Of prejudice and pack ( Bound by fate 2)

Chapter 10: The Theaters Secrets

The night was thick with anticipation. Elena and Eric, dressed in black, blended seamlessly into the shadows surrounding the old theater. The building loomed, an eerie reminder of secrets held within its decaying walls.

"This isn't just about Jake," Elena whispered, crouched behind a broken wall. "It's bigger than we thought."

Eric nodded, his eyes scanning the surroundings. "This place... it reeks of something dark."

Using hand signals, they communicated their plan. Elena would create a distraction at the front, drawing any guards away, while Eric and a small team of backup would infiltrate from the side entrance.

Following the plan, Elena threw a small device that emitted a series of loud bangs, drawing the attention of two guards at the main door. As they rushed to investigate, Eric and his team quickly breached the side entrance, slipping into the dark corridors of the theater.

Inside, they were met with a maze of rooms, each filled with strange machinery, vials, and cages. The pungent scent of chemicals and the low murmurs of pain and fear hung in the air.

Eric gestured for the team to split up. As they went room to room, it became horrifyingly clear what was happening. They discovered rooms with restrained shifters, their mouths held open as tubes extracted saliva directly from their glands.

Elena found herself in what looked like a lab. Tables filled with notes detailing experiments on the addictive properties of shifter saliva. On one of the tables, she found vials of a strange, glowing liquid - the result of those experiments, ready for sale.

"Eric," Elena whispered into her earpiece, holding up a vial. "They've been refining the saliva, turning it into this."

In another room, Eric stumbled upon a caged young wolf, his eyes filled with terror.

Recognizing him as one of the newer members of his pack, Eric swiftly unlocked the cage.

"Where are they taking the saliva?" Eric asked urgently.

The young wolf pointed weakly to the basement. "Down there... they're selling it."

Elena and Eric converged on the basement entrance, their backup close behind. The stairs led to a dimly lit underground chamber, filled with crates marked with a peculiar symbol - a coiled serpent with glowing eyes.

Inside the crates, they found more vials, and also shackled humans, their faces gaunt, their eyes showing the unmistakable signs of addiction.

Before they could process the scene, a voice echoed through the chamber. "Impressive, Officer Elena. But you're too late."

Jake stepped out from the shadows, accompanied by armed men. Behind them, a large furnace roared to life, its flames threatening to consume the evidence.

Eric growled, "You won't get away with this."

Jake laughed, "We already have. The serum is out there. Humans will do anything for another hit, and your kind will be hunted for it."

The standoff was tense. Elena's fingers inched towards her gun, calculating the risks. Suddenly, the theater shook as an explosion rocked the front entrance.

Thunder and Storm, along with a few pack members, charged in, overwhelming Jake's men. In the ensuing chaos, Elena took a shot, disarming Jake, while Eric freed the remaining prisoners.

As the dust settled, the theater was secured, Jake and his associates were detained, and the shifters were freed. The horrifying operations of the theater were exposed, but the ramifications were clear. This has been going on for years and the victims would need extensive care to regain any type of normalcy they once had.