Chapter 163: Atom Of Regret

DRAVEN’S POV

Mr. Tony, our boss, took us to a place so foreign and unknown that I didn’t know what to do with myself at first. Weapons everywhere, all of them sophisticated, all of them beautiful. I couldn’t get enough.

It was a massive hall ... gadgets, clothing, accessories, gear that looked like it cost more than anything I had ever touched in my life.

This felt like secret agent shit. Because that’s exactly what it was.

"They say villains aren’t born, but made," Tony said to us while his assistant helped us try on new gear. "Yet the villains are the ones needed to save the world. They’re the real heroes, if you think about it."

Something was off about Tony and his people. I couldn’t put my finger on it yet, but I clocked it.

I had never set foot in Bernia before. But from the moment we walked into that place, I wanted to stay. Never leave.

"We’re a secret organisation," Tony said. "We carry out the government’s dirty work."

My mouth fell open.

No one on the outside would ever know we existed. But we did. We would continue running missions while the world called us terrorists. That was the job description. That was what the fuck he just said to our faces.

"No one gets paid what we’re going to pay you, weekly," Tony continued. "We need your expertise and your readiness. All supplies are available to you."

The moment he said money and I saw everything around me, I was sold. I had always wanted the best life had to offer. On top of that, I was going back to reclaim the love of my life ... Jade. And I had just been appointed leader. There was nothing else I was looking for.

"You’ll still do what you’ve always done," Tony went on. "The only difference now is that the government has your back. And trust me ... we are strong and we are reliable."

He told us the reason he was laying all of this out was because we were starting immediately. Then he looked around at all of us.

"So ... who has a problem with how we operate here? Anyone who doesn’t want to stay, speak now. Nothing about this can be changed for you. Any questions?"

Ciro, our hacker, raised his hand. "Sir, I have a question. Who were the secret agents here before us ... and why is none of them present?"

Good question. I hadn’t even thought to ask that.

"Oh, they were here," Tony said calmly. "Working just like you will be. But they died. There were eight of them. They all died."

My eyes went wide.

What the fuck did he mean, they all died? Eight people. At the same time.

"How did they die?" I asked, needing him to say it plainly.

"Bomb blast," he said, without flinching. "They were out on a mission and their camera coverage wasn’t strong enough to detect the bomb in time. They all died on site."

Tony didn’t seem to understand how that sounded. He had just told us our entire predecessor team was wiped out in a single explosion, and he was standing there looking at us like he expected us to nod and sign on.

"But you won’t end up in a bomb blast," he added. "You’re too smart for that. You’ve robbed, kidnapped, killed, and broken out of prison. We need rough wolves like you."

Oh, Tony. This was a completely different game from anything I had ever played.

I was still skeptical. But every time I thought about the money, it pulled me right back in.

"So who’s been running your missions in the meantime," Valentina asked, "since they’re all dead?"

"Random contractors," Tony said. "One-time jobs. But we want to give you something permanent."

That was it. That was the only thing I needed to hear.

No more long speeches, no more convincing. People live, and people die ... but anyone too afraid to take risks will never make the most of the time they have. I had heard that from a boss I worked under back in the telecom days. It had never left me.

"So do we get started?" I said. "What’s the procedure?"

"That means you’re all in agreement?" Tony asked, scanning the room.

"No." The voice cut through clean and flat. "I’m not. I want no part of any of this."

It was Lucas.

What the hell was he on? This was the kind of life we had all been reaching for ... and he was kicking it to the curb just like that?

All of us started murmuring, turning to him, asking why. He said nothing. He kept his face straight and his jaw locked, like the decision had already been made and sealed.

"May I ask why?" Tony said, his tone still even.

"I can’t be part of something I don’t lead," Lucas said. "Ever since I’ve been in the streets, I’ve been my own boss. I can’t work under anyone who dictates what I do with my time and energy."

Every one of us yelled at him. This was too small a reason to walk away from all of us.

