Page 18 of Knot Your Fated M.U.S.E.

Ravenscroft will be a piece of cake.

4

FORGOTTEN IS BETTER THAN BETRAYAL

~KIERAN~

Duck. Weave. Strike.

The rhythm of survival.

Obstacles fly from all directions in the training room – foam projectiles designed to simulate combat conditions. Each one a potential threat.

An opportunity to prove I'm still worth something.

Still dangerous.Yes.

But a reminder I’m still alive.

My body moves on instinct, muscle memory taking over as I dodge another volley. The machines whir and click, recalibrating their aim.

Trying to catch me off guard.

They never do.

Not anymore.

Close eyes. Listen harder.

Whistle of air displacement from the left – drop and roll.

Click of launcher resetting above – spring right.

Whir of servos adjusting angle – leap back.

The predator in me purrs, pleased with each successful evasion. This is what I was built for. What the government deems as valuable as an Alpha in a demanding world where performance is everything. What the military shaped me into before everything went to hell.

Before her.

Seeing Dante earlier, lost in his own personal hell, sparked something in me. That familiar rage that never quite dies. The urge to burn everything down and watch the suits who sent us to die choke on the ashes.

They don't tell you this part in recruitment.

Don't mention the cost.

Just flash those pretty paychecks and talk about serving your country. About making your family proud. About being part of something bigger than yourself.

Dodge left. Strike right. Keep moving.

Never stop moving.

Dante was twenty-two when he joined Alpha Ops. Bright-eyed and full of dreams. Going to save the world, he said. Going to make enough money to give his little sister the life she deserved.

Now he's thirty-five, half-deaf and haunted. Jumping at shadows and fighting off panic attacks when the walls close in too tight.

And his sister?

Dead in the same bombing that nearly killed him.

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