Jack didn't sleep that night.
He tried.
He lay on the small bunk in his temporary Astra dorm, staring at the ceiling where faint cracks formed spider-like veins across the plaster. He counted them. Then recounted them. He closed his eyes. Opened them. Rolled over. Tried breathing exercises Maya had taught him.
Nothing helped.
Because every time he closed his eyes, he saw Mercer's face.
Awaken, Alpha.
His whole body shivered.
He sat up abruptly and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes until he saw stars.
"I'm not him," he whispered to the empty room. "I'm not anyone's Alpha."
The darkness didn't answer.
Training After Midnight
At 3:17 AM, Jack gave up on sleeping.
He walked to the training hall—barefoot, exhausted, wearing only a T-shirt and track pants. The lights were dimmed to sleep mode, casting a bluish glow across the equipment. The room felt calmer at night, less oppressive, like it wasn't judging him for failing drills or stumbling into drones.
Jack grabbed a practice dummy and started slow punches.
Left.
Right.
Jab.
Elbow.
He tried to remember Maya's instructions:
Balance forward. Keep your hands high. Don't overuse your shoulders. Power comes from the hips.
He pivoted and struck—
—and nearly fell over.
Jack groaned. "I'm hopeless."
"No," a voice answered from the dark.
Jack froze.
Maya Rios stepped into the pool of dim lighting, wearing a loose training hoodie and sweatpants, hair tied in a messy half-bun. Her eyes held the same sharpness as always, but her posture was softer, almost… concerned.
"What are you doing awake?" Jack asked.
She lifted a brow. "I could ask you the same thing."
He sighed. "Couldn't sleep."
"I noticed," she said gently, stepping closer.
"You noticed?"
"There are sensors in the dorm halls," she replied. "You walked past mine."
Jack blinked. "Wait — your room is next to mine?"
Her mouth twitched. "You're under protection detail. Of course I'm close."
"I thought Rafael—"
"He's on the opposite hall. I'm closer for emergencies."
Jack tried not to overthink that. Tried and failed.
She looked down at his bare feet. "You're training without shoes?"
"I didn't plan this," he said weakly.
Maya hummed, then stepped into the training ring.
"Come on."
Jack blinked. "Come on what?"
"We're training."
"It's 3 AM!"
"Helix won't wait for morning."
Jack groaned. "Why do you always make such irritatingly valid points?"
Maya smirked. "Get in the ring."
Jack hesitated, then followed.
Close-Quarters Combat
Maya circled him slowly.
"Relax your shoulders."
Jack exhaled.
"Lower your stance."
He bent slightly.
"Hands up."
He raised them.
Maya nodded.
"Good. Now hit me."
"What?! No."
"It was a command, Jack. Not a suggestion."
"But you're—"
"Stronger than you? Faster? More experienced? Yes. Hit me anyway."
Jack swallowed, lifted a fist, and swung—hesitant and awkward.
Maya caught it with two fingers.
Two.
"This is embarrassing," she said.
"Hey—!"
"Again."
Jack struck harder. Maya deflected with ease.
"Again."
Jack punched, kicked, elbowed—Maya blocked them all like she was swatting flies.
Finally, breathless, he tried a wide kick.
Maya sidestepped and swept his leg clean out from under him.
Jack hit the mat with a painful thud.
He groaned. "Okay, maybe I am hopeless."
Maya knelt beside him. "You're not hopeless. You're just afraid."
Jack stared at the ceiling again. "Afraid of Mercer?"
"No," she said quietly. "Afraid of yourself."
His breath caught.
Maya's voice softened in a way she rarely allowed:
"You're afraid that if you get strong… you'll become what Helix wanted you to be."
Jack didn't answer.
Because she was right.
So painfully right.
But before he could respond—
A blaring alarm cut through the silence.
Deep.
Shrill.
Urgent.
Maya shot to her feet instantly.
Her posture changed—shoulders tense, jaw tight, hand reaching for a weapon that wasn't on her nighttime clothes.
Jack scrambled up. "Maya, what's happening?"
Before she could answer, Rafael came crashing through the doors, half-dressed in tactical gear, hair wet from a shower he clearly hadn't finished.
"Intruders!" he barked. "South entrance breached!"
Jack froze.
Breached?
Now?
