<h4>Chapter 221: The truth breaks free...</h4>


    <strong>Kael</strong>


    Bane’s hands trembled slightly as he stared at the photograph. I watched the emotions y across his face—confusion, recognition, and then something hardening into anger.


    "This is a trick," he said, his voice turning colder. He crumpled the photo and threw it at my feet. "A pathetic attempt at psychological maniption."


    "It’s not a trick," I said calmly. "That’s your family. Alpha Castor, your father and his Luna, your mother. You disappeared eight years ago on a field trip from Ravenshore Academy."


    "Lies!" Bane’s voice rose. "My name is Bane Castor, yes, but I chose it myself. I’ve been running this operation for years. I built this from nothing."


    "No," I said firmly. "You were conditioned to believe that. Whoever took you made you into this."


    Baneughed, a harsh, bitter sound. "You think you can just walk in here, show me some fake photo, tell me a sad story, and I’ll what? Break down crying? Abandon everything I’ve built?"


    He turned to his men. "Kill them. All of them except the Direwolf girl. We’ll use her for breeding stock."


    The armed men raised their weapons immediately.


    "I was hoping you’d say that," I said quietly.


    Everything happened at once.


    I moved before anyone could pull a trigger.


    Years in the fighting rings had taught me to read bodynguage, to see the micro-movements that telegraphed action. The nearest gunman’s finger was tightening on the trigger when I closed the distance.


    I grabbed his wrist and twisted hard. The gun went off, but the bullet buried itself in the ceiling. I drove my elbow into his throat, and he went down choking.


    Behind me, my team exploded into action. Sarah disarmed one guard with a vicious kick to his knee, then swept his legs out from under him. ke and Nina moved in perfect coordination, taking down two men simultaneously.


    Charis stayed low, exactly like I’d told her. Smart girl.


    But there were still over twenty armed men in the room, and the collectors were backing toward a side exit.


    A gunshot rang out. I felt the bullet pass close enough to my face that I felt the heat. I dropped and rolled,ing up behind another guard. My fist connected with his kidney, then his jaw. He crumpled.


    "Shoot them!" Bane was screaming. "What are you waiting for?"


    The problem with hiring humans to do supernatural work is that they panic easily. Half the guards were firing wildly, hitting walls and each other. The other half were trying to run.


    I grabbed one man’s rifle and used it as a club, sweeping three guards off their feet. Then I threw it like a spear, catching another guard in the chest and sending him flying backwards into two others.


    Sarah had acquired a weapon and was using it to herd guards into a corner. ke and Nina were working together to disarm and disable anyone who got past me.


    But Bane wasn’t running. He was charging straight at me.


    He was fast, faster than a normal human should be. Enhanced somehow. Probably the same conditioning that had made him forget his real life had also made him physically stronger.


    His fist came at my face like a piston. I blocked it, but the impact sent shockwaves up my arm. He was very strong, I should give him that at least.


    He followed with a knee strike that I barely dodged. Then a palm strike aimed at my throat that would have crushed my windpipe if it had connected.


    "You think you know me?" Bane snarled, pressing his attack. "You don’t know anything!"


    I blocked, dodged, and deflected. He was really good. Whoever had trained him had done an excellent job.


    But I’d been trained by the best fighters in multiple underground circuits. And more importantly, I’d been trained by my master, the man who’d turned me into a weapon.


    I let Bane think he had the advantage. Let himmit to a heavy right hook. Then I stepped inside his guard and drove my fist into his sr plexus.


    The air whooshed out of him. He staggered back, eyes wide.


    "You’re a Bloodborn Wolf," I said quietly. "Just like me. That’s why they took you. That’s why they conditioned you. Because our kind are born to fight, and they wanted to use that."


    "Shut up!" Bane swung wildly. I caught his arm, twisted it behind his back, and swept his legs.


    He hit the ground hard but rolled immediately,ing back up. Blood trickled from his split lip.


    "Your real name is Bane Castor," I continued, circling him. "But you weren’t always called Bane. Your family gave you a different name. One you don’t remember."


    "I said SHUT UP!"


    He came at me again, faster this time. A flurry of strikes that would have overwhelmed most fighters. But I’d fought worse and survived worse.


    I caught his wrist mid-punch, used his momentum against him, and flipped him over my shoulder. He crashed into the concrete floor.


