CHAPTER 111: CHAPTER 111: THE COLLECTOR

ARIA POV

The silver cage door slammed shut behind me with a sound like broken bones.

"Welcome to my collection," said the man in the expensive suit. His smile made my skin crawl. "I’ve been hunting for a Silver Alpha for decades."

I lunged at the bars, but they burned my hands the moment I touched them. Pure silver. The one thing that could hurt any werewolf, even me.

"Don’t bother," he continued, adjusting his gold watch. "Those bars have held much stronger wolves than you."

It had been three days since the pack dismissed me. Three days of wandering the woods alone, hungry and heartbroken. I thought finding this secret estate would be my salvation. Instead, I’d walked right into a trap.

"My name is Vincent Ashworth," the man said, pulling out a leather notebook. "And you, my dear, are about to become the crown jewel of my private zoo."

"Zoo?" I spat.

He motioned around the underground chamber. For the first time, I really looked at what surrounded me. Dozens of silver cages lined the walls, each holding a different werewolf. But these weren’t average pack members.

The wolf in the cage next to mine had golden eyes that glowed like fire. Across the room, a young woman with pure white hair sat motionless, her skin actually sparkling with frost. Another cage held twins who moved in perfect sync, finishing each other’s moves.

"Rare breeds," Vincent stated proudly. "Moon Alphas, Elemental Wolves, Seers, Healers. The rarest families in existence. Some I bought. Others I... gained through different means."

"You’re sick," I growled.

"I’m a collector," he amended. "Do you know how much a live Silver Alpha is worth on the supernatural black market? Enough to buy a small country."

My stomach dropped. "You’re going to sell me?"

"Eventually. But first, I want to study you. Learn what makes you so special. My scientists are very curious about your... unique powers."

Scientists. The word sent ice through my blood. These dogs weren’t just prisoners. They were test animals.

"The others tried to escape," Vincent continued, making notes in his book. "The Fire Alpha over there burned through three sets of standard bars before I had these made. The Ice Queen froze two of my guards solid. The Telepathic Twins convinced half my security team to let them go."

I looked closer at the other wolves. They all had the same hollow look in their eyes. The look of people who had given up hope.

"But silver stops everything," Vincent said with satisfaction. "Even your precious Moon Goddess power."

He was right. I could feel my strength slipping away just from being near the bars. My silver eyes had faded to almost normal gray.

"You won’t get away with this," I said softly.

"My dear, I already have. I’ve been collecting rare wolves for twenty years. The supernatural officials think I’m just a wealthy human businessman. No one suspects a thing."

Vincent walked away, leaving me alone with the other prisoners. As soon as his footsteps faded, the wolf with golden eyes spoke up.

"Don’t bother threatening him," he said tiredly. "I’m Marcus, the Fire Alpha from the Southern Packs. I’ve been here for two years."

"Two years?" I couldn’t hide my fear.

The woman with white hair looked up. "I’m Frost. Three years for me. Vincent likes to keep his best."

"There has to be a way out," I argued.

"The silver drains our power," Marcus explained. "Without our abilities, we’re just ordinary people trapped in cages."

"What about when he takes us out for... experiments?"

Frost shuddered. "He uses silver chains. And tranquilizers. Lots of tranquilizers."

I slumped against the back of my cage. After everything I’d been through – losing my pack, being betrayed by the triplets, finding Elder Malin’s treachery – this felt like the final blow.

"How does he find us?" I asked quietly.

"Vincent has contacts everywhere," Marcus said. "Rogues who sell secrets. Corrupt pack leaders who trade rare wolves for money or favors. He even has spies inside the Wolf Council."

My blood ran cold. "The Wolf Council?"

"How do you think he knew exactly when and where to find you?" Frost asked grimly.

Before I could process this terrible news, footsteps echoed down the hallway. But these weren’t Vincent’s expensive dress shoes. These were lighter, sneakier steps.

"Psst. Aria?"

I nearly fell over. "Jaxon?"

A familiar face emerged at the entrance to the chamber. Jaxon looked different – his hair was dyed black, and he wore clothes I’d never seen before. But it was definitely him.

"Thank the Moon Goddess I found you," he whispered, rushing to my cage.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "I thought you abandoned me with everyone else."

Pain flashed across Jaxon’s face. "That was a show. We had to make Elder Malin and Silas believe we’d really turned against you."

"We?"

"Kael and Lucien are making a distraction upstairs. I’m here to get you out."

Hope lit in my chest for the first time in days. "But the silver bars..."

