Chapter 76 The Obvious Trap
“No.” Lycian’s voice was flat. Final. “You’re not going. Not after what just happened. Not while you can’t even remember who you are.”
“Dr. Rivera knows what drug they used. How to reverse it?” I stared at the video. The woman is bleeding. Terrified. “If Thornheart kills her, I lose my only chance at getting my memories back.”
“There are other ways. Other doctors. Other solutions.” He tried to take the phone. I pulled it away. “Elowen. Please. Listen to reason.”
“Reason says we need her alive. Need her knowledge.” I stood. My legs are shaky but holding. “I’m going.”
“Then I’m going with you.” He moved to block the door. “No arguments. No negotiations. We go together or not at all.”
Through the bond, I felt his determination. His absolute refusal to let me walk into danger alone. Again. It should have annoyed me. Should have felt controlling.
Instead, it felt safe. Like having someone who cared enough to fight for me. Even when I couldn’t remember why that mattered.
“Fine. Together.” I grabbed a jacket. Weapons. Everything I’d need. “But we move fast. That video was sent an hour ago. We might already be too late.”
Elena appeared in the doorway. “I’m coming too. Dr. Rivera betrayed us but she’s still the best chance at reversing that drug.” Her jaw clenched. “And I want answers. Want to know why she did it. What the Collective offered was worth destroying everything.”
We left in one vehicle. Just three of us. The rest of the pack needed to recover. To heal. To protect Clara and the estate in case this was another diversion.
The address was two hours north. Another facility. This one is smaller. Older. Half-buried in the forest.
“It’s a research station,” Elena said. Pulling up old records. “Decommissioned fifteen years ago. Or supposedly decommissioned. The Collective must have kept it running off the books.”
“What kind of research?” I asked.
“Memory modification. Neural reprogramming. Basically, everything they just did to you.” Her eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. “This is where they perfected the drug. Where they tested it on subjects until they got it right.”
My stomach turned. How many people had they broken here? How many minds had they destroyed in the name of perfection?
We parked a quarter mile out. Approached on foot. Quiet. Careful. The building looked abandoned. Windows broken. Walls covered in moss. Nature reclaiming what humans had left behind.
But inside, lights glowed. Faint. Flickering. Someone was there.
“Trap,” Lycian said. Stating the obvious. “She’s expecting us. Probably has backup. Probably has a dozen ways to kill or capture us.”
“Probably.” I checked my gun. Loaded. Ready. “But we’re going in anyway.”
“At least let me go first. Draw fire. Give you a chance to escape if it goes wrong.” His hand caught mine. Squeezed. “Please. Let me protect you.”
“We protect each other. That’s the deal.” I squeezed back. “Lead the way, Alpha.”
He shifted. His gray wolf padded forward. Silent. Deadly. Elena and I followed. Weapons drawn. Eyes scanning. Ready for anything.
The entrance was unlocked. Door swinging open on rusted hinges. Inside smelled like decay and chemicals. Old experiments left to rot.
We moved through corridors. Past abandoned labs. Past equipment was covered in dust. Past reminders of all the horror that had happened here.
Then we found her. Dr. Rivera. In a central room. Still tied to a chair. Still bleeding. But alone.
No Thornheart. No guards. No ambush.
“It’s too easy,” Elena whispered. “She wouldn’t just leave her here.”
“Maybe she’s watching. Waiting to see what we do.” I approached slowly. Gun raised. “Dr. Rivera. Can you hear me?”
Her head lifted. Eyes unfocused. Drugged. “Elowen? You came. You actually came.”
“Where’s Thornheart? Where are the guards?”
“Gone. She left after recording the video. Said you’d come. Said I wasn’t worth guarding.” Her laugh was broken. Bitter. “Turns out being Nightshade doesn’t mean much when you fail. When you let the prize escape.”
I circled her. Looking for wounds. For traps. For anything that might explain this. “You drugged me. Tried to program me. Why should I help you now?”
“Because I have what you need. The reversal compound. The formula. Everything.” She coughed. Blood on her lips. “Thornheart doesn’t know I memorized it. Doesn’t know I have it backed up in multiple locations.”
“Why would you help me? What do you get out of it?”
“Revenge. Against the people who used me. Who promised me immortality and then threw me away when I stopped being useful.” Her eyes cleared slightly. Focused. “Help me. Get me somewhere safe. And I’ll give you everything. The formula. The locations of other facilities. The identities of the remaining Collective members. Everything.”