"Lucas, you have to be joking," I said. "After everything we’ve been through together ... you’re backing out because you didn’t get the leader role?" I turned to Tony. "Give him the leadership. I don’t want it. I’m not fit to stand in his shoes."

"We can’t do that," Tony said. "It was decided before you arrived. I’m sorry."

I stared at Lucas. Dead in the eyes.

He was serious. He wasn’t blinking.

"You’re not changing your mind?"

"I’m not," he said. "I’m sorry, guys."

"Do you have any idea what’s waiting for you on the other side of these walls?" Zeno asked.

"I’ve survived until this very moment," Lucas said. "A bounty can’t kill me."

That pissed me off more than anything else he had said.

"This isn’t leadership," I told him, stepping forward and saying it straight to his face. "This is cowardice."

He threw a punch before I even saw it coming. Swift, clean, and heavy ... there was no ducking it.

Tony and his assistants watched without moving.

"I was running too when you found me," Lucas said, standing over me while I steadied myself. "We all were. And this is how you repay me? I will never answer to you, Draven. I would rather die first."

"And I would rather die than abandon my people," I said, touching the corner of my mouth where he had split it open.

"Lucas." Tony’s voice was quiet but firm. "From this point forward, we are not responsible for you. You’ve chosen to leave ... so leave peacefully."

Lucas walked out.

I watched the door close behind him and couldn’t believe it. A leader, choosing himself over everyone who had bled beside him.

"We’re down to five," Tony said. "Still a strong number. Still more than enough ... if you’re all willing."

We were.

Nothing was stopping us now.

---

ASTRID’S POV

I believed everything I had been through before this moment had been leading me here.

Everything I had said about my sister over the years ... all of it ... and now I was actually going to get the chance to see her in the flesh. The time had finally come for the mating festival. That event carried more memories than I knew what to do with.

I had no business looking her in the face after everything I had done to her. I knew that. But I had to see her. The glory that had settled over Selene’s life was something I could no longer just hear about secondhand. I needed to see it with my own eyes.

"What do you mean you want to go to the mating festival?" Ethan, my husband, asked me. "It’s not compulsory. And are you suddenly looking for a mate?"

How was I supposed to explain this to him?

"And you choose now of all times to see your sister?" Ethan was not understanding it, and honestly, I couldn’t blame him. He knew what had happened at the last mating festival ... how close I had come to not walking away from it. He was being protective. That was all it was.

What I couldn’t tell him was that I was no longer that woman. The cheating, the scheming, the jealousy twisted into cruelty ... I was done with all of it. I just needed to see Selene. To confirm with my own eyes what she had become.

Because what she had become was extraordinary.

The aura Selene now carried was something I struggled to even describe. A billionaire lady wolf. In all of Morvaine, there had only ever been three. She had become the fourth.

"We have no choice but to go," I said to Ethan. "It’s going to be interesting. We’ll enjoy ourselves. We have every reason to miss it ... and every reason not to, at the same time."

He went quiet.

I took his silence as agreement.

"Thank you," I said, reaching for him. "You know I love you, Ethan."

The truth I had been refusing to face for weeks came for me anyway.

Ever since Selene stepped into the spotlight ... her invention, her wealth, her name in rooms I would never be invited into ... I had started losing something. Confidence, maybe. Or just the version of myself I had always been so sure of. I could no longer recognise who I was when I looked at myself clearly.

And then something hit me. Something I had never felt before in my life.

Regret.

It came in quietly and settled into me like it had always lived there.

I shouldn’t have treated Selene the way I did.

That thought kept returning, no matter how many times I pushed it aside. If I had been different ... if I had chosen differently ... maybe I would have had a seat at her table right now. I didn’t feel this way before. I genuinely didn’t give a damn before. But now it had found me, and I couldn’t pretend otherwise.

It built until it was written all over my face. Until Ethan could see it without me saying a word.

"Why do you look like that?" he asked. "Is it about the festival?"

I didn’t answer him.

He studied me for a long moment, then exhaled.

"Alright," he said. "If it’s the mating festival ... we’ll go together. Pack your bags, Astrid. We’re going to Icefang."