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."