Love And Betrayal | ✔️

48. In the jaws of the big, bad wolf (I)

THE SUN PEEKS over the horizon as we trudge through the snow towards a clearing in the middle of the woods.

A set of instructions are fired at us, half of which I barely understand. We're strapped tight in custom-made combat outfits and handed a weapon of our choice. My suit—dark enough to blend into the night and smooth as snakeskin, it clings to my body, shaping every curve and contour perfectly—from fingertip to fingertip, neck to toe. Romulus, I'm told, created it himself. Sleek and athletic and perfect.

Armed with two daggers in my boot and two swords on my back, I walk into the clearing alongside others. Every move seems to create a ripple in the air as an aftereffect.

Rows of enormous bathtubs meet my sight. Spotless white and filled with water that sparkles under the sunlight. Next thing I know, I'm being pushed into one of them without preamble - legs, body, arms, neck, head. I gasp and thrash as the water rushes into my nose and my lungs.

Drowning.

Can't breathe–

Somewhere above, Cerberus Custos presses the tiny sphere and everything is engulfed by darkness.

Blood roars in my ears like a raging storm as I fight down the paranoia that claws at my chest. I struggle to stay calm... even as my vision begins to fade. Simulation. It's just a simulation. You're okay.

A second ago, the sky had been bright and the sun shone above, then all at once the ground was pulled from under my feet and the world tipped over into complete and utter nothingness.

I blink again and the light returns.

Except, this time the vision that greets me is different. I'm warm and dry, not soaking wet like I am supposed to. Sun-rays reflect off the coloured glass casting a hundred different hues on the floor. The stone walls are rimmed with white and the roof is replica of the blue sky. In the middle, stands a fountain brimming with water. It bubbles and fizzles and–

–No, not water. My eyes widen.

It is yellow.. and metallic... like gold. Liquid gold.

I see us standing in a circle. Like the spokes of a wheel - tethered to each other as much as we are to the centre.

The idea of the Opticus, without a doubt, is brilliant. But what makes it both brilliant and unique is the final work of the WereGuardians. Together, they had dissected it, observed it, then put it back and made it better. An ordinary Opticus would make an excellent training experience, but this.. this shows us glimpses our future - the deadly rogues that await us in the war.

Breathing in deeply, I try recalling our instructions.

Something about a gunshot...  something about monsters.... something about fighting till death.

Rogues. Zara provides helpfully. We will fight hybrid rogues, Kiara.

Yes, rogues of every shape, size and colour, with canines sharper than blade and fur sullied with dirt and dried blood. Their bite being ten times more painful, a hundred times more lethal.

These rogues – the ones large enough to bring down an Alpha – possess hybrid blood. Greyhound's special warriors, that's what people call them- handpicked, trained for the sole purpose of destruction.