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Chapter 38
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2024-10-29 19:42:56After another shitty test run of the new earplugs, Sush dragged her exhausted self to the elevator, intending to head to the archers’ floor to blow off some steam at their gun range. When the elevator arrived, she already felt better that the octopuses who looked like they were waiting to ascend said they were waiting for another two of their own from the restrooms before they ascended together, so Sush had the space all to herself and tried not to look too happy about not needing to share and make small talk with anyone on the ride up.
Right before the metal doors closed, a hand came between them, making both doors part before Greg stepped inside.
“Are you out of your mind?” Sush reprimanded.
“Give me a minute,” he urged in his usual monotone a
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The fact that Greg didn’t use Hazel’s nickname was not a good sign.“What about her?” Sush asked, though - as her mind recalled there being suspects earlier - she already had a good idea of what was coming next.Swallowing a lump in his throat, he disclosed, “Jade found things on her encrypted phone. Sh—”Sush’s eyes drew shut and her hand held up to a stop sign when she interjected, “Pause right there. Her what?”Greg stared at her for a good second before murmuring under his breath, “Well, at least we know the encrypted phone isn’t common knowledge.”“It’s not,
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 40
‘Boss!’ Ella linked in panic.Greg heaved a frustrated sigh, pulled away from Sush, who was about to protest before noticing his glazed-over eyes, so she fell silent and waited patiently as he replied, ‘You’d better make sure someone is dying or you’re going to lose an organ, Tristan. I don’t care if your husband would eventually get the queen to extract one of my own later.”Ella’s panic hit the next notch. ‘SomeONE dying? Boss! The archers ARE DYING! IT’S MORE THAN ONE! THEY’RE TRAPPED! WHATEVER IS IN THERE IS MAKING OUR PEOPLE DIZZY AND SOME ARE CLOSE TO PASSING OUT! THE HUNTERS ARE ALREADY DROPPING LIKE FLIES! JADE STILL CAN’T HACK HIMSELF IN. WHERE THE HELL IS SUSH? HAVE YOU SEEN HER?’Shit.
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 41
“I was in a meeting with the defense ministry,” Valor disclosed in his office, his voice speaking for his displeasure at Sush’s tone when she demanded to know his whereabouts during the attack. Sush and Greg had easily deciphered most of the animal code from Hazel’s secret correspondence after the catastrophe. The Great Horned Owls was code for the archers, sacrificed. Rat with a capital R being let off from above? Sush herself, let off from above when the elevator malfunctioned. She and Greg speculated that his presence in the elevator was most likely not considered since he forced himself in at the last minute. The next code - other rats wouldn’t know how to save the owls - meant no octopus knew how to save the archers. Because none of them knew the codes. The next one - data leaked when the sun rose - took them a little more time, but they eventually figured it out. The sun rose from the east. Data that someone didn’t want being found had been leaked from the attack in the east. T
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 42
The hunter-lycan gala was a once a year affair, attended by the highest officials from both sides. Xandar and Lucy attended every alternate year, taking turns with Christian and Annie. Although guised as an event to raise funds for equipment and manpower to train new recruits and solidify the public image that everything was well and good with the neighboring kingdom, the attendees knew full well it was a show. Behind the cameras and smiles, both species had still been keeping to themselves to a significant extent.It had been exactly three days since the call was made and the lycan and wolves had begun standing guard. Because of the “generous contribution from the kingdom” the media reported, Ferdinand - who attended once every three to four years - had to show his face at the gala this year despite having already attended the previous year.
