Chapter 179: Overambitious
Draven’s POV
"I don’t like failures. I like people who go out to do something and win. Still, I can’t deny that you all tried and did your best."
Tony’s voice was flat. "May could have died, but she’s strong, and a warrior. I’ll give you all some time to cool off. When she’s back on her feet, in a few days, she’ll give you some training. Okay?"
He walked out of the room.
I felt like strangling May right there.
She was overambitious. I wondered if that was how humans behaved, if they couldn’t see danger coming or were just plain blind.
I wanted to keep my mouth shut, but I couldn’t hold it in. I had to spit it out.
"May, may I ask you a question?" My friends started laughing before I even finished.
"It better not be something stupid, or else..."
"What motivates you to be this strong?"
She looked at me like I had no idea what I was saying.
"Are you for real right now?"
"Yes, I’m for real, May."
"Okay. I was in the military. That’s why I’m this strong."
I wanted to banter with her, the same way Tony bantered with us whenever we came back from a dangerous mission alive.
"So what would have happened if you’d died on the battlefield? Would your strength have mattered then?"
She frowned at me. "Where is this heading, Draven? I don’t understand."
"You haven’t answered my question," I said, harsh and sharp.
"Well, I would have died. We’re taught to give up our lives for the mission if we have to."
"Ohh, so that’s why you wanted us to die too." I leaned in. "Do you realize not all of us have your military training? Not everyone has your mindset. Forcing your mentality on us is crazy. I find it absurd."
"Hey, watch how you talk to me!" She tried to get up from her wheelchair.
My friends rushed to hold her down. I wondered what she was trying to do.
"You want to get up? Come on, then. Get up, jump, fly if you have to. But remember, I’m the leader of this group. We’re trying to win missions like we’ve always done, but we’re also trying not to die, because if we die, there’ll be no one left to carry them out."
𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
She stared at me awkwardly. I knew she would hate me intensely from that day on.
I didn’t care. I was just trying to stay alive.
I walked outside, and Valentina followed me.
I only needed somewhere to breathe and rest my head. I dropped it against the rail of the covered balcony.
Thoughts rushed through my mind, one over the other. It felt like I had yet to see the height of cruelty.
The family we had killed had been announced on the news as a robbery attack. All of us knew it wasn’t a robbery. It was planned and deliberate.
No action was ever taken, because the government was responsible for those deaths.
We lived in a corrupt system, and I couldn’t stomach it anymore.
Valentina found me like that. She placed her hands on my back and began to rub it gently.
"It’ll be alright," she said softly. "This is just a season, Draven. It will pass."
I raised my head and looked at her.
"When one season ends, we seem to enter a worse one. I’m tired, Val. I wish I could disappear from this place and never be seen again."
She hugged me tightly. The warmth of her body pressed against mine was sending me messages, but I wasn’t ready to reply. She was a former whore, so she knew exactly what she was doing. Or maybe it was subconscious. Who knew?
"I could have killed Selene, Val." My eyes started to burn, and I felt them water. "She was my mate. We were betrothed, supposed to get married. I loved her sister, but I still pointed a gun at her, looked her in the face, and could have pulled the trigger. Her husband saved her. But what if she’d died? I’d have known for sure I had no heart left."
Valentina held my chin. "Ever since we met, Draven, it’s always been about survival. That’s our language. I had to strip to survive, and you had your own share. We’re rooted so deep in this game that we can’t come out clean. It’s unfair until the very end, and we’ll face it together."
She kissed my cheek, and it warmed me.
We went back inside.
Looking at how things were, I couldn’t blame Lucas for leaving us to find his own path. He had gone to build something for himself, something this system could never give him.
When I stepped in, I got a surprise. May was already on her feet, taking bold steps.
She refused to stay down for long.
"Hmm, am I seeing clearly?" I asked.
She was moving her body vigorously, like she was about to take flight.
"Yeah, the mission stays in her body," Zeno said. "Nothing can stop her." The rest of them laughed.
She came toward me slowly, limping slightly.
"I’m thinking you still need to rest," I said before she could say a word. "From the look of things. I’m just saying."
She stepped right up to my face and spoke into my ear.
"When I’m fully active, which will be in a few minutes, you’ll repeat everything you said to me. And we have a score to settle."
She stepped back.
Tony walked in.
"Okay, quickly. What we have next for you is getting money to fund all this before we go hunting an alpha and a Luna again."
"All the money belongs to the government," I said. "So why do we need to steal it?"
"We’re not stealing. We’re retrieving it. We entrusted it to someone who isn’t using it properly. Kill him if you have to, just get the money. We’ll send you the details."
He left us again.