The Apocalyptic Queen's Werewolf Journey Chapter 486: Saved These for You

The moment everyone saw Shirley, it hit them all at once—they'd completely forgotten about her.

They were done for. Everyone knew Shirley was a bottomless pit when it came to food. Eating without her was practically a death wish.

The faintest curve touched Thora's lips as she casually slid several untouched plates of fresh skewers in front of Shirley. "Saved these for you." They were all Shirley's favorites—cartilage and sausages.

Luke also produced a few more plates of ingredients from somewhere—nobody knew where—and set them down without a word. But judging by the way Shirley's eyes lit up like Christmas lights, they were clearly all things she loved.

The sight of the skewers and ingredients instantly defused the bomb. Shirley plopped down, found herself a spot, and started eating with a grin that could light up a room.

Mona watched the scene and felt a pang of envy stir inside her—and she wasn't alone. The other cadets in the room all felt a warmth and a longing they couldn't quite put into words.

This kind of friendship was the most beautiful thing in the world, and it was impossible not to envy.

Mona had always admired it. At one point, she'd even been jealous of Shirley.

She couldn't understand why this girl got to trail after Thora so freely, like a little shadow that couldn't be shaken off. Why Thora spoiled her so completely, never so much as raising her voice at her.

And it wasn't just Thora. Everyone in their inner circle seemed the same way—they might grumble about Shirley's antics now and then, but every single one of them indulged her and let her have her way.

Why did this one girl get to be everyone's favorite? Was it really just because she was cute?

Even now, that faint sliver of jealousy still lingered.

She wanted so badly to be part of their circle, but no matter how hard she tried, there always seemed to be a wall she couldn't break through, as if she'd never quite earned the right to belong.

With Shirley joining in, the balcony barbecue got even livelier.

And while they were lounging in a seven-star hotel feasting on premium cuts, the other Blue Star Military Academy squads were having a considerably rougher time.

Some were holed up in abandoned buildings for a quick rest. Others had pitched tents in the wilderness.

A certain crowd believed that real missions were supposed to look like suffering—if you weren't freezing, getting bitten by mosquitoes, or sleeping in some run-down dump, it didn't count as a real operation, and it certainly wasn't "cool" enough.

And funnily enough, this same crowd happened to be the ones who complained the loudest about Thora's squad blowing through their budget.

...

After the barbecue, everyone took the initiative to head back to their rooms, shower the smoke off, and then reconvene in Luke's room.

Luke dropped the playful act too, shifting into a serious tone as he delivered his mission briefing to Thora.

"Boss, I looked into that truck you flagged for me." Luke's fingers flew across the keyboard, and a holographic display lit up instantly, projecting the vehicle's route. "This is the truck's complete route through the Golden Triad. Every point I've marked is a location where it made a stop."

Thora studied the route on the display. One stretch of it lined up perfectly with the time she'd spent inside the cargo hold.

Since the truck had counterfeit bills hidden in its floor, it must have been in contact with someone from the counterfeit syndicate at some point.

The counterfeit syndicate was based in the Golden Triad, and with a shipment this massive, there was no reason to add a middleman. Thora's best guess was that they'd picked it up directly from headquarters.

All she had to do was trace the truck's earlier route, and the trail would lead straight to the counterfeit syndicate's base.

The truck had made quite a few stops. Thora cross-referenced the route with the Golden Triad's terrain maps and surrounding area data on a split screen and ultimately zeroed in on a single location.

The second Luke saw where her eyes had locked, he pulled up a data set. "The truck was parked here for 40 minutes. Here's the surrounding terrain and street-level imagery."

Thora's brow tightened as her gaze bore into the projected image, eventually settling on what lay beyond a stretch of dense forest.

"What's the time difference between Tristan's city and here?"

"Two hours," Luke answered promptly.

Thora glanced at her watch. "The deal goes down the day after tomorrow. Notify everyone to stay sharp and keep their guard up. Tristan's team handles the diversion. No need to go in guns blazing."

Luke nodded. "Copy that."

As the orders went out, Thora also issued instructions to the people around her—starting tomorrow, they'd be doing recon along the truck's route.

On top of that, she planned to carve out some time tomorrow to check in on the rest of Ashwolf. If she didn't, those guys would throw a fit about her being in the Golden Triad and not coming to see them, accusing her of forgetting old friends the second she found new ones.

When it came to stuff like that, they were way more fired up than they ever were about actual missions.

With assignments handed out, Thora turned in for the night and slept like a rock. A king-sized bed in a luxury hotel beats sleeping under the stars by a mile.

And that same night, Roxen, Tobias, and the others arrived in the Golden Triad one after another and had already begun their operations.

Thora didn't know the specifics, but none of it surprised her. It was only a matter of time before others tracked down the Golden Triad. The real question was who would locate the target first.

And clearly, for this first leg of the mission, the winner was Thora.

...

The next day, Thora had barely left the hotel when she picked up on someone tailing her.

The corner of her mouth lifted, but she didn't acknowledge it.

Her shadow followed for roughly half an hour before Thora finally stopped in a secluded spot.

The moment she halted, the person behind her stepped out into the open.

"Thora."