone. He's being funded by the Vanguard Syndicate—the European cartel we crushed five years ago."

Vincent’s expression darkened. "They want revenge for the port blockades."

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Vincent stood up slowly, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the desk. "They think I'm a retired king hiding in the snow. They forgot what I was before I built the crown."

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