<h4>Chapter 26: Assassination Attempt</h4>


    Five dayster, Eleanor returned home after a busy day at the office. There was a lot of work involved in shaping her newly acquiredpanies. Some of the top management personnel had resigned, leaving significant gaps that needed urgent filling. Fortunately, her team was capable enough to temporarily rece those positions, but they still needed to hire qualified individuals soon.


    It was evening, and the surrounding area was illuminated by streetlights. As her car stopped in the vi’s driveway, she stepped out, deep in thought about how to handle the ongoing vacancy crisis. Just as she closed the car door, the entire neighborhood was suddenly plunged into darkness.


    Her sharp senses immediately kicked in. Eleanor’s right ear involuntarily shifted into its original werewolf form, picking up the faint whistling of something approaching rapidly. Instinctively, she dropped to the ground.


    A bullet whizzed past where her head had been just a moment ago and struck a nearby pir. Chunks of concrete shattered and scattered around. Almost immediately, the vi’s emergency power system activated, restoring light to the premises. The entire sequence of events had taken no more than a second.


    She heard themanding voice of her guard captain cutting through themotion.


    "Cut the power immediately! Team G, escort Miss inside the house. Team A, stay vignt around Young Miss. The enemy is outside the vi... secure the perimeter!"


    A brief pause followed before he issued another order. "Command center, reporting in. Miss is under attack at the vi. The enemy has cut off electricity in the surrounding area. Contact Electricity North West and instruct them not to repair the lines for now. We need surveince footage... track the enemy’s location immediately!"


    Eleanor remained on the ground, fully aware that she was the primary target. Judging by the bullet’s trajectory, if she stayed low beside the car, the enemy wouldn’t get a clear shot.


    Four guards swiftly approached her, moving in formation. The nc n was trained to operate best in the darkness.


    "Miss, we’ll cover you. Please get inside. The windows are bulletproof," one of them assured her.


    Eleanor nodded. "I’ll crawl to the house. Be careful. The sniper must have night vision."


    As she started moving, the guard captain’s voice rang out again. "Enemy spotted on the rooftop of a four-story building northeast. Shadow Team, leave the vi to us... pursue the target. There may be multiple assants. Stay alert."


    Midway through her crawl, another bullet whizzed past. It narrowly missed one of the guards shielding her. Fortunately, without any casualties, she reached the safety of the vi. The moment she was inside, a guard shut and bolted the door.


    Eleanor rushed to Freya’s room. She found her daughter safe, hiding under the bed with her nanny.


    She gave the nanny an approving nod before speaking in a calm, reassuring tone. "Freya, Mommy’s home. There’s no need to be scared. The house is bulletproof. Some bad people are causing trouble, but your uncles and aunts will take care of them. You cane out now."


    Freya hesitated for a moment before crawling out from under the bed. Eleanor pulled her into a tight hug. Her daughter seemed rtively calm, much to her relief. Surprisingly, the nanny looked more shaken than Freya.


    Meanwhile, outside the vi, the Shadow Guards reached the sniper’s location only to find it abandoned. A VSS Vintorez silenced sniper rifley on the rooftop, discarded.


    "Target missing," one of the guards reported. "Only the rifle remains."


    Momentster, themand center ryed new information. "Assant spotted. He’s hiding in an empty house one block away. Surveince footage confirms five men were involved. Only the shooter entered the house perimeter; the others dispersed. Teams are tracking them separately."


    The sniper was a Russian ex-Spetsnaz Sniper. He had meticulously nned the operation, scouting the vi for two days to analyze escape routes. His precision had never failed him before, and yet, his perfect shot had inexplicably missed. He couldn’tprehend it.


    His n had been wless. The four other men were meant to create diversions, allowing him to slip away unnoticed. But something had gone horribly wrong. His pursuers weren’t following the script. They weren’t after the diversions... they were after him. His instincts screamed danger.


    He gritted his teeth and pulled out his Uzi Pro SMG from his backpack. If he had to go down, he would go down fighting.


    However, when the Shadow Guards stormed into the house, they shifted into their werewolf forms. Massive, menacing creatures with glowing eyes surrounded him.


    His breath hitched. His grip on the SMG faltered. He had faced death before, but this... this was something else.


    With a thud, his knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground involuntarily.


    "I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!" he blurted out, his voice trembling.


    He confessed the entire assassination plot without even being asked. His eyes darted between the seven monstrous figures that loomed over him, their glowing eyes fixated on him like hunters observing prey.


    Once the Shadow Guards confirmed his intel, they ryed the details to themand center. Meanwhile, the other four men were captured and interrogated separately. Surprisingly, all their stories aligned.


    Upon hearing the report, Xavier Raynor, who had arrived at themand center after hearing the news, made a decisive call. "Eliminate them all."


    It took only fifteen minutes to clean up the mess.


    Shortly after, Electricity North West restored power to the neighborhood, issuing a public statement: "Due to an emergency technical issue, certain areas experienced an outage. The issue has now been resolved. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused."


    The investigation uncovered that the assants were hired mercenaries from France. They had traveled via speedboat from Cis, crossing the English Channel before docking at Ellesmere Port. From there, they drove to Manchester.


    Their n had been to escape the same way... splitting up and taking different routes back to Ellesmere Port afterpleting their mission. However, three members of their team had stayed behind at the port, preparing for their return journey.


    Among them was their leader... the only one who knew how to receive assassination assignments. The rest of the team only followed orders. ording to their intel, their leader obtained jobs through a dar website.


    A separate Shadow Team stationed in Liverpool was dispatched immediately. They quickly located and subdued the remaining three men. After thorough questioning, the orders were clear... no loose ends.


    Their speedboat was sunk in deep waters, and the bodies were cremated. All traces of the operation were erased.


    By the next morning, it was as if the assassins had never set foot on English soil.