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Chapter 68
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The doors parted to both sides as Hazel sauntered into the welcome lounge, orange hair pulled up in a high ponytail with eyes that shone with health, thanks to the antidote that was tucked in her bra.
Her pink lips curled into the congenial smile Sush so often saw, but there was a glint - a flicker of knowingness in those eyes she used to trust so much, and Sush wondered if the glint had always been there, or had it just revealed itself now?
Hazel skipped at her last step and hopped in front of Sush, saluting. “Reporting for duty, Chief!”
She never saluted, not even as a joke. And the slight over-emphasis of her title was a dead - but intentional - giveaway.
Cutting the crap and getting to th
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In the trenches, Kenji put on a numb exterior - one he wore everyday as the head of the eastern octopuses. It was the best way he knew of to withstand the stress that came with the job. And in recent weeks, he’d been under a lot of stress. His vulnerable side had only ever been shown to the people he trusted, which were not many to begin with. And this arrangement worked well enough for him to never contemplate on changing.His numbness projected a firm and tough exterior, one that had always been responded with efficiency and near-perfect delivery of tasks from his subordinates. Like Sush, he wasn’t liked by many, but was well respected by most.When he was not checking or correcting the western octopuses’ work, he hung around the mavericks since he didn’t know which hunter to trust seeing that Hazel was frie
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At the diplomatic residence, Sush was on a high stool at the kitchen counter, scrolling through the eastern files that had been opened before the archer massacre for the umpteenth time. She and Greg agreed there wasn’t a pattern when they discussed it, but what if they missed something?If there wasn’t a pattern, was there something else, something they’d both missed? She lost count of the number of times she tried Ctrl + F and typed in “hyena”, “owl”, and “rat”, and found nothing.“Eat, please,” Greg urged and left a light kiss on her temple after placing a takeaway box of pasta in front of her as he got into the seat next to hers, removing the laptop from beneath her fingers and setting it to the side, placing it next to his own.
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The doorbell jerked Sush out of her shock and a deep sense of protectiveness took over Greg, who instructed, “Get your gun loaded and ready. Don’t come out unless I say so.”Head whirled to him, she protested, “What? N—”“Don’t come out unless I say so,” Greg repeated, his deepened voice and partially onyx eyes cut her off sternly, though as gently as he could.Greg strode away before she could argue, and was relieved to hear her releasing the safety off her weapon. The moment Greg disappeared from the kitchen, Sush hopped off her seat and moved swiftly to the wall partitioning the kitchen from the living room, making sure she had a goo
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On file, Hazel’s parents were said to have been residing in their family holiday cottage in a quiet countryside. It would have passed off as an innocuous choice if that countryside hadn’t been Itam - the place where Monica Upshaw was found dead.Upon hacking the Land Office’s records, they also found that the Robinsons owned three other cottages in remote locations, one of them being Jagah, though the far end of Jagah from where Catrine Carter was later found.After several mavericks confirmed the information, Greg mused, “Really confident or really idiotic to have the properties registered under their actual names.”“I’d say the former,” Kenji offered numbly. “They probably got away with things before and didn’t se
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The wooden cottage seemed normal enough from afar with its moldy brick walls, thatched roof, and casement windows. Narrow trees, bushes, and shrubs grew all around. Luscious grass covered the land, save for a stone path from the entrance door to the wooden gate. The lights went off about thirty minutes before Greg, Sush, and the others arrived. The watchers reported that no one came out. And everyone had been smart enough not to suggest that the Robinsons may be taking a nap since it had hardly been four hours since they were up. But the stillness was unsettling. Greg grew impatient when nothing happened for the next thirty minutes, and ordered Baxter to send in a drone - one in the shape of a firefly that flew to the window, where its cameras caught nothing, then glided to the front door, sneaking in through the gap. Despite the gloomy weather outside, it was still bright enough for the drone to spy without needing to turn on its torch. On every maverick’s phone, they watched the f
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Shocked. Spooked. Dubious.Kenji was sure he was seeing a ghost. Jade wondered if their drones had been hacked. Baxter was recalling the last time he sent the drone for maintenance. How did it miss a human?Patterson, Sush, and Greg knew the game was on.Leaning against the doorframe, one hand holding her phone - screen facing Sush and the others that showed a big, bright, blinking orange button right in the middle that could activate Goddess knew what - Hazel began with the Chief Chameleon. “I always knew you had a thing for older women.”“Cut the crap, Hazel,” he spat, not at all surprised by her knowledge.“Who is that, my l
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Several things happened within the next few seconds: a stone-faced Mrs. Robinson aiming at Greg and pulling the trigger to discharge the oleander bullet, Sush yelling at everyone to take cover while she herself attempted to pull Greg off Hazel, and Greg using Hazel as a human shield as the bullet scraped across her shoulder while he angled away before he saw Mr. Robinson aimed at Sush at the same time his claws scratched across Hazel’s chest, tearing through her shirt and bulletproof vest underneath.The initial plan was to kill the orange-headed nuisance as painfully as time allowed him to, and the smell of her blood had been a good start, but time clearly didn’t offer him that luxury to do more at the moment. The gun aimed at his octopus took priority.Greg wrapped Sush and rolled themselves out of the way as the
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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
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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
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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.
