Chapter 271

Chapter 271
 Mia's POV

The masked leader's delusions were becoming more apparent with each conversation. He truly believed he could reshape the entire werewolf world, that my powers were the key to some grand destiny he'd envisioned for himself.

He's completely lost in his own fantasy. That makes him dangerous and unpredictable.

I'd been pretending to cooperate, listening to his plans, nodding in the right places. But the whole time, my mind was working on how to escape and save the brothers.

That's when opportunity knocked - literally. A maid arrived to clean my luxurious prison, carrying supplies and moving with the tired efficiency of someone who'd done this job a thousand times.

Perfect.

"Excuse me," I said sweetly as she entered. "Could you help me with something?"

She turned toward me, and I moved fast. A pressure point to the neck, and she crumpled into my arms, unconscious but unharmed. I laid her gently on the bed and quickly stripped off her uniform.

Sorry about this, but I need your clothes more than you need consciousness right now.

The uniform fit reasonably well, and with the cap pulled low over my face, I looked like just another servant. I stuffed some towels under the blankets to make it look like I was sleeping, then grabbed the cleaning supplies and headed for the door.

My heart was pounding as I stepped into the hallway, but the guards barely glanced at me. To them, I was invisible - just another maid doing her job.

The trick is to act like you belong here. Walk with purpose, keep your head down, don't make eye contact.

Finding the brothers took longer than I'd hoped. The facility was larger than I'd realized, a maze of corridors and levels that all looked the same. But I followed my instincts and the faint pull of our mate bond, letting it guide me deeper underground.

When I finally found them, my heart nearly broke. They were exactly where I'd seen them before, chained and suffering, with guards mocking their helplessness.

Time to put on another performance.

I played my role perfectly, the clumsy maid dropping her supplies, getting close enough to slip Nathan the key and whisper instructions through our brief contact. Then I lied to the guards, sending them away on a fake errand.

But I couldn't leave yet. Not without doing something to help them.

The moment the guards were gone, I pulled out the small vial I'd been hiding. It was a mixture I'd created earlier, using my own blood combined with healing herbs I'd found in the facility's medical storage.

"Drink this," I whispered urgently to Nathan as I freed him. "All of you need to drink it. It'll help counteract the wolfsbane."

"Mia, what are you-" Nathan started.

"No time for questions. Just trust me." I moved quickly to Sean and Rolex, administering small doses of the mixture to each of them. "I switched out the wolfsbane in the storage room with a harmless saline solution. The next time they inject you, it won't hurt you. But you need to keep pretending it does, or they'll figure it out."

I could see the brothers processing this information, hope beginning to dawn in their eyes.

"Xavier's mounting a rescue," I continued quickly. "Be ready to fight when he arrives. I need to get back before the leader realizes I'm gone."

"Mia, wait-" Sean reached for my hand. "We're sorry. For everything. For doubting you, for-"

"Save it for when we're all safe," I interrupted gently. "Right now, just focus on staying alive."

I was almost to the door when Nathan called out softly. "We love you. All of us. Even if we've done a terrible job of showing it."

The words made my throat tight with emotion, but I couldn't afford to break down now. "I know. I love you too. That's why I'm getting us all out of this nightmare."

I slipped back into the hallway, my heart racing as I made my way back toward my room. The disguise had worked perfectly so far, but I knew my luck couldn't hold forever.

Almost there. Just a little further.

That's when I turned a corner and nearly ran straight into a guard. But this guard was different - taller, broader, with a presence that felt achingly familiar.

Our eyes met, and I saw recognition flash in his gaze.

Xavier.

He'd disguised himself just like I had, infiltrating the facility to find us. Relief and fear warred in my chest as he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a nearby supply closet.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed. "You're supposed to be mounting a rescue from outside!"

"I am mounting a rescue," he replied quietly. "I just decided to do some reconnaissance first. And thank God I did, because apparently you decided to go on a solo rescue mission."

"I couldn't just sit there while they were suffering-"

"I know. I would have done the same thing." His hand cupped my cheek gently. "But now we're leaving. Both of us. Right now."

"What about Nathan, Sean, and Rolex?"

"My team is in position. We're extracting all of you simultaneously in about three minutes."

Three minutes. We're so close to freedom.

But as we moved toward the exit, alarms suddenly blared throughout the facility. Red lights began flashing, and I heard the sound of running feet and shouting voices.

"Shit," Xavier cursed. "They found the maid you knocked out."

Within seconds, we were surrounded. Guards poured into the corridor from both directions, their weapons trained on us. We were trapped.

The masked leader appeared, and even through the voice modulator, I could hear his fury.

"I should have known you couldn't be trusted," he said, moving closer. "And you-" he turned to Xavier, "- I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"Yeah, you really should have," Xavier replied coldly.

"Bring them all outside," the leader ordered. "I'm tired of playing games."

Guards grabbed us, and despite our struggles, there were too many of them. We were dragged through the facility and out into what looked like a large courtyard surrounded by high walls.

What I saw there made my blood run cold.

There were hundreds of rogues gathered in formation, all armed and ready for battle. But worse than that, there were cages scattered around the perimeter, each one holding innocent werewolves - men, women, even some children.

Oh God. He's taken hostages.

Nathan, Sean, and Rolex were dragged out and forced to their knees beside us. They looked stronger than before, probably thanks to my blood mixture, but still weakened from their ordeal.

The masked leader stood before us, clearly relishing his moment of triumph.

"Do you see now?" he asked, gesturing to the cages. "Do you understand the scope of what you're dealing with? These are just a fraction of the prisoners I've collected over the past year. Innocent people from various packs, all taken to ensure cooperation."

"You're insane," I said.

"Am I? Or am I simply willing to do whatever it takes to achieve my vision?" He moved closer to me. "You could have made this easy, Mia. You could have cooperated willingly. But instead, you chose to betray me."

"I would never willingly help a monster like you."

"Then I'll have to take what I need by force." He signaled to someone behind him, and they wheeled out what looked like medical equipment - surgical tools, collection vessels, monitoring devices.

"Your blood alone would be valuable," he continued, "but what I really need is your heart. Literally. The source of your power, the essence of what makes you the Supreme Luna. With that, I can create a serum that will transform ordinary wolves into unstoppable warriors. An army that no one can stand against."

The implications hit me like a physical blow. He wasn't planning to keep me alive for my cooperation. He was planning to harvest my organs.

"And if these innocent people die in the process?" I asked, gesturing to the cages.

"Acceptable losses," he replied without hesitation. "The strong survive, the weak perish. That's the natural order of things."

Xavier growled beside me, pulling against the guards holding him. "You touch her, and I will hunt you to the ends of the earth."