At 3 in the damn morning?
Maya grabbed Jack's arm. "Stay close. Do not leave my side."
Jack nodded, adrenaline slamming through him.
"Who is it?" Jack asked.
Rafael strapped a pistol to his chest. "We don't know. But the cameras caught something fast."
Jack felt chills. "Helix?"
"Most likely."
Maya pulled him behind a column as the emergency blast doors sealed the main hall.
Lights shifted to red.
Klaxons screamed.
Footsteps thundered through the complex.
Jack's fingers trembled. "I'm not ready—"
Maya cupped his face with both her hands, forcing him to look at her.
"Jack. Listen to me."
He swallowed.
"You trained for this. You survived the drones. You survived the alley. You survived the cognitive test. You're not helpless."
Jack took a shaky breath.
Maya's voice dropped lower.
"You're not alone."
Something in Jack steadied.
He nodded.
"Okay."
Rafael motioned them over, rifle raised. "We move on three. Stick to the walls, keep your head down."
Jack whispered, "I don't have a weapon."
Maya tossed him a stun baton she grabbed from the emergency rack. "Now you do."
Jack blinked at the baton. "This feels… small."
"Use it right," Rafael muttered, "and it's enough."
The Intruder
They made it halfway down the corridor before a chilling sound echoed through the hall:
Tap… tap… tap…
Soft footsteps.
Light.
Deliberate.
Almost playful.
Maya stopped dead.
Her hand drifted toward her own knife instinctively.
"Rafael," she whispered, "tell me you recognize that sound."
Rafael's face went pale.
"Shit."
Jack's heart raced. "What? Who is it?"
Both siblings said in unison:
"Mantis."
Jack felt his stomach drop.
The hallway lights flickered.
And then—
Something moved at the far end of the corridor.
A shadow.
A silhouette.
Too fluid.
Too smooth.
Then she stepped into view.
Slim.
Dark suit hugging her limbs.
Green eyes gleaming faintly behind a mask.
Mantis.
Her voice drifted down the hall like silk dipped in poison.
"Hello, Alpha."
Jack's breath caught.
Maya immediately stepped in front of him, blade drawn.
Mantis tilted her head, amused.
"Oh. The pet wolf guarding the lamb."
Rafael bristled. "You're not getting through us."
Mantis smirked beneath her mask.
"I don't need to get through you."
She looked directly at Jack.
"I only came to see him."
Jack felt a chill crawl up his spine.
Mantis laughed softly.
"Relax, Maya. I'm not here to kill him."
Her gaze sharpened.
"Not yet."
Jack's pulse hammered.
Mantis looked him up and down.
"You're growing stronger," she said. "Good. It will make breaking you much more satisfying."
Jack stepped back instinctively.
Maya stepped forward, blocking him again.
"You want him," Maya growled. "You'll go through me."
Mantis sighed, almost lovingly.
"Yes, that was the plan."
She shifted her weight.
A knife slipped into her hand from nowhere — silent, silver, deadly.
Then—
She vanished.
Not ran.
Not jumped.
Vanished.
Jack blinked—
And Mantis was suddenly inches from Maya's throat.
"How fast can you move?" Mantis whispered.
Maya reacted in less than a heartbeat — ducking, twisting, dragging Jack backward.
Rafael fired.
Mantis flipped sideways, the bullet grazing the wall.
"Oh, Rafael," she teased. "You missed."
Rafael gritted his teeth. "Not next time."
Mantis laughed — bright and cruel.
"Relax. I'm not taking Alpha tonight. I only came to say hello."
Jack shivered.
Mercer's message echoed in his skull.
Awaken, Alpha.
Mantis bowed mockingly.
"Until next time."
And then—
she leaped upward, claws catching a ceiling vent.
Slipped inside.
Vanished.
Silence hit harder than the alarm.
Maya's chest heaved.
Rafael cursed softly.
Jack whispered, "She was… watching us."
Maya put a shaking hand on his shoulder.
"She'll be back."
Rafael reloaded his weapon.
"And next time," he said darkly, "we'll be ready."
Maya looked at Jack.
Her eyes were steady.
But he could see the fear she wasn't showing.
Because this wasn't a training exercise.
This wasn't simulation.
This was Helix.
This was Mantis.
This was war.