"I came prepared." Jaxon pulled out a small vial of bright blue liquid. "Nullification potion. It briefly blocks silver’s effects on werewolves."

He poured a few drops on the lock of my cage. The metal hissed and steamed, then fell apart.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked as he helped me out.

"We’ve been tracking Vincent for weeks. After you were banished, we learned he was behind some of the missing wolves from other packs. When we heard he had spies feeding him information..."

"You went undercover," I realized.

"I’ve been posing as a rogue wolf looking to sell knowledge about rare bloodlines. It took three days to gain his trust and get inside."

Marcus pressed against his cage bars. "Don’t forget about us!"

Jaxon nodded and started working on the other locks. "Vincent’s been collecting Moon Alphas specifically. He’s building some kind of magical army."

"For what?"

"We don’t know yet. But it can’t be good."

As the other prisoners started to emerge from their cages, alarms suddenly blared throughout the building.

"They know I’m here," Jaxon said sadly.

Heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway. Vincent’s security team was coming, and they sounded angry.

"This way," Frost said, pointing to an air grate near the ceiling. "I’ve been planning this route for months."

We climbed up into the air ducts just as armed guards filled the chamber below. I could hear Vincent yelling in rage about his lost collection.

"My animals! Find them! I don’t care if you have to tear this building apart!"

The ventilation system was a maze of metal tubes. Frost led us through bends and turns that seemed to go on forever. Behind us, we could hear guards searching other parts of the building.

"There’s an exit that leads to the woods," Frost explained as we crawled. "But it’s heavily guarded."

"Leave that to us," Jaxon said.

We exited from the air ducts into a storage room filled with crates. Through the window, I could see the trees beyond. Freedom was so close.

But as we reached for the door, it burst open.

Vincent stood there with a dozen armed guards. But what made my blood freeze wasn’t the guns pointing at us.

It was the guy standing next to Vincent.

Elder Malin smiled his terrible smile. "Going somewhere, children?"

"How?" Jaxon breathed.

"Did you really think your little rescue mission was secret?" Elder Malin laughed. "I’ve been watching every move you three boys made since the banishment. Leading me right to Vincent’s collection was just a treat."

Vincent looked smug. "I told you I had friends in high places. Elder Malin and I have been business partners for years."

"You sold out your own pack," I said, appalled.

"I preserved the natural order," Elder Malin corrected. "Strong wolves like Vincent deserve to own smaller ones like you. It’s the way things should be."

The other freed prisoners pressed close behind me. Marcus’s golden eyes were starting to glow again as the nullification liquid worked on him too.

"You have two choices," Vincent said quietly. "Come softly, or we start shooting. The silver shots will hurt, but they won’t kill you. Much."

I looked around desperately. We were outnumbered and outgunned. Even with our powers returning, we couldn’t fight a dozen armed guards in such a small area.

But then I heard something that made my heart leap.

Howling. Lots of screaming, coming from outside.

"What is that?" Vincent demanded.

Elder Malin’s face went pale. "That’s impossible. I told Kael and Lucien to stay away."

"You told them to," Jaxon said with a grin. "But you’re not their Alpha anymore."

The window burst inward as something huge crashed through it. Not something. Someone.

Kael landed in the middle of the room in his full wolf form, snarling with rage. Behind him came Lucien, followed by dogs I didn’t recognize. Dozens of them, all with the same focused look in their eyes.

"The Moon Resistance," Marcus breathed in wonder. "I thought they were just a myth."

"Surprise," Kael growled, shifting back to human form. "We’ve been building an army of our own."

The room burst into chaos. Guards were shooting, wolves were fighting, and somewhere in the middle of it all, Vincent was yelling orders that no one was following.

I grabbed Elder Malin by the throat before he could run.

"This ends now," I snarled.

But as my silver eyes began to glow with power, Elder Malin smiled one last terrible smile.

"You’re right," he said. "It does end now."

He pressed a button on a device in his hand.

The entire building began to shake. Cracks emerged in the walls as a deep rumbling sound filled the air.

"What did you do?" I shouted.

"This facility sits on an old silver mine," Elder Malin laughed. "I just sparked the explosives Vincent keeps for emergencies. In five minutes, this whole place will fall into the mine shaft. Along with everyone in it."

The rumble grew louder. Pieces of the ceiling began to fall.

"Including you!" I pointed out.

Elder Malin’s smile widened. "Small price to pay for stopping the Silver Alpha. If I can’t control you, no one can."

As the building shook itself apart around us, I realized we were all about to die.

And Elder Malin was perfectly happy to die with us.