His eyes dropped to the animal’s hind leg, where a crude trap of barbed wire had cut deep into its flesh. Blood clung to the metal, staining the ground beneath it. Jacob’s stomach churned with anger. Someone had done this. Someone had left it to suffer.
Taking a slow step forward, he whispered in a soothing voice, trying to keep his presence non-threatening. The moose’s dark eyes locked onto him, wide and uncertain. Every moment stretched unbearably long as he knelt, hands shaking, and carefully began cutting away the wire wrapped around its leg.