CHAPTER 264

CHAPTER 264
 Xavier's POV

Every instinct I had was screaming at me to abandon this plan and storm into that warehouse to get Mia back. Watching her be carried away by those bastards was torture beyond anything I'd ever experienced.

She's doing her job, I kept reminding myself as we followed at a careful distance. She's the Supreme Luna. Protecting the werewolf community is part of who she is.

But knowing that didn't make it any easier to watch.

"I don't like this," Nathan said from the passenger seat, his knuckles white as he gripped the door handle. "We should have gone in the moment they took her from the hospital."

"She's right though," Sean said grimly from the back seat. "If we want to catch whoever's really behind this, we need to see where they take her."

"And if something goes wrong?" Rolex asked, his voice tight with concern. "If they hurt her before we can get to her?"

"They won't," I said with more confidence than I felt. "She's too valuable to them. They need her alive."

At least I hope they do.

I pulled out my phone and hit speed dial. "Marcus, it's Xavier. I need you to mobilize every warrior we have and send them to my location immediately."

"How many, Alpha?" my beta's voice came through the speaker.

"All of them. And tell them to come armed and ready for a fight. We're dealing with a large-scale rogue operation."

"Understood, sir. ETA twenty minutes."

"Make it fifteen," I said, then hung up.

Through the mind link, I could feel Mia's presence growing more distant as they took her further from us. But she was still conscious, still aware, and that gave me hope.

Stay strong, love, I projected, though I wasn't sure if she could hear me clearly anymore. We're coming for you.

"There," Nathan pointed ahead. "The van's turning into that industrial complex."

I could see it now - a cluster of abandoned warehouses and manufacturing buildings, the perfect place for criminals to operate without interference.

"Perfect," I muttered. "Isolated, multiple escape routes, plenty of places to hide hostages."

"Or plenty of places for us to get ambushed," Sean pointed out.

He wasn't wrong. This felt almost too convenient, too perfect. But we didn't have a choice - Mia was in there, and we weren't leaving without her.

That's when I felt it through the mind link - a spike of alarm from Mia, followed by confusion and then growing drowsiness.

"Something's wrong," I said immediately. "They gave her another injection. A real one this time."

"Fuck," Nathan cursed. "We need to move now."

"She's trying to tell us something," Rolex said, his face scrunched in concentration. "But the connection's getting weaker."

I pressed harder on the accelerator, closing the distance between us and the warehouse complex. But as we approached the entrance to the industrial area, a car suddenly pulled out of a side street directly into our path.

"What the hell?" I yanked the wheel hard to the right, trying to avoid collision.

"That was deliberate," Sean said, his hand already reaching for his weapon.

I was about to agree when Nathan shouted, "Xavier, look out!"

I turned to see a massive truck bearing down on us from the left, its driver clearly intending to ram us at full speed.

"Hold on!" I shouted, but there was nowhere to go.

The impact was devastating. The truck slammed into the driver's side of our SUV with enough force to send us spinning across the road and straight into the car that had blocked our path.

The world exploded into noise and chaos - the screech of metal, the sound of breaking glass, the hiss of escaping steam from our destroyed engine.

My head slammed against the steering wheel, and I felt blood trickling down my face. But somehow, I managed to stay conscious while my brothers weren't so lucky.

Trap. This was all a fucking trap.

Through my blurred vision, I could see figures emerging from the shadows around us. At least a dozen men, all armed, all moving with military precision.

"Nathan," I groaned, shaking my brother's shoulder. "Nathan, wake up."

He didn't respond. Neither did Sean or Rolex. They were all unconscious, probably concussed from the impact.

Come on, guys. I need you to wake up.

But they weren't waking up, and the armed figures were getting closer.

I tried to reach for my gun, but my arm felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. Whatever they'd hit us with had done serious damage, and I was running on adrenaline alone.

"Well, well," a familiar voice said as the figures surrounded our wrecked vehicle. "Look what we caught in our little web."

The man who stepped into view made my blood run cold. It was someone I recognized - another alpha, someone who was supposed to be an ally.

"Marcus Blackwood," I said, tasting blood as I spoke. "I should have known."

"You really should have," he agreed, signaling to his men to start extracting us from the wreckage. "Did you honestly think you could just follow our van without being noticed? We've been planning this for months, Xavier. Every move you've made, every decision you've taken, we've been three steps ahead."

Months. They've been watching us for months.

"Where is she?" I demanded, trying to put some authority into my voice despite my weakened state.

"The Supreme Luna? Oh, she's safe. For now." Marcus smiled, and it was one of the most chilling expressions I'd ever seen. "She's going to be very useful to us. As are you and your brothers."

"If you hurt her-"

"You'll what?" Marcus laughed. "You're hardly in a position to make threats right now, are you?"

My vision was starting to blur, and I could feel consciousness slipping away despite my best efforts to stay alert.

Have to warn her. Have to let her know it's not just the rogues. It's other alphas. People we trusted.

But the mind link was too weak now, the connection too damaged by my injuries and whatever they'd done to her.

"Don't worry," Marcus said as his men began dragging my unconscious brothers from the wreckage. "You'll see your precious mate very soon. We have such wonderful plans for all of you."

No. This can't be how it ends.

But even as I fought to stay conscious, I could feel the darkness closing in around me.

The last thing I saw before everything went black was Marcus pulling out a syringe, probably the same kind they'd used on Mia.

We walked right into their trap. And now we're all going to pay the price.