Riven’s POV
“Your form is getting better.”
I stood a few feet away from Nyra, watching as she slowly lowered the wooden practice sword in her hand.
Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, a light sheen of sweat coating her skin, but her dark eyes didn’t look anywhere near ready to quit.
Nyra glanced over at me, wiping her brow with the back of her forearm.
“That sounded dangerously close to a compliment.”
“It was.”
She raised an eyebrow, a teasing spark lighting up her face.
“Wow. I’ll make sure to treasure this monumental moment.”
I let out a rough laugh, crossing my arms.
“And there she is.”
Nyra smiled, tilting her head, “What?”
“That attitude.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing, Rogue.”
“I never said it was.”
She shot me a mock-suspicious glare before turning back toward our makeshift training clearing.
We had been training like this for several days now, and the shift between us was undeniable.
Neither of us had suddenly become inseparable, and I certainly hadn’t forgotten the deadly mysteries that had driven her into the forest in the first place but the awkward, suffocating tension that had followed our first kiss was entirely gone.
We just talked more now.
Sometimes about the mechanics of a strike.
Sometimes about absolutely nothing important at all.
And sometimes, when neither of us was actively putting up our guard, we simply found ourselves genuinely enjoying each other’s presence.
Mainly, I had discovered that Nyra possessed a viciously competitive streak.
She absolutely hated losing.
But more than anything, she hated losing to me which, admittedly, made these sessions the highlight of my day.
“Again,” Nyra challenged, resetting her stance.
I smirked, lifting my own wooden blade.
“You sure about that?”
She flashed a sharp, mocking grin, “What’s the matter, Riven? Are you scared?”
I chuckled, stepping into her guard.
“Of you?”
“You should be.”
“That’s adorable.”
Nyra’s mouth literally fell open.
“Adorable?”
“Yes.”
“You’re becoming entirely too confident.”
“I’ve always been confident, sweetheart.”
“No,” she countered, lunging forward with a swift upward swing.
“You’ve always been annoyingly serious. There’s a massive difference.”
The next few minutes were a blur of movement, the sharp, hollow cracks of wooden weapons echoing through the quiet canopy.
Nyra attacked first, a fierce flurry of strikes.
I blocked each one, marveling at her speed.
Suddenly, she pivoted, changing directions with a fluid grace that caught me just enough off guard that I had to take a sharp step back.
I smiled, parrying her next move.
“Better.”
“I know!”
She pressed her advantage.
This time, I deliberately left an opening on my left flank.
Nyra didn’t hesitate.
She slipped right past my guard, twisted her wrist with a clever snap, and knocked the wooden sword clean out of my hand.
It clattered across the dirt, landing several feet away.Nyra froze, staring at her weapon, then slowly looked up at me.
For a second, the forest was dead silent.
Then, a massive, triumphant smile broke across her face, followed by a bright, victorious laugh.
“I won!”
“You did,”
I conceded, raising my hands.
She narrowed her eyes, stepping closer.
“You let me win.”
“I did not.”
“You absolutely did, Riven!”I shook my head, fighting back a grin.
“You’re becoming paranoid.”
“I’ve been suspicious of you since the exact second we met.”
“Well, that explains a lot.”
She laughed again, the sound light and musical.
I found myself smiling along with her, a strange, foreign warmth settling behind my ribs.
There had been a time, years, stretching out in the dark where I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed this easily.
If Jace were here, he’d never let me live it down.
Honestly, the bastard probably already knew.
Nyra bent down, retrieving my fallen blade and handing it back to me.
“I didn’t think you’d ever actually admit I was improving.”
“I’ve always told you you’re getting better,” I said, taking the hilt from her.
“But I’ve also told you that you still have a hell of a lot to learn.” The source of this chapter is g.com.
She let out a dramatic sigh, throwing her hands up.
“See?”
My expression softened, and I stepped into her space, looking down into her eyes.
“You’re incredibly strong, Nyra but raw strength isn’t the only thing that keeps you alive out here.”
She looked up at me, the playfulness fading into quiet focus.
“What is?”
“Knowing exactly when to use it.”
I tossed her practice sword lightly in the air.
She caught it flawlessly by the hilt.
“And that’s exactly what I’m here to teach you.”
Something incredibly soft flickered in her gaze.
“Thank you.”
I shrugged, turning to mask how much her gaze affected me.
“You don’t have to thank me every single time.”
“I know,” she murmured, her voice a gentle pull at my soul.
“But I still want to.”
I smiled, looking back at her.
“Then I won’t stop you.”
We stood there in the dappled sunlight for a quiet moment.
It was completely comfortable, and that alone terrified me.
I had spent my entire life pushing people away, treating trust like a luxury I couldn’t afford.
Yet with Jace and Nyra, everything just happened naturally.
Nyra didn’t demand my secrets.
She didn’t pry into my scars.
She simply gave me the space to exist, allowing me to choose what I wanted to share.
And ironically, it only made me want to give her everything.
Nyra glanced toward the small campfire near the edge of our clearing.
“Are you hungry?”
“Are you subtly asking me to cook?”
She smiled innocently, batting her eyelashes, “I was actually hoping you’d gracefully volunteer.”
