Liga Volkov (The League of the Wolves)

Alaina stared down at the yellowed paper in her small delicate hands. They were releasing her from the shtab-kvartira- which had been her home for over eleven years. It was the one place she knew she could go to always be protected. It provided her with such comfort, that she wouldn't have even been upset if they told her she was never allowed to leave. The blonde teenager hadn't even realized that she was crying until her best friend walked into the room and noticed the salt water leaking out of her eyes.

"You got the notice too?" The sixteen year old female with dyed lilac colored hair asked, head tilted to the side slightly as she narrowed her hazel eyes in concern. Alaina had been Vera's best friend since the first time Vera was brought into the base. They'd automatically clicked over the passing of their parents, and had been best friends ever since.

"Y-yeah, I did," Alaina sniffled and brushed her tears away from her face using the back of her hand. Whether she liked to admit it or not, she had abandonment issues- and this almost felt exactly like she was being left behind, or kicked out. She sat down on the slightly hard cot in the corner of the room, which had served as her bed for years. They'd never switched rooms, and had gotten very used to their cozy surroundings.

The room had a very basement-y feel to it, as the walls were a light beige color and the floors where hard like cement and white. The cot in the corner was a dark green color, which matched the forest green dresser next to it. There was a lamp on top of the small dresser and at the end of the bed was a hope chest which was stained a dark woodsy cinder.

"I'm kind of happy to go, we've been here for how long now? I've only ever seen the outside world when we go on training exercises. I'm excited," Vera stated with a small shrug, trying to get the pale blonde to see leaving as a good thing rather than bad. Alaina scooted backwards so her spine was resting against the cool, hard wall and sighed heavily.

"It'll be fun for the first few weeks because it'll feel like a vacation or an adventure. But once we realize that we're never coming back here again... I just don't think I can handle that," She closed her pale blue eyes and set her hands neatly on her lap. Vera moved forward so she was sitting on the cot with her best friend and popped her feet up to rest against the chest which held all of Alaina's belongings.

"Even if our emotions are drawn back to feeling home sick or depressed that we're not here anymore, we've been trained to adapt quickly to new environments. Do you think the senior assassins got home-sick after moving around to nearly all the different countries in the world while on missions? I don't think so. I bet it's something that you mentally grow into- and learn to accept," The lilac-nette said with a small smile, daydreaming about the outside world and the treasures it would expose her too.

"I just don't want to be alone," Alaina muttered, finally opening her eyes and letting her head loll lazily to the side so she could look at Vera. "I'm scared," With the real reason of her not wanting to leave out in the air, Vera laughed lightly and grabbed her blonde friend's hands in her own, squeezing them comfortingly.

"Alaina, you're never going to be alone okay? I'll always be right there with you. There's no need for you to be scared. We've been trained to deal with anything that could possibly happen to us out there. Once you realize that it's easier to hone in your skills than you think, you'll be a lot happier about leaving. It's time to evolve," Alaina nodded at her friend's words and chewed on the inside of her cheek, absorbing everything Vera had said to her. It was a lot to let sink in and get used too, but she was working on it.

"I'm gonna go pack up my stuff that way we're ready for tomorrow. You should do the same. I'll see you at dinner," After quickly ruffling Alaina's head, Vera disappeared out of the room and made her way to her own- which was right down the hall. The blonde stood and closed the grey steel door which held many dents and flipped open the top of her hope chest, beginning to take out the clothes inside and neatly folding them on her bed.

-

Night's in the shtab-kvartira were always close to silent. By now, all of the initiates had learned that the times the elders had given the initiates to go to sleep- held good reasons. If you yawned during practice at any time, you were to run three miles. It was a pretty harsh punishment (so the cadets believe) but it would pay off when they realized that they could now run three miles like it was nothing. Something that would eventually come into handy one day, whether they thought it would or not.

Although it wasn't silent with the sound of snores in the sleeping wings, but of rustling sheets and items being packed into suitcases instead. The younger assassins who were going to be moved out into the real world couldn't sleep. It's hard to get your mind to rest when all you can think of is the changes your life is about to have. And what that change will bring.

A quiet knock at Alaina's door had her up from her spot folding clothes and over to the doorway in seconds. She quietly pulled it open, making sure not to let it squeak (something she had become a pro at) as she stared at the person who was standing the doorway. The female appeared to be in her early twenties, with long wavy black hair and bright green eyes that seemed to hold more wisdom than some of the elders the blonde had seen in her time at the base.