    Before he could recover, I was on him. My knee on his chest, my hand around his throat.


    "Stop fighting who you are," I said. "Stop fighting the truth."


    "The truth?" Baneughed, even with my hand cutting off his air. "You want the truth? I’m exactly who I’m supposed to be. A weapon. A fighter. That’s all I’ve ever been. All I’ll ever be."


    "No," I said. "That’s what they made you believe. But it’s not true."


    I could see the other collectors trying to escape through the side door. Sarah intercepted them, her gun trained on their heads.


    "Everyone on the ground!" she ordered. "Now!"


    Theyplied immediately.


    Around the room, my team had subdued all the armed guards. Bodiesy unconscious or groaning. Weapons were scattered across the floor.


    It was over in less than three minutes.


    Bane was still struggling beneath me, but he was weakening. The fight was draining out of him.


    "I know what it’s like," I said quietly. "To be told you’re nothing but a weapon. To have your real memories stripped away and reced with lies. I know, Bane. Because it happened to me too."


    Something flickered in his eyes. Doubt? Recognition? I couldn’t tell.


    "When I was five years old, I was taken from my mother," I continued. "Put into fighting rings. Conditioned to kill. For years, I didn’t remember anything before that. But I got out. And I’ve spent every day since then helping others escape, too."


    "You’re lying," Bane whispered, but there was no conviction in his voice anymore.


    "I’m not. And deep down, you know I’m not." I leaned closer. "You’ve felt it, haven’t you? The gaps in your memory. The dreams that don’t make sense. The feeling that something’s missing."


    His eyes widened slightly. I’d hit on something true.


    "The photo I showed you—your family is real. They’re alive. They’re still looking for you. And if youe with us, we can help you remember them."


    "I... I can’t..."


    "You can. But first, I need you to sleep."


    Before he could respond, I gave him a blow to the nerve cluster at the base of his skull. Not hard enough to cause permanent damage, but hard enough to knock him unconscious.


    Bane’s eyes rolled back, and he went limp.


    I stood up, breathing hard, and looked around the room. My team had secured everyone. Charis was still in the corner where I’d left her, eyes wide but unharmed.


    "Everyone good?" I called out.


    "All clear," Sarah confirmed. "We’ve got about thirty prisoners. What do we do with them?"


    "Zip-tie them. We’ll deal with themter." I pulled out Bane’s key card from his pocket. "First, we need to find ter and Riley."


    I walked over to Charis and helped her up. "You okay?"


    She nodded, though she was shaking. "That was... intense."


    "You did well." I squeezed her hand. "Now let’s find your mate."


    I used Bane’s key card to ess the facility’sputer system. It took me a few minutes to navigate the security interface, but I finally found what I was looking for.


    "Cell block three," I said. "East wing. That’s where they’re keeping the high-value prisoners."


    We moved quickly through the corridors, leaving ke and Nina to guard the subdued collectors and armed men. Sarah and Tom came with us, weapons ready.


    The facility wasrger than I’d expected. Multiple levels, countless rooms. But the key card gave us ess to everything.


    We reached cell block three—a row of reinforced doors with small windows. I checked the first two cells. Empty.


    The third cell...


    I looked through the window, and my heart clenched.


    ter. Sitting against the far wall, hands zip-tied, bruised but alive.


    "Found him," I said.


    I swiped the key card. The door clicked open.


    Charis pushed past me immediately, rushing into the cell.


    "ter!" she cried out.


    He looked up, eyes widening in shock and relief. "Charis? How did you—"


    But she was already on her knees beside him, throwing her arms around him.


    I stayed in the doorway, giving them their moment. Tom and Sarah continued checking the other cells.


    "Kael!" Sarah called from down the hall. "You need to see this."


    I jogged over to where she was standing. She’d opened another cell door.


    Inside, sitting on a metal bench, was a young woman with short hair and a cut above her eyebrow.


    Riley. ter’s sister.


    She looked up at us with wary eyes. "Who are you?"


    "We’re here to rescue you," I said.


    Sheughed bitterly. "Rescue? You’re about three years toote for that."


    Before I could respond, my radio crackled to life.


    "Kael." It was Rhett’s voice, filled with tension. "Kael, we have a problem."