Marcus’s POV
“Useless.”
I threw the report onto my desk.
Another report.
Another useless report.
For months, I had received the same thing: Rumors, false sightings, broken trails, people claiming they had found the King’s daughter only for us to discover they had been chasing some ordinary young wolf.
My patience was running thin.
I leaned back in my chair and stared at the papers scattered across my desk.
How difficult could one girl be to find?
She had been hidden for twenty years.
Twenty years.
And after all this time, she was still managing to stay ahead of us.
I picked up another report and skimmed through it.
Nothing.
I dropped it.
“All these people,” I muttered, “and none of them can bring me useful information.”
There was one person I hadn’t used yet.
He was one of the few people I trusted to actually finish a difficult assignment.
He was expensive, difficult, he had absolutely no patience for being ordered around but he got results.
I stood and walked toward the window.
“Where is he?”
One of the guards outside stepped forward.
“Who, Head Marcus?”
I turned.
“Silas.”
The guard hesitated.
“I’ll find out.”
“You’d better.”
The guard hurried away.
I returned to my desk.
Silas wasn’t loyal to the council.
He wasn’t loyal to me either.He was only loyal to his payment.
Normally, that would have annoyed me but I had learned something over the years; A person who only cared about completing a job could sometimes be more useful than someone who claimed loyalty while secretly serving themselves and Silas was very good at his work.
Tracking.
Hunting.
Fighting.
Finding people who didn’t want to be found.
That was exactly what I needed.
The guard returned several minutes later.
“He’s here.”
I smiled.
“Send him in.”
The door opened.
Silas walked inside.
He was calm, dressed simply, with an expression that gave away almost nothing.
He stopped in front of my desk.
“You wanted me?”
“I have a job.”
“That usually means you have a problem.”
I stared at him.
He didn’t look intimidated.
Few people spoke to me like that.
That was one of the things I found irritating about him.
It was also one of the reasons I hired him.
“You’ve heard about the surviving daughter.”
Silas’ expression remained unchanged.
“I’ve heard the rumors.”
“I don’t want rumors.”
“I want her.”
“How much?”
I almost laughed.
“You haven’t even asked what the job involves.”
“I already know what you want.”
“And if I tell you she’s protected?”
“Then I’ll deal with whoever is protecting her.”
“If she’s dangerous?”
“Then she’ll be harder to find.”
His calmness irritated me.
But I couldn’t deny his confidence.
“You’ll have whatever resources you need.”
“Not whatever.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“My payment.”
I stared at him for a moment before giving a small smile.
“Still the same.”
Silas nodded.
“Then we have a deal.”
He turned to leave.
“Silas.”
He stopped.
“Find her.”
He glanced over his shoulder.
“I always do.”
Then he walked out.
For the first time in months, I felt that I might finally get an answer.
The King’s daughter had survived.
Now I intended to discover exactly where she had been hiding and when I found her…
I would make sure she never disappeared again.
*******************
Nyra’s POV
I woke up sore everywhere.
My arms hurt.
My legs hurt.
Even muscles I didn’t know existed seemed to be protesting my decision to let Riven train me.
I stared at the ceiling of my tent.
“This was a terrible idea.”
Eira stirred inside me.
‘You agreed to it.’
“I know.”
‘You wanted him to train you.’
“I know.”
‘Then stop complaining.’
I sighed.
“Whose side are you on?”
‘His.’
“Traitor.”
Eira laughed in my mind.
I eventually got up, stretched, and stepped outside.
Riven was already there.
Of course he was.
He stood near the edge of the clearing, arms crossed.
“You’re late.” The source of this chapter is g.com.
I looked at him.
“Good morning to you too.”
“You’re seven minutes late.”
I blinked.
“You counted?”
“Yes.”
“That’s concerning.”
He shrugged.
“You said you wanted difficult training.”
“I didn’t say I wanted a schedule.”
“You do now.”
I groaned.
Riven’s lips twitched.
Was that a smile?
I wasn’t sure.
“Come here.”
I walked toward him.
He positioned me properly.
“Your feet.”
I adjusted them.
“Better?”
“Again.” I moved.
“Good.”
He stepped behind me.
“Your shoulders.”
I lowered them.
“Like this?”
“Relax them.”
His hand slowly touched my shoulder as he adjusted my position.
A strange warmth travelled through me.
I immediately blamed the mate bond.
Riven stood for a little while before he stepping away.
“Again.”
We trained and this time, I noticed how much I was improving.
My movements were cleaner.
My balance was better.
I was beginning to anticipate rather than simply react.
At one point, I managed to dodge him.
He stopped.
I turned around.
“I did it!”
“Yeah you did.”
I grinned.
“You sound surprised.”
“A little.”
I gasped dramatically.
“Was that a compliment?”
“Don’t get used to it.”
I laughed.
“Again.”
I smiled.
“Again.”
Training with him didn’t feel as difficult anymore.
Maybe because I was beginning to understand how he taught.
Maybe because I was beginning to understand him.
Or maybe because every day I spent around Riven made the strange bond between us feel a little less strange.
It was a bit too early to call it love.
I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to call it but I knew I looked forward to seeing him everytime.