Elora took the quickest shower possible and put on faded ripped jeans accompanied by a white blouse. After fixing her waist-length auburn hair into a messy bun, she headed downstairs.
"Come on, let me drop you at your home," she told Corsen while dragging him out of the kitchen where he had been pestering her mother and Mrs. Li.
"I'm not going anywhere." Corsen protested but still let her drag him into the living room where Grandpa Wu was playing chess with Charles.
"Are you two going out?" Grandpa Wu asked as he noticed them heading towards the hallway leading to the entrance.
"I'm just going to greet Aunt Rhea," Elora replied as she collected the paper bags that were placed on the table standing next to the huge cupid painting that was occupying the entire west wall of the living room.
"Then remember to invite your uncle and aunt for dinner. We can have a small family get-to-gather today," Grandpa Wu said as he smiled at the thought of sharing a warm evening with his family.
"I will, grandpa. Bye!" Elora waved her hand in a small sweet gesture before she walked out of the living room with Corsen.
"Hold them."
"Huh?"
Corsen stared at the girl in confusion as he did not understand what she wanted him to hold. The very next second, she dumped all the bags in his arms before walking away like she was out strolling in the garden.
"Ely...!" he shouted behind her before he adjusted all the bags in his hands and then ran after his evil sister to catch up with her.
***
"Wow! I would have never guessed that we would be staying in a fucking mansion. This place is awesome." Solar could not help but speak out her thoughts in amazement as she looked around their new base.
"Every building here is a luxurious apartment and you won't be able to find anything less than a villa in this expensive place. And this... is a villa, not a mansion. We can't afford a mansion." Lion cleared the misunderstanding of the thirty-two-year-old woman who loved to act like a teenager most of the time.
Solar gave him an eye roll in response before she turned towards the rest of the members of the team. "The master bedroom is booked for the boss. That leaves us with the remaining three bedrooms on the ground floor and two on the upper floor. I'm going to pick mine and I will only allow Trix as my roommate. No negotiations allowed."
Making her words loud and clear, the thirty-two-year-old lady turned around to grab her suitcase before she started dragging an annoyed Trix towards one of the bedrooms located in the far corner on the ground floor.
Radley, or mostly called Dragon by his teammates, turned to look at Rose, the young lady who was known as the hidden gem of their team. "Don't worry, sweetheart. You can share a room with me and Clyde."
Clyde, mostly known as Siren, gave a quick nod to Rose before he once again returned his attention to his laptop. The twenty-two-year-old young man loved his computers more than his life. But again, he was a hacker who had spent more than fifteen years of his life playing with electronic gadgets.
He was not only the youngest in the team but also the latest to join their group. He was an introvert but mostly stayed with Rose as she was the second youngest in the team at the age of twenty-four.
"Sure, uncle dragon. I'll be picking the room though." Rose replied with a fake smile before she grabbed her suitcase and left the leaving room where the others were chuckling looking at the dark expression on Radley's face.
"Give the girl some break. She's still on edge because of the breakup. Don't mess with her too much. You know it won't end in a good way for you." Norman, or the one known as Lion, told Radley as he too moved to settle his stuff in his room.
In the end, Rufus, and Mark ended up occupying the second biggest bedroom on the ground floor while Radley, Clyde, and Rose settled in one of the bedrooms upstairs. Trix and Solar shared the room while Norman got a bedroom to himself. They left one of the rooms empty to stock it up with all their forbidden goods.
"Alpha..." Norman knocked on the door of the study room before entering. Auden was busy looking through the files that contained some of the most secret information about the rich families living in the Rockville estates.
"... Wolf, and I'll be heading out in a few minutes to scout around the complex. Trix and Dragon are already fixing the empty room as the information room and Clyde is working on the security system of the estates." He informed the Captain who nodded his head before closing the file and locking it in the top-most drawer.
"I'm also heading out. Let's meet in the underground base at six o'clock." Auden told the Lion who gave a quick nod as he followed him out of the study.
"Boss, are you going to meet General?" Norman asked as they entered the living room which was empty at this point as almost everyone was busy with their assigned works.
Auden shook his head slightly in response before he readjusted the black cap that he was wearing. "General is no longer in the city. He left this morning due to an urgent case. There are chances that we won't be able to contact the headquarters for the time being. Let's not worry too much about it. Our current mission is to infiltrate the big families of the city. We should focus on it."
Norman immediately nodded his head in understanding. Their team was assigned with a special mission and they were set to finish it at all costs.
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Shadow Team -
# Auden Laurier - Alpha/Captain (25)*
# Rufus - Wolf/2nd in command (27)
# Mark - Panther (27)
# Norman - Lion (28)
# Radley - Dragon (30)
# Clyde - Siren (22)
# Solar - Sorrel (32)
# Roisin - Rose (24)
# Trix - Pixie (25)
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* The numbers in brackets are their ages.