V.E.I.L. Division: Alpha

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Sage

The adrenaline had burned off by the time we made it back to headquarters.

Reports came first. Debriefs, documentation, incident logs. V.E.I.L. didn’t care if you’d just pulled someone out of a blood-drenched ritual circle—they wanted it typed, signed, and filed within the hour.

I was seated at one of the long shared desks in the open ops floor, fingers flying across the keys, mind still playing back the images from the field. I could still taste copper in the back of my throat.

Ash sat across from me, chewing on a stim stick while half-talking to his techpad. Draven was off near the weapons lockers, cleaning gear in silence. Kade had vanished into his office, door shut, blinds down.

That’s when they came in.

Two women. Standard-issue uniforms, perfectly tailored. Not tactical—not bruisers, not mages. Pretty. Polished. And mean as hell.

One of them—tall, redheaded, fake lashes and glossed lips—slowed as she passed my station. Her friend, darker hair and eyes like blades, leaned in just enough for her voice to carry.

“Figures,” she muttered. “They let just anyone into Alpha these days.”

I didn’t look up.

“Guess all you need now is a decent push-up bra and a blowjob,” the redhead added, louder.

Ash froze mid-sentence. Draven looked up from across the room, his hands still on his blades.

I kept typing.

They laughed softly, like it was just a joke. Just girls being girls. I could feel the eyes on me from the surrounding agents—some curious, some amused, a few quietly waiting to see what I’d do.

I said nothing.

Until the brunette circled back and stopped at the edge of my desk.

“You know,” she said, resting a manicured hand on the wood, “some of us actually earned our positions. We didn’t get them by flashing t**s and playing psychic Barbie.”

I blinked slowly and looked up at her.

That was when it hit.

Vision.

Quick. Sharp. Unfiltered.

Her. Bent over a supply room desk. Thighs spread. Hands gripping a tactical vest that wasn’t her boyfriend’s. Her voice gasping a name that didn’t match the one on her necklace.

My lip curled before I could stop it.

“Funny,” I said softly. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

She blinked, thrown.

“About positions,” I added. “Like the one you were in last Thursday at 02:17. Supply Room B. With Corporal Renner. Not your boyfriend, though. He’s the one who brought you coffee that morning. Poor bastard.”

The color drained from her face.

Dead silence.

Ash’s stim stick fell out of his mouth and hit the desk with a tap.

I kept my eyes on her. Cold. Calm. Cruel.

“You might want to go wash the guilt off before he figures it out himself,” I added. “Or don’t. I don’t really give a shit.”

Her mouth opened. Closed. No sound came out.

The redhead stepped in, trying to pull her away, whispering something sharp. They left fast—heels clicking, posture stiff, not looking back.

Draven walked past my desk as they fled. Didn’t break stride. Didn’t raise his voice.

“Brutal,” he muttered. “I liked it.”

Ash was still staring. “Holy shit.”

I went back to typing.

Ten minutes later, I felt eyes on me again. This time from across the room.

Kade stood just outside his office, watching the floor like he’d seen the whole thing play out. His jaw was tight. Expression unreadable.

He didn’t say anything.

He didn’t have to.

But as I watched him turn and disappear back into his office, I felt something settle in my chest.

They weren’t calling me the new girl anymore.

Now they were calling me something else.

And that? That was fine by me.