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Sush was in an ash gray dress that hung from her shoulders by thin straps, the length of her skin stretching from her neck, down her arms and hands was on full display. Her hair was loose from her usual ponytail, the pink headband no longer in sight but her necklace still sat in its usual place.She hadn’t seen Greg yet but felt a buzz in her purse and her footsteps slowed as she dug through it. Her knitted brows eased into a soft line when she saw the caller ID, swiping to answer as her head swung around, looking for him, which was when their eyes locked and the corner of her lips lifted naturally.The background blurred away as they took steps toward each other, closing their distance. When they were six feet apart, a figure appeared from Sush’s right and a hand stopped her by her elbow. Sush’s defenses took
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The woman in red stood on the steps, introducing herself as the wife of the Minister of Defense, Larissa Ferdinand, and - as if on cue - Ferdinand beamed emptily as his wife of fair skin and dark hair with a winged eyeliner brought the room back to herself.Flashing those pearly-white teeth with a depth of a smile that mirrored her husband’s own, she began, “On behalf of the ministry, I’d like to thank all of you for attending this year. Yes, that includes my own husband.”Barks of laughter followed as Ferdinand feigned embarrassment.By Sush’s ear, Greg muttered, “Can they get anymore perfect for each other?”Her finger came up, subtly. “You haven’t seen e
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His octopus’s usually confident frame and posture now shrunk, like she was trying to keep to herself as her eyes - though pinned on Larissa Ferdinand in shock - amplified a need to leave.Greg’s eyes turned onyx and he shot the Ferdinands a glare - which neither of them noticed - before he positioned himself in front of the only one in the room who mattered, blocking her view of the sharks out to gobble her, though he couldn’t understand how or why yet.His hand reached for her face, cupping her cheek, and his voice came in an assuring whisper, “Sush, this is not an obligation. No one is going to die if you refuse. And you’re not a politician. You can refuse.”His large frame shadowing over hers offered her cover, made her feel protected,
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“Come, darling.” The queen’s voice, loud and jubilant, filled with just the right level of hypocrisy and a shard of scorn sucked all attention away from the Red Devil. Hands gently tugging her husband’s bicep with a mischievous smile, Lucy announced, “It’s time to join the show: this ministerial-organized circus.”The human ministers flinched, Ferdinand included - a sight witnessed by the majority of the room. The Ferdinands’ forced smiles withered. The only difference was that Larissa’s smile withered under the spotlight, her mask falling a little too long.With bright eyes and a broad smile, Xandar bowed low and offered his wife his hand like he was still courting her, knowing the game she was playing as he responded with a glint in his eye that matched hers, “Yes, wouldn&
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Days after Kenji’s update, Sush was no closer to figuring out the last time she came in touch with Upshaw, and Asahi pointedly told the eastern leader that despite the eastern attacks - which he was still blaming Kenji and his octopuses for - he would never stoop below professionalism and hunter hierarchy. That assertion was entirely believable because Asahi has never broken a single rule in his career - be it something as serious as committing treachery or as trivial as abiding to lunch hour to the dot. That brought them back to the lead itself: what did Upshaw mean? When did she and Sush last meet? It was probably when Upshaw was still in the western headquarters, and the exchange was either in a queue during lunch at the cafeteria or that they brushed past each other on the archer’s floor when their practice sessions coincided. In both scenarios, they wouldn’t have even spared each other a nod or greeting. Did that count as being in touch? “What’s on your mind?” Greg’s drawl bru
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After the meal, the families strolled around the greenery of small trees and flower beds, mingling with other families and teachers. Pups either left their parents’ side to play with their friends or were clung onto tightly by their respective parents as their teacher spilled every detail on their grades and behavior in class. Some grinned with pride while others hid behind their parents’ legs, which were as good a hiding spot as having none. Little Ken was well-loved in terms of character and behavior, but could use some help in sports. Reida and Ianne were a lovable pair mostly due to their inquisitive nature, but their chatter during lessons was incredibly hard to stop. The teachers - especially the science teacher - appreciated that their chats were about the scrawls of facts and processes on the board, but he made it a point to note that he’d appreciate it more if their discussion didn’t come when he was still talking and trying to get the pups to pay attention. Lewis was ado
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Stina's Note