“You’re terrible.”
“Hey, you’re the one who actually knows how to cook.”
“I know how to survive,”
I corrected, walking toward our supplies.
“There’s a difference.”
“Same difference.”
“Not even close.”
She laughed, following behind me.
I shook my head, a fond murmur slipping past my lips.
“You’re lucky you’re my mate.”
Nyra’s smile softened, her eyes locking onto mine with a breathtaking intensity.
“And you’re lucky I’m yours.”
A thick, fierce wave of pride and warmth settled into my chest.
I liked hearing that.
Way more than a ruthless rogue ever should.
Nyra’s POV
I had fully expected Riven to be an absolute nightmare to deal with.
Before coming into this forest, I had heard the whispered legends about him.
The Most Fearsome Rogue.
A lawless, cold-blooded fighter who answered to no alpha and survived entirely alone in the brutal wild.
Someone so powerful that even seasoned packs steered clear of his territory but the Riven I had gotten to know over the past few days was entirely different.
Don’t get me wrong he was still incredibly dangerous.
He was still overflowing with a lethal, masculine confidence, and he was far more intense than anyone I’d ever met.
But he could laugh.
He could tease.
He could let his guard down and actually enjoy a quiet moment and god help me, I liked this version of him.
I liked it far more than I ever anticipated.
I watched him quietly as he finished preparing our meal over the crackling flames, the golden firelight catching the sharp planes of his face and the dark ink tracing his arms.
“So,”
I began, resting my chin on my knees.
“What were you like as a child?”
Riven glanced up from the fire, an amused glint in his smoky eyes.
“Now that is a highly dangerous question.”
“Why?”
“Because I have a terrifying reputation to maintain, Nyra.”
I smiled, nudging a pebble with my boot.
“Are you trying to tell me the infamous, fearsome Rogue was never a little troublemaker?”
Riven let out a low chuckle, coming over to sit on the log right beside me.
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”
“Try me.”
“When I was younger… I was actually much quieter.”
I stared at him in utter disbelief.
“Quieter? You?”
“Yes.”
“Incredible. I don’t believe it.”
Riven laughed, the rich sound vibrating in the space between us.
“I really was.”
“What happened, then?”
He fell silent for a beat.
The laughter left his eyes, replaced by a sudden, distant look that made my chest tighten.
His voice dropped.
“Life happened.”
I understood those words instantly.
I knew the weight of a life shifting in a single, bloody night.
I knew the grief that forced a child to grow up too fast.
I didn’t push him for details.
Instead, I gave him a soft, understanding smile.
“Well, I was probably much worse than you.”
Riven looked back at me, an eyebrow arched.
“Probably?”
“Definitely.”He smiled.
“What were you like?”
“Curious. Stubborn. A menace, according to my guardian.”
“That explains literally everything about you right now.”
I shoved his shoulder playfully.
“Rude.”
“You asked,” he teased, though his eyes remained fixed on my face.
“I was also incredibly hardworking,” I added, my voice turning a bit more serious.
“I’ve always wanted to be completely capable of taking care of myself. I never wanted to be a burden.”
Riven locked eyes with me, his expression turning intensely earnest.
“You can already take care of yourself, Nyra. You prove it every day.”
My smile faded slightly, the praise hitting me harder than I expected.
Coming from a man who survived the worst of the rogue territories, it felt like a badge of honor.
“I’m still learning.”
“So am I,” he murmured.
I looked at him in genuine surprise.
“You? Learning? Please. You act like you know absolutely everything.”
Riven chuckled softly, leaning back against the log.
“That’s only because I don’t make a habit of showing people when I don’t.”
I smiled, a soft breath escaping my lips.
“That’s actually the most normal, human thing you’ve ever said to me.”
He shot me a hilariously offended look.
“Excuse me? I’m incredibly normal.”
“You are absolutely, fundamentally not.”
We both broke into easy laughter.
And for the first time since I had fled my home, a shocking realization washed over me.I wasn’t thinking about the Council.
I wasn’t obsessing over the unanswered questions surrounding the slaughter of my parents.
I wasn’t constantly looking over my shoulder, panicking about who might be hunting me in the shadows.
Right now, I was just a girl sitting beside someone her mate, eating a warm meal after a hard day of training, and laughing over absolutely nothing.
I hadn’t realized until this exact second just how badly my soul had needed to breathe.
Riven leaned back slightly, his eyes searching mine in the dark.
“You know, Nyra… you don’t always have to be strong.”
I blinked, caught off guard.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re always operating on high alert. Thinking about the next move. The next fight. The next clue. The next step.”
He paused, his voice turning incredibly gentle.
“You don’t have to stop fighting. Just… remember that it’s okay to just breathe sometimes.”
I looked down at my hands, a sudden lump forming in my throat.
Nobody had said those words to me since Mara died.
Nobody had cared about the weight I was carrying.I swallowed the emotion, offering him a faint, grateful smile.
“I’ll try.”
Riven nodded softly.
“Good.”
I looked back up, capturing his gaze.
“And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“You should take your own advice, Rogue.”
Riven’s lips curved into a beautiful, genuine smile.
“Maybe I will.”