Chapter 10 UNTRACEABLE. LETHAL. SILENT

Velgrave retaliated with fire and steel.

They bombed suspected rebel hubs. Froze bank accounts. Tracked known sympathizers through biometric surveillance.

It didn't matter.

The movement spread faster than suppression could contain.

Carl stood in their underground war room, reading updates. "Twelve more recruits. Four were Halo-activated. The rest? Just... people."

Ophelia nodded. "People are more dangerous than soldiers. They're unpredictable."

Lilith added, "Velgrave launched a new AI task force. Ghost Drones. They're hitting safehouses."

Ezra cracked his neck. "Then we stop playing defense."

They hit back - hard.

Sabotaged transport lines. Hijacked training compounds. Leaked archives of illegal mutations to public channels.

Every strike exposed more truth.

And with every strike, the legend of The Wolfe grew.

Ophelia didn't care for the title.

But it worked.

At 3:42 a.m., Ophelia slipped outside the base to get air.

Carl found her under a shattered streetlight, staring at the sky.

"You don't sleep much anymore," he said.

She gave a small laugh. "Did I ever?"

He stepped closer. "You okay?"

"No," she whispered. "But I think I'm getting used to it."

They stood there, the quiet between them more comforting than words.

Carl leaned against the wall. "You've become everything I thought no one could survive being."

Ophelia turned to him. "And you? What are you?"

He met her gaze. "The guy who walks into hell with you."

She blinked.

Then - slowly, deliberately - she stepped closer.

Her fingers brushed his. Then tangled.

"You've always had a thing for dangerous girls," she said.

He smirked. "I have a type."

Their lips met - finally - and it wasn't soft.

It was fire.

Years of tension, battle, and unspoken words crashing into one kiss that felt like a declaration of war against everything they were fighting.

When they broke apart, Carl grinned. "Just so you know... I'm not scared of you."

Ophelia smiled, a rare, sharp thing. "Good. I'd hate to break you."

They found Calen Virell in an old coastal laboratory, half-buried in sand and time.

He wasn't dead.

He was hidden.

"I knew you'd come," he said as Ophelia stepped into the ruined lab, the wind biting at her coat. He looked older, thinner - like a ghost of the man who once raised her.

"I saw your message," she said. "And I came for the truth."

He coughed into his sleeve. "Truth's not free, Ophelia. It breaks things."

Carl and Lilith stayed close behind her. Carl's gaze never left Calen.

"You were working with them," Carl accused. "You helped make this mess."

Calen didn't flinch. "And I tried to unmake it. Halo Prime was never meant to be a weapon. It was meant to heal us. To evolve us."

Lilith sneered. "So you handed us over to monsters?"

Calen looked at Ophelia.

"No. I handed you over to her."

"Selene," Ophelia said, jaw tight.

"My sister," he confirmed. "She said she'd protect you. That you'd be safe. She used my love for you - and I was weak."

Ophelia's voice trembled. "And what now? You want redemption?"

"No," Calen whispered. "I want to help you finish this."

The Red Room was Velgrave's clean-up division.

Untraceable. Lethal. Silent.

And they were sent after Nina.

She had been on a supply run - just her and Kai - when the sky turned white and the city block collapsed in flame.

By the time the team arrived, she was pinned beneath debris, bleeding badly.

Kai was unconscious. Half his ribs shattered.

Carl carried Nina back with shaking hands. Her breathing was ragged.

"She needs a medic," Ophelia barked, clearing a table as Lilith scrambled to stabilize her.

Tobias burst in minutes later with adrenaline and synth-blood.

"She's crashing!" Lilith shouted. "Heart rate's down!"

Ophelia clutched Nina's hand, her voice cracking. "Don't you dare die on me."

Nina's eyes fluttered.

"I'm not done being mad at you yet," she rasped.

Everyone laughed through tears.

But the message was clear.

Velgrave had escalated.

And next time, they wouldn't leave survivors.

The attack on Nina changed everything.

The team splintered again.

Ezra wanted vengeance.

Kai wanted silence.

Ophelia wanted strategy.

Tempers flared in the war room.

"You're becoming soft," Ezra snapped. "You've got the public's sympathy and now you're hesitating?"

"I'm not hesitating," Ophelia shot back. "I'm choosing battles."

"You kissed Carl and now you think you're invincible."

She stepped forward, cold and sharp. "Say that again."

Carl stepped in, firm. "We don't turn on each other. We don't let anger make decisions."

Ezra's fists clenched.

But he backed down.

Barely.

Lilith exhaled. "We're all cracking."

Tobias, silent until now, spoke up. "Then maybe it's time we stop reacting... and start finishing it."

Ophelia nodded slowly.

"We hit the Core."

Everyone went still.

Velgrave's central headquarters.

The heart of the beast.

Carl stepped to her side. "Let's break their heart."

Velgrave's Core tower loomed above the city, wrapped in force fields and psychic interference.

But Ophelia had been inside before.

As a child.

She remembered the echo of high ceilings, the chill of marble, the weight of control in every corridor.

This time, she brought war with her.

They split into three teams:

Team Alpha: Ophelia, Carl, and Ezra - targeting the control servers. Team Beta: Lilith and Tobias - handling internal security and systems. Team Delta: Kai and Nina - backup and extraction.

Inside, chaos unfolded.

Carl took down drones with precision. Ezra blasted open reinforced doors. Ophelia navigated the maze of her childhood prison like a predator returning home.

They reached the core server room.

Selene was waiting.

Clad in obsidian. Surrounded by bio-armored guards.

"You brought the rats to my cathedral," she said, almost amused.

"You built this cathedral on blood," Ophelia replied.

"And you think burning it down makes you a savior?" Selene sneered. "You're just another child throwing a tantrum."

Ophelia stepped forward. "No. I'm evolution."

Then she struck.