Lycian shifted back. “How do we know you’re telling the truth? How do we know this isn’t another manipulation?”
“You don’t. You have to trust me.” She met his eyes. “I know I don’t deserve trust. I destroyed that. But I’m offering information for protection. A trade. Nothing more.”
Elena moved closer. Checked Dr. Rivera’s wounds. “She’s telling the truth about being hurt. These injuries are real. Recent. Someone beat her badly.”
“Could be self-inflicted. Could be staged.” But even as I said it, doubt crept in. Because the fear in Dr. Rivera’s eyes looked real. The desperation looked real. The brokenness looked real.
“Make a decision,” my wolf urged. “Help her or leave her. But do it fast. This place feels wrong. Dangerous.”
She was right. The facility was too quiet. Too empty. Like holding its breath. Waiting.
“We take her,” I decided. “Get her medical attention. Then we get the formula. If she’s lying, we deal with it then.”
Lycian cut her restraints. Lifted her. She was lighter than expected. Fragile. Like the beating had broken more than just skin.
We moved toward the exit. Faster now. Urgent. The wrongness grows with every step.
Then the doors slammed shut. All of them. Simultaneously. Sealing us inside.
Lights blazed on. Blinding. Revealing figures surrounding us. Twenty. Thirty. More. All in tactical gear. All armed with silver bullets. All are aiming at us.
“I’m impressed.” Thornheart’s voice echoed from speakers. “You actually came. Actually brought the Alpha. Actually fell for the most obvious trap in history.”
“Where are you?” Lycian snarled. Eyes scanning. Looking for the source. “Show yourself.”
“I’m watching. From a safe distance. Learning. You see, Dr. Rivera was right about one thing. The reversal formula exists. And it’s valuable. So valuable that I needed bait to draw you out. Bait to capture you. Bait to trade you for something I want even more.”
“What do you want?” I shouted. “What’s worth all this?”
“The Wolf Council’s surrender. Their complete and total submission to Collective authority.” Thornheart paused. “You’re going to help me get it. Both of you. Or everyone you love dies. Starting with the pack members you left at the estate. The ones we’re attacking right now.”
My blood froze. “You’re lying.”
“Am I? Check your bond. Feel your pack. Feel their panic. Their pain. Their death.”
I reached through the bond. Felt the pack. Felt chaos. Fear. Fighting. Something was wrong. Something was happening at the estate.
“They’re under attack,” Lycian confirmed. His face was pale. “Multiple assailants. They’re overwhelmed.”
“Surrender now. Come with my soldiers peacefully. And I call off the attack. Your pack lives.” Thornheart’s voice was calm. Reasonable. “Resist. And I burn the estate to the ground with everyone inside. You have ten seconds to decide.”
“Don’t do it,” Elena urged. “It’s a trap. She’ll kill them anyway.”
“Or she won’t. Or this is the only chance they have.” I looked at Lycian. At the man I couldn’t remember loving but felt connected to anyway. “What do we do?”
“We save the pack.” His jaw clenched. “Whatever it costs. We save them.”
“Eight seconds,” Thornheart called. “Seven. Six.”
I dropped my gun. Raised my hands. “We surrender. Call off the attack.”
“Smart girl.” The soldiers moved forward. Restraints ready. “Though really. Did you think I’d actually call off the attack? Did you think I’d keep my word?”
She laughed. Cold. Cruel. Victorious.
“The estate burns either way. Your pack dies either way. But now I have you too. Perfect symmetry.”
Lycian lunged. Shifted mid-air. His wolf is tearing into the nearest soldiers. Elena followed. Her black wolf was vicious. Desperate.
But there were too many. Too many guns. Too many bullets.
Silver rounds hit them. Both of them. Going down. Bleeding. Dying.
“No!” I screamed. Reached for my power. For the silver light. For anything that could save them.
Nothing came. The drug had taken that too. Locked it away with my memories. With everything I was.
I was powerless. Human. Broken.
The soldiers surrounded me. Restrained me. Injected something. Coldness spreading through my veins. Consciousness fading.
The last thing I saw was Lycian. Bleeding on the floor. Eyes locked on mine. Love and grief and goodbye all mixed together.
Then darkness swallowed everything.