"Zhenna, why're you still up?" Alaina asked, pushing the door open more to let the female in. She made her way over to the bed and began folding again, eager to get all of her packing done before tomorrow so she could spend the rest of the morning saying goodbye to teachers and the elders. Along with some of her friends who were going to a different country than her.

"The same reason you are," The older black haired female stated monotonously. The blonde didn't roll her eyes or scoff, since Zhenna's straightforwardness and lack of expression was something she was definitely used too. "I was told to come let you know that I will be serving as your group leader when we leave,"

"We're leaving in groups?" Alaina's hands stopped moving as she turned around to face Zhenna. The older female nodded and handed her a neatly folded piece of paper that she had shoved into her pocket.

Group Leader: Zhenna
Group: Dante, Alexei, Vladimir, Alaina and Vera

Was set on the page in a female's handwriting, along with many other groups listed below it- but the first one was all Alaina cared about. At least Vera's coming with me... The blonde thought as she bit down on her bottom lip. She knew who Vladimir and Dante were, considering they were the only pair of siblings at the base, but had no idea who Alexei was. In fact, she'd never even heard his name before.

"Are we all going to the same place?" Alaina asked with furrowed eyebrows as she thought about why they were all leaving in groups. Zhenna nodded and refolded the paper, slipping it back into her pocket.

"Yes. We're all starting out with a mission in groups, that way we get used to being in the outside world with others before we break off on our own. Now, Dante and Vladimir don't particularly enjoy working with other assassins, so they might be a problem to the group- but I want you to not argue with them and stay out of any conflict that may arise, understood?" Alaina didn't like being told what to do by people her own age, and her fists clenched behind her back, but she managed to keep her mouth shut and not say anything she would end up regretting later.

"Alright, good. I will come in and see you at 8 o'clock sharp, and you better be up and ready to go by then. We'll get all of our items loaded in whatever vehicles we are assigned, and will then come back in to say goodbye to everybody before we leave. Good night," Zhenna dipped her head slightly in respect and then left the room, shutting the dented steel door behind her. Alaina quickly finished packing after that, eager to get a head start on the next day.

-

Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep

Alaina fumbled with her phone, pulling it off of the stand and groaning when it fell on the floor, still making the dreaded sound that she woke up too every morning. She finally managed to pull it off of the floor and put in her passcode, which automatically shut the sleep-taker up. The blonde grumbled and ran her fingers through her hair as she sat up, allowing her to stretch out her now cramped muscles from her restless night of not enough sleep.

It was six thirty in the morning, which gave her plenty of time to do her normal morning routine before Zhenna came to get her with the rest of the initiates. The male's wing was right across from the females, the only thing separating them was a an inch thick glass wall that had two doors on either side of the hallways, allowing them access if needed. The hall to the dining area was conjoining the hallways together and the rest of the buildings and training areas laid outside of the main building.

She yawned and placed a hand over her mouth as she entered the bathroom- which was already crowded with girls. The first year of her time spent at the base, Alaina had hated the crowded space in the morning, as the orphanage she had lived in before was only filled with her and two other girls. They shared the same bathroom and shower, but they were all very good at respecting each others boundaries.

Now, Alaina couldn't imagine a better way to wake up other than surrounded by the females she'd lived with and grown to love like siblings for eleven years. She had been brought to the base when she was seven years old- and by that time she could fully understand why she didn't have parents like the other children, and understood why her's had died.

Both her mother and her father were agents for a very secretive government agency that specialized in gaining intel on other countries involving war- and reporting back to the president of the agency. They'd managed to stop their hearts and kill themselves much like they'd been taught if they were about to be tortured- and she never saw them again. She was only two at the time, and ended up staying with her aunt until she was three. When her aunt died a year after taking care of her, she was placed into the orphanage as she had no living family members left.

"Alaina? Did Zhenna come find you last night?" Vera asked, appearing beside Alaina with soaking wet hair and a puffy white towel wrapped around her naked body. This was a sight the blonde was all too familiar with. The bathrooms had one wall that was covered with about twenty showers, while the other held stalls for toilets. In the empty wall that didn't hold the two doors, there were sinks and full body mirrors.

