Frozen Flame of Dawn

Currently Amira's house was lively, filled with the warm glow of candlelight and the comforting aroma of home-cooked food filled the dining hall of what was once the mayor's residence, now home to her, Layla her sister, Rina, and Bella.

Tonight, however, the house was filled with more than just its usual occupants. Aiden, Tommy, Ezzie, and Elias had also joined, making the large wooden dining table feel warmer than ever.

The atmosphere was surprisingly light, given the weight of their responsibilities. Plates clinked, soft laughter echoed, and for the first time in weeks, they weren't discussing battle strategies or threats looming beyond the outer walls.

Tommy leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms as he let out a contented sigh. "Damn, I didn't realize how much I missed such good food," he said, a lazy smile spreading across his face as he looked towards Rina's mother. "Aunty, I don't know how you did it, but this is hands down the best meal I've had in months."

Ellen, Rina's mother, chuckled as she wiped her hands on her apron while she sat on her seat after done serving. "It's just simple cooking, dear. You all have been working hard and eating nothing but roasted meat and whatever dried rations you could take."

But as soon as she said these words she stopped and made an expression of understanding as a thought struck her mind saying. "And looking at your schedule, it's no wonder you think this is a feast." She paused and looked at Amira and said. "Amira dear, why don't we make these small feast weekly for your colleagues and teammates who are working hard daily."

Her words made her everyone their think of it as a great idea, as they get to eat some delicious food and also have a relaxing gathering with everyone.

"Sure Aunty, we can do that it will also work as small relaxation gathering for everyone which can bring us together." Amira said as she listened thoughtful while continuing. "Why don't you take this task up with other aunties, as they always ask us some work to help. It will also help them keep occupied."

Tommy nodded frantically with a smile saying. "Yes Aunty you should do this."

Rina, sitting beside her mother, smirked as she turned to Tommy. "Oh, so now you're being all charming and flattering? What, you think buttering up my mom is going to impress her?" She arched an eyebrow in mock suspicion. "And let me guess, you're are doing this just to get to mother's good books?"

The entire table burst into laughter at her teasing, and Tommy held up his hands in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, I wasn't flattering! I was just appreciating the effort, don't think think it as other way."

Rina rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Tommy. You eat like a starving wolf every day. I bet you wouldn't even notice if your food was burnt." "That's not true," Tommy shot back with a grin. "It's just that when you're used to eating mutant beast meat half-cooked on a campfire, anything remotely edible starts to taste like fine dining."

"Also you know what I don't need to impress aunty as I'm sure she must have seen me on news before as I have been interviewed many times for our work previously," he began, pointing his fork at no one in particular, "before all this supernatural madness started, life was simpler. Missions were clean, direct. You got the orders, executed them, and went home with a pat on the back."

He took a dramatic pause, waiting for someone to roll their eyes before continuing. "There was this one time I had to protect a high-profile diplomat from an assassination attempt. Now, everyone thought it was gonna be a disaster because we had intel that a whole mercenary unit had been hired to take him out. But guess what?"

He pointed to himself. "I handled it like a pro. Took down a couple of those mercs, coordinated the evacuation, and boom—safe and sound, all while making sure the press got a good shot of me." He chuckled, shaking his head. "They even aired my face on the news for a few days. Good times."

Bella, who had been quietly sipping her wine, smirked and set her glass down. "Must be nice," she said, voice laced with amusement. "Being in the spotlight, getting credit, all that recognition."

Tommy turned to her with a grin. "Yeah, I mean, sure. But that's part of the job, right? You do good work, people know about it."

Bella exchanged a knowing glance with Amira, who merely raised an eyebrow. "See," Bella continued, "in our line of work, exposure like that would be a death sentence. Our missions were always… let's just say, off the books. There's no media coverage because there's no proof we were ever there. Governments know we exist, but they don't know the details. Some even pretend we don't exist."

She smirked slightly. "Like that mission you were talking about? Yeah, we were there too. You just didn't see us."

Tommy frowned, setting down his fork. "Wait, what?"

Amira finally chimed in, her voice casual as she leaned back in her chair. "While you and Aiden were handling the front-end protection, Bella and I were working behind the scenes. Clearing out threats before they even got close."

Bella nodded. "Your job was to protect the target, ours was to eliminate the danger before it even reached him. No one saw us, no one even knew we were there. That's how it's supposed to be."

Tommy blinked. "Okay, hold on. If you were 'clearing out threats' so well, then why did few of them get through and nearly take out the guy? If we hadn't stopped them, that whole mission would have gone south."

Rina, who had been silently enjoying her meal, let out a small laugh and rested her chin on her hand. "Oh, that? Yeah, that was us."

Tommy narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, 'that was us'?"

"We let those few guys slip through," she said, grinning. "On purpose."

Tommy nearly choked on his drink. "Excuse me?!"

Amira chuckled, and Aiden—who had been listening quietly, a small smirk on his face—simply continued eating, making no effort to intervene.

Bella lifted her glass again. "We needed someone to take the credit for the mission. If we completely wiped out the threats with no apparent struggle, questions would be raised. It had to look like a standard security operation—one that succeeded because of you guys." She took a sip, then added with a playful smirk, "And you did great, by the way."

Tommy's jaw dropped as he turned to Aiden. "You knew about this?!"

Aiden finally looked up, chewing thoughtfully before giving a small shrug. "Figured it out afterward."

Tommy groaned, slumping back in his chair. "Unbelievable. So you're telling me that the one big moment where I thought I actually saved the day was… staged?"

Rina nodded. "Yep."

Tommy stared at them for a moment before muttering, "I hate you all."

Ezzie burst into laughter. "Oh, come on, Tommy! You got the fame, the news coverage. That's what you wanted, right?"

Tommy muttered something under his breath before shaking his head. "I don't know whether to be pissed or impressed."

Before anyone could enjoy his moment of existential crisis, he abruptly leaned forward with a grin. "Alright fine, let's say that one was staged. But you can't say the same about the mission we pulled off just a week before. And I bet you'll be shocked when you hear the whole story."

He looked around, waiting for someone to challenge him, but the group seemed intrigued enough to let him continue. "You've all probably heard whispers about how we encountered a small beast wave and managed to make it back unscathed from it without walls or defenses, right?"

Layla gave him a side glance, chewing thoughtfully. "Yeah, have heard about it how you made a barricade with your car and managed to delay the attack enough to brought time to get in formation, you know after you brought back all the damaged armed cars it still isn't fixed and have to say you made use of it completely."

Tommy scoffed. "Nah, it wasn't just using those cars as barricade for defense but a pure skill of mine. Let me set the scene for you…"

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Sorry will have to take break from writing further due to health reason but will back with 2 new chapter regularly from 1 April. Also please don't read or unlock next 2 privilege chapter before that as will make changes in that.

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