Part 3Leeching My Talent

The squad dispersed. I ignored Bella entirely and began prepping my tactical vest for the afternoon op.

The objective was to extract a group of amateur hikers trapped by a highly aggressive wolf pack in a rocky ravine.

After we reached our designated overwatch position, I dropped my heavy pack and quickly assembled the customized tranquilizer rifle.

We didn't use lethal rounds. Everything was heavy-duty sedatives, and the rifles were heavily modified for maximum velocity and silence.

The second I clicked the bipod into place, Bella shoved her way in front of me and wrapped her hand around the pistol grip.

She glanced back over her shoulder, smiling like a venomous snake.

"Sorry, Riley. I am the lead shooter now. Why don't you just sit back and take notes?"

I crossed my arms and watched her struggle to get comfortable on the dirt. "I thought you wanted to partner up with Connor?"

Connor's voice crackled through my earpiece.

"Bella doesn't have live combat experience yet. I ordered her to stay by your side so she can shadow your process. Next time, she takes full control of the nest."

I didn't argue. I just silently pulled a secondary spotting scope out of my bag and set it up in the dirt.

We baked under the blistering sun for three brutal hours before the wolf pack finally emerged from the tree line.

Ignoring the stinging sweat pouring into my eyes, I immediately locked my scope onto the alpha wolf's skull.

Thwack.

A perfect hit to the neck.

But I wasn't the one who pulled the trigger.

My finger was hovering right over the guard when Bella turned her head, grinning ear to ear.

"Oops, sorry Riley. You were just moving way too slow. I was terrified the alpha was going to bolt."

For the rest of the op, Bella didn't give me a single chance to fire.

Every single time I mentally locked onto a target, calculated the windage, and prepared to squeeze, her bullet would leave the chamber a split-second before mine.

Shot after shot. Her performance was a flawless, terrifying display of lethal precision. She hit every target, bailing the ground team out of deadly corners and ensuring the hikers didn't take a single scratch.

When the dust finally settled and the op was called, the mood was electric.

At the base camp celebration that night, we learned the rescued hiker was a billionaire's son. He personally handed Bella a velvet box stuffed with diamond jewelry as a token of absolute gratitude.

Staring at the millions of dollars glittering in the box, Bella couldn't even pretend to hide the raw greed in her eyes.

"I am so sorry, Riley. This was supposed to be your reward."

Connor grabbed Bella by the shoulders, practically glowing with pride.

"You have nothing to apologize for. If Riley had been on the trigger today, there is zero chance the op would have gone that smoothly."

The regional director of the rescue company was at the party. He raised a glass to Bella, entirely ignoring me.

"Bella, for a rookie on her first live op, your performance was completely unprecedented. I listened to the radio logs. You didn't utter a single word on the comms, yet your synergy with the ground team was flawless. You were born for this squad."

Bella puffed her chest out.

"True synergy doesn't need to be spoken out loud. It just happens."

She shot me a side-eye. "The guys on the ground are fighting for their lives. Flooding the comms with useless chatter just distracts them and drags them down."

"I trust my aim. No matter what goes wrong, I know I can save them. I don't need other people sacrificing themselves just to make up for my mistakes."

Standing in the corner of the tent, my head was throbbing.

What an absolute load of garbage.

A sniper sits at the highest elevation specifically to act as the eyes of the battlefield. Calling out targets and directing traffic is half the job.

During the entire op, all Bella did was brain-leech my shooting mechanics. I was the one mentally tracking the wolves, calculating the drops, and quietly adjusting the spotting scope to feed her the angles.

Without me doing the heavy mental lifting, she would have been shooting at dirt.

But the director was already glaring at me.

"Connor, the company's annual Elite Marksman nomination is going to Bella this year. We have too many people taking up space on the payroll, acting like they own the place while stepping on their teammates' hard work."

Without giving me a single second to defend myself, the director turned his back and walked away.

For the rest of the night, Connor paraded Bella around the VIP tent, introducing her to the wealthy executives and politicians. He entirely forgot about his actual girlfriend.

When we finally got back to the compound, Bella proudly announced that the billionaire had gifted her an all-expenses-paid, seven-day trip to Bora Bora.

Connor told me it was a well-deserved reward for her heroism.

"Oh, by the way, Ry. Bella gets a little spooked sleeping in new places. I want you to clear your stuff out of our room. I'm going to stay with her for a few nights until she gets comfortable. You can move back in later."

Every single bunk in the compound was full. I stared at the dusty, spider-infested storage closet at the end of the hall. I didn't say a word.

Lying on a damp, moldy mattress, I scrolled through social media. Bella had just posted a photo of her and Connor in matching swimwear on a white sand beach.

My chest felt hollow, filled with a toxic mix of disgust and exhaustion.

Over the next few months, Bella rinsed and repeated the exact same strategy.

By parasitically draining my skills, she racked up flawless mission records. The legend of the prodigy sniper grew to astronomical heights.

Every time the alarm rang, I carried her eighty-pound gear bags up mountainsides without a single complaint.

The more she showed off, the more I willingly fed her the targets.

Then came the red-alert call. The son of the country's wealthiest tech mogul was trapped deep in a ravine, completely surrounded by a den of territorial grizzly bears.

I was at the range doing extra conditioning drills when the guys walked by.

"Still trying to steal your sniper spot back? You really think you can climb over our dead bodies just to get a shiny trophy on your desk?"

Bella was standing there, wearing expensive silk hand-masks to protect her skin.

"Real talent doesn't come from having ugly calluses on your fingers, boys."

She covered her mouth, giggling softly.

"Riley, seriously, you need to spend more time on your makeup and hair. Otherwise, when you finally get kicked to the curb, you won't even be able to find a man."

She raised her left hand, flashing a blinding, massive diamond ring under the floodlights. The entire squad gasped.

"Captain bought you a ring?! Holy hell, when is the wedding?"