Dear readers,We’ve come to the end of The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke, and I want to thank everyone who has stuck around. I hope you can spare a few minutes to rate this novel and leave a review here and on *Goodreads*. It'll help a lot in seeking new readers and sharing the love!Thank you for the gems, comments, reviews, follows, and - most of all - patience throughout this journey. When I started Book One, I would have never thought this would be the direction I’d take in Book Three, especially not when I was writing the first few chapters of my debut, but here we are.I named the female lead Sushmita after my closest friend in the sixth form (she doesn’t know yet), coupled with Alagumalai which means “beautiful mountain” and is part of the name of my favorite English teacher (she doesn’t know either). I almost chickened out and was going to use something generic, but the tale didn’t carry the spark I wanted as I began writing, so I swapped it back. If either of them e
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Epilogue
Xandar’s jet landed next to the Forest of Oderem and everyone trailed out to meet Pelly, Octavia, Rafael and Amber. The forest greeted them with the waft of freshly baked goods and a gentle breeze, growing pink and amber-colored flowers around Enora and bringing the butterflies that she always loved seeing. One landed on her nose and Enora’s hands were about to catch it when it flew away. The breeze brought along dried leaves of different shape, color and texture, raining them on Reida and Ianne who collected them. The girls even brought a small sack to gather them after their first visit, always patting the branch that would magically extend toward them as a way of conveying their thanks. Sush lay her eyes on the forest for the first time, feeling an undeniable
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A week after they’d returned from their honeymoon, the pups came over. Christian had been adamant about keeping his family away from Greg in the beginning, but it was difficult to keep his son away from Sush, so trust was built over time. In the first twenty times Sush and Greg brought Lewis to the park when they took Enora, Christian and Annie went along, staying on the benches solely to observe, learning from there that their son had a knack for something other than his camera. Unlike Ken, Lewis wasn’t good with puzzles - wasn’t patient enough, but he picked up catapulting quite quickly, shooting fake nests off high branches, even accidentally catapulting Greg in his ass in his first try when Greg was placing the nests into trees. Lewis gasped and quickly hid the weapon behind his back the moment Greg turned around with a
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In the following week after returning from the kingdom, a paternity test was taken, and it confirmed Sush carried Ferdinand’s genes - a fact that didn’t surprise him but disgusted her. Of all the things she imagined her birth father to be, a defense minister that was the epitome of an irresponsible, disloyal, and unreliable hypocrite was not one of them.Upon learning this, Sush sat on the couch and stared into space.Greg came over soon after, placed her on his lap and asked whether she wanted to talk things through; preferred if he just held her and stayed silent; or simply wanted to be left alone so he should leave for now. At the mention of the last option, Sush grabbed onto his shirt - her action conveying that she did not want him to leave before her words did. She asked for the second option, and a very quiet
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 83
Back at work, many were pleased to learn that media scrutiny and public pressure were immense enough to force Ferdinand and Valor to take a temporary leave from office pending investigations of the reports made. Therefore, the two defense systems that human territories relied on now fell into the hands of the deputy defense minister, Agu, and for the hunters, the majority decided they wanted Sush, who received the same magnitude of support from the ministry with Agu placing the discussion of lifting her suspension as the first thing on the agenda in the first meeting held without Ferdinand.The second thing on the agenda was to officially remove the defense ministry’s superiority over the hunters, letting them exist as a separate entity with its own independence, working with them as a partner rather than a subordinate. Agu’s proposal was not well-received, and many suggested they
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 82
Before her eyes opened the next morning, Sush’s heightened sense of smell detected the distinct scent of musk and sandalwood wafting stronger than before from the creature lying next to her. Her eyelids slowly lifted as her vision adjusted to the darkness, and she was welcomed with a very clear view of the most gorgeous man in existence. She wondered if it was possible to find him more alluring simply from being able to smell him better now. The tip of his lips quirked, lilac eyes gazing into hers.He dozed off seconds after her the night before, and woke up just minutes before she did, using the time alone to watch her sleep, then watch her wake, which was better than watching the sunrise or sunset. He never understood the point in those. It was something that happened everyday. Surely, at some point, anyone would get bored of it.
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After a very long day of surrendering the hostages to the police and making reports, submitting a public statement for the media to circulate throughout the kingdom, empire and human territory in case someone did something to cover-up the truth, everyone dragged their exhausted selves back home.In the diplomatic residence, Sush was in sweatpants and one of Greg’s shirts as they lay in bed. She lay on her side facing him, head resting on his arm, hand on his bare torso as Greg’s fingers fiddled with her hair, relishing in the tiny sparks that dotted his fingers when he touched the strands. When he wanted to feel a higher charge, his fingers went to her shoulder, pulling up the sleeve to feel her bare skin, leaving goosebumps that his fingertips continued stroking through.“Hey,” she began in a whisper.
