Page 31 of Lone Wolf

Over the next hour, she puts me through increasingly difficult drills, testing my limits. I push myself harder than necessary, hungry to improve. Every time I falter, I think of my goal. It fuels me, drives me to get up no matter how many times Ariadne knocks me down.

I catch her watching me with something like concern, but I don’t care. Let her wonder. Let her worry. As long as she keeps training me.

She only says one thing to me as we leave the training room. “No more smoking, Santiago. It’s fucking up your lungs.”

“Done.”

Days pass in a blur of sweat and bruises as Ariadne and I meet secretly for extra training. And it’s working. I’m becoming more focused, more driven, less like my usual self. During one particularly grueling session, I don’t joke, don’t smile—just get up again and again when knocked down.

“What’s really going on with you, Sunny?” Ariadne finally asks, breaking the professional distance.

“Just dedicated to self-improvement,” I deflect. “Isn’t that what you want, Frostbite?”

She knocks me flat for that.

And I get right back up.

Several days later, with my knuckles raw from training, Hadria finally calls us to the war room. The long table is already taken by senior Syndicate members. Maps and surveillance photos cover the surface—the same ones I’ve seen Hadria poring over for the last few weeks. And next to the door, Lyssa stands with her arms crossed, eyes sharp as she evaluates each of the recruits filing in—including me.

I keep my expression neutral, but my heart pounds.

This is it.

“We’re moving on a trafficking ring,” Hadria announces without preamble. She gestures to the map. “Our intelligence confirms they’re holding girls at this warehouse on the north side. We are doing this by special request of a man some of you know: Johnny de Luca. The trafficking ring is run by an offshoot of the Mancini Family, which has been trying to get a foothold in Chicago. But this is our town. Right?”

There’s a murmur of assent. I dig my fingernails into my palms to keep from speaking up too loudly. I don’t want to make it obvious that I’m desperate for this gig.

“We move tomorrow night,” Hadria goes on. “And I’ll need a full team. That’s why Lyssa and Scarlett have been training youso hard these last few weeks. They have also given me her estimation of the most useful among you. Lyssa, if you would?”

I hold my breath as Lyssa moves behind us, giving the chosen ones a little push in the back to make them stand forward.

Matty. Enzo.Vanessa?Fucking Vanessa? There’s a pause, and then Zach and Elijah are pushed forward, too.

I hold my breath.

“You,” Lyssa says, and right next to me, Ariadne is pushed forward.

She gives the slightest hesitation, I think. Or maybe I imagine it.

Lyssa stops behind me. I think my heart is going to explode out of my chest like that scene inAlien. “And you, Santiago,” she says at last, her hand in the small of my back as she presses me forward.

Relief floods through me so intensely I almost trip instead of step forward. Beside me, I feel Ariadne stiffen.

“The rest of you will report to Ricky for support positions,” Hadria instructs those not chosen. “Briefing packets will be distributed on your way out. Study them. Memorize them. I expect precision, both from those on the ground and those providing support.”

As we begin to disperse, I catch Ariadne’s eyes on me. But I look away.

I grab my briefing packet and I’m halfway down the east corridor when a hand grabs my arm, pulling me into the nearest room.

“What the hell do you want?” I demand.

Ariadne’s face is inches from mine, her voice low and clipped. “You need to pull yourself from this mission.”

I shake free of her grip. “Not happening.”

Her eyes narrow, searching my face. “You have a personal stake in this, and it’s going to get you killed. Or worse—it will compromise the operation.”

My casual mask slips, just for a second, rage and pain flashing through. “You don’t knowanythingabout me or what I can handle.”

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