Third-person POV: The woman standing in front of them wore nothing on her upper body except a camo bandeau loaded with ammo. Her bronze skin gleamed with a wild, athletic energy, and her striking features carried a fierce, exotic edge. She spoke the Astralis tongue with a rough accent, and every now and then a flicker of feral slit pupils flashed in her eyes. The way she looked at Thora was like she was already dead. Thora met her gaze calmly, the corner of her mouth curling coldly. "A rat?" She glanced past Alissa, spotting two mercenaries in camo gear aiming their rifles at her. "I'd say the tiger fits better." As she spoke, Thora shifted aside and struck—a sharp hand chop knocking the gun from Alissa's grip. The space was small. Alissa couldn't transform into her wolf form, but even in human shape, she could easily handle a teenager without an awakened wolf spirit. She swung a punch sideways. Holding back her wolf strength, Alissa attacked; Thora concealed her own power as well. They both knew it—if any surge of energy trigger the bombs here, they'd all die together. So they fought barehanded. Thora suddenly exploded into motion, her strength cutting through the air with a sharp hiss. The two mercenaries tried to aim, but her movements blurred—she and Alissa tangled so fast their bodies became one blur of motion. There was no way to get a clear shot. From far away, a sniper scope locked onto the scene. The red dot slid over the mercenaries and Alissa. Shirley avoided Thora on purpose, her finger hovering on the trigger.Then the two mercenaries who had aimed at Thora suddenly dropped—one after another—without making a sound. Alissa saw them fall, her slit pupils tightening. A sniper! She struck Thora with a hand chop, used the force to roll across the floor, grabbed her pistol, and ducked behind a pillar, breathing hard. Her knuckles whitened around the gun. That girl hadn't even awakened a wolf spirit, yet her moves were sharper than a killer trained for ten years. That strike almost shattered her wrist. If not for the bombs, she would've shifted and torn her apart. Thora rolled twice and pushed herself up. Alissa crouched in a corner right in Thora's blind spot and also in the dead zone of Shirley's scope. From that angle, any bullet Shirley fired would only hit concrete. Thora stayed alert.That woman was strong. If the space allowed full wolf power, Thora wouldn't stand a chance. Her eyes flicked to the timer bomb flashing red. Time was running out. She looked toward a distant point and made a few quick hand signals. Shirley's lips curved. Got it. Her barrel tilted 45 degrees, and she pulled the trigger. At the same moment, Thora raised her pistol and fired into the air. The sniper bullet and Thora's shot met midair, colliding perfectly. The redirected round grazed the pillar's edge and drilled into Alissa's arm. "Ah!" Alissa screamed. The sniper rifle was loaded with Greywolf's custom silver plated bullets—powerful, and impossible for a werewolf to heal from. Blood poured down Alissa's arm. She glared at Thora, then turned and fled into another corridor. Thora started to chase her but froze at the sound of ticking. She spun around, crouched by the bomb, and quickly cut the wires. Shirley clicked her tongue, tasting the powder in the air. Not a kill shot. What a waste. But the target was gone—no way to finish the job now. She climbed down from her vantage point. When she reached Thora, the danger that had surrounded her turned into open admiration. "Thora, you can defuse bombs and shoot like that... Who are you really?" Neither of them noticed that one of the mercenaries Shirley had just taken down suddenly opened his eyes. He raised his gun and fired—the bullet streaked straight toward the center of Shirley's brow.