"Yes she did! I'm so relieved that we're in a group together. I don't know what I'd do if I had to be by myself with a bunch of people I didn't know," Alaina said with a relieved sigh, grinning at her best friend. Vera was the only one who'd managed to get the blonde to be pulled out of her shell which kept so many girls out. But now that she'd managed to drag her out of the darkness and into the light, Alaina enjoyed life much more.

"I'm glad we got paired up too... but, it'll definitely be interesting to see how Dante and Vladimir act when they find out Zhenna is the group leader instead of one of them. I know that Dante probably won't care, but Vladimir's definitely the more aggressive of the two," Vera vented with furrowed perfectly shaped eyebrows. She cared a lot more about her appearance than the blonde did- who tended to go with a much more natural look, seeing as though she didn't enjoy having ten pounds of makeup caked on my face like a lot of the other girls in the base.

"I think Dante will put him in his place, but I don't know... we'll see. I gotta take a shower, Vera, I'll see you later!" Alaina gently shoved her friend and made her way over to the shower stalls, which had thick curtains to keep the water in and other people out. She stepped inside and got undressed, hanging her towel up on the hook before turning the water onto hot- hoping that it would unravel her tightened muscles.

-

"But shouldn't one of us be the leader?!" Vladimir asked with wide, surprised eyes. One of the senior assassins who was chosen to deal with any 'group problems' that would arise before we all left the base rolled his eyes and smacked Vladimir upside the head.

"I don't care if you think you have more power or leadership skills because you're a male, or if you just have a personal problem against Zhenna, but you're not five anymore. You're about to become real assassins, so how about you suck it up and deal with it?" He snarled, turning on his heels and walking away from our group of six.

Vladimir was about six feet tall, with dirty blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. His jawline was extremely defined and he had the muscular build of his brother, although he was slightly more slender. Dante had the same colored hair, except he sported hazel eyes instead of bright green, and was around two inches taller than his younger brother. He was very muscular and had broad shoulders which just added to his intimidating looks. Alaina couldn't help but feel slightly wary and cautious around him- as it would be so easy for him to over power her.

"If you have a problem with me, tell me now because I'm not going to let your stupid temper tantrums get us all killed in the field because you refuse to take orders from a female. I'll make sure you can stay here and never become an agent if you're going to be sexist and unwilling to work with others. I'm not running a day care, and I will refuse to let you be around if you're going to turn this into exactly that," Zhenna snapped, slamming her shoulder against Vladimir's as she stalked past him and towards the shiny black Subaru forester that was parked around ten meters away.

Vladimir didn't say anything in protest- and the blonde was't surprised, She didn't enjoy arguing with Zhenna either- especially after she made statements like that. If he was smart, the Russian male would just keep his mouth shut- and he did. Dante grabbed his shoulder tightly and pushed him towards the car, and Vera was quick to follow behind. It was only then that Alaina noticed the darkly dressed male following behind them

"You're Alexei right?" She asked with a small smile, trying to be friendly as she slowed her steps to match his. He glanced up from his shaggy dark brown hair that was hanging in front of one of his eyes and nodded. He didn't answer, and just adverted his gaze back to the ground when Alaina noticed how his eyes were a steely grey- rather than a blue. She widened her eyes in surprise at the nature of the male, but just figured that he didn't want to talk to her- which she didn't mind. She didn't want to force him to be friends with her if he didn't want too.

"I'm Alaina," She stated before opening the side door and taking a seat in the middle with Vladimir. Zhenna and Dante were sitting in the front, and she'd already accepted him as a sort of second leader. Dante was the more calm and wise of the two brothers, and often thought things through before following through with any of his actions. Vladimir was very different. He always jumped head first into things and never thought about what effect his actions would have on others- or even himself.

The blonde raised her eyebrows in surprise when Alexei chose to sit in between her and Vladimir, but she just turned her head away and looked out the window as Zhenna pulled out of the parking lot in which she'd walked through a million times, and sped away from the base which had homed her since she was a child.

Alaina felt a piece of her heart be ripped out of her chest as she turned her head around to see all of her old friends standing in the parking lot and laughing with each other. She would miss the busy bathrooms in the mornings, the silent nights and the quiet creak of the door as an instructor came in around 2:30 every morning to make sure she was asleep and in her proper place.

She turned back around to face the front and let her head droop down as she stared at her lap. This was definitely going to be an adventure.