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My family ignored me,continuing their fun.
Chloe,off her stream,watched gleefully,clapping.
Derek grew wilder,blows heavier.
I’d endured this pain countless times last life.
To bore him,I went silent.
After 15 minutes,he stopped,panting.
I dragged myself to the car,locking myself in.
Angering Derek was my plan.
It gave me an excuse to flee and hide.
Guides said mountain wolves loved meat,and bears hated noise.
I waited an hour,monitoring outside via a phone camera I’d hidden.
Green eyes flashed on the screen—a wolf.
I held my breath.
Dad and Derek,drunk,slept at the table.Mom,tired from dancing,ate barbecue,back to the wolf.
Chloe’s feet were visible—she was asleep.
The wolf pounced,biting Dad’s neck.
I stifled a gasp.
Dad woke,screaming,joined by others’cries.
The wolf dragged him,face twisted in agony.
He was too heavy,too unfit to fight.
Mom helped him break free briefly,but the wolf bit again,pulling him into the bushes.
Mom wailed,grabbing his legs,but they vanished from the frame.
Chloe jumped up.“Dad!Mom!Derek,save them!”
“Get lost!I’m not their son.You don’t go,why should I?”Derek shoved her,scrambling to hide.
He ran into a massive bear.
It swatted him down,unmoving.
The bear turned to Chloe,who screamed,drawing its attention.
She couldn’t outrun it.
Caught,she wet herself,crying,“Mom,Dad,save me!”
Her one arm flailed against the bear’s jaws.
Exhausted,she closed her eyes.
The bear paused.
Mom,wielding a carving knife,stabbed its head.
It didn’t kill it—just enraged it.
The bear roared,swatting Mom,tearing her arm off.
She screamed.
Chloe,saved by Mom’s sacrifice,ran.
Mom’s bloodshot eyes widened in disbelief.
Her daughter abandoned her.
The bear’s paw ripped her throat,blood spraying.
She died staring after Chloe.
Chloe pounded on my car window,begging me to open it.
She didn’t last—the bear found her.
She fled to another car.
On my phone,I saw Derek climb and hiding in a tree.
The bear,unable to reach Chloe,went for him.
It ripped off his legs.
Derek screamed,helpless,just as I’d been under his fists.