Undying Hate~ Book Three
Chapter 9

Training for a fight no one could anticipate was tricky, and Sylvie found herself getting irritated with the lack of progress.

They decided to portal on the next full moon to give Kian and Kerensa enough power to open a portal for everyone who wanted to come.

Her mates, her queen’s guard, Rosie and Natalie, were definite. It was the shifters they were still unsure about. Rowan didn’t want to put them at risk so soon after saving them. Sylvie agreed, but some seemed angered at the suggestion that they didn’t have a choice.

They trained regardless, and Sylvie, alongside them, kept up so well that she started getting bored.

“Are you alright, Vee?”

Rosie asked after their fifth mile of running.

“Fine,” she grumbled. “I’m just not feeling anything. My muscles aren’t even burning yet.”

Rosies face pulled into a frown, which looked so unnatural on her deliriously happy body, but Natalie’s frown seemed like it belonged far more.

“Are you kidding? We’ve been working you hard all day, and you feel nothing?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Lucky bitch-”

“What happened to you in there?” Rosie interrupted, throwing a sideways glare at Nat.

“Where?”

“When you got taken? Did they give you anything?”

“No. It’s probably just the mate bond. All the guys have these cool new abilities, so I guess this is mine. Stamina.” She scoffed and pressed onward faster, trying anything to feel the workout.

Rosie’s eyes grew big, and she grinned, matching her pace while Natalie lagged, clearly still working on her endurance.

“Of course, you completed the bond with all three... I wonder what your trigger will be.”

“What?”

“Your trigger. When a bond is complete physically, emotionally and spiritually, an event triggers the change completely.”

“How the fuck do you know this?”

“Amira,” Rosie said it like it was obvious. “She knows everything.”

Sylvie just laughed and rolled her eyes. “Well, how will I know if the trigger happened?”

It was Rosies turn to laugh. “You’ll know.”

Sylvie thought back to her mates and their growing virility. Their size and strength, and... stamina had increased. Could her kidnapping have been their trigger?

She frowned. The kidnapping was just as bad, if not worse, for her. How could it not be her trigger?

Oh, whatever. She was plenty strong enough without the extra juice.

When they returned to her house, she made a beeline for the infirmary, where Mila stayed with Amira.

She knocked and entered when Amira’s voice sounded through it. “Come in.”

“It’s just me... I came to see Mila.”

“The lass is alricht. Just restin.”

Mila lay on a smooth bench, her pale skin iridescent under the halogen strip above her. Sylvie walked over and sat beside her, taking her cold hand. “Has she woken yet?”

Before Amira could respond, Mila squeezed her hand, and a wry smile tugged her lips up. “I’m awake now,” she said.

“Sorry,” Sylvie whispered, wrinkling her nose while Mila smiled.

“It’s fine. Where’s Shan and Brodi?”

“We’re here,” Brodi said, flitting into the room in complete silence.

“Could ye at least knock? Ye vampires move like phantoms,” Amira grumbled and pottered near a bench covered in herbs and elixirs.

“Do you feel ready to return with us to Argyncia, or would you prefer to stay here?” Shan asked, standing at Sylvie’s side.

“I’ll come,” Mila answered, sitting and smoothing her hair from her sallow cheeks. “Full moon, right?”

“Mhmm.” Sylvie nodded and pressed her lips together. “So you’re okay? Cause you three don’t look great-”

“We’re fine,” Brodi interrupted before Mila or Shan could speak. “Thanks to you.”

She turned to look up at his imposing figure and swallowed, nodding imperceptively. “I’m guessing it didn’t bind us like I thought it would.”

Shan hummed, a smile playing on her lips. “No. That would require us to share blood with you too.”

“Speaking of blood,” Mila started, but a thumping on the door stole her attention, and her sudden bugging-out eyes captured Sylvie’s interest too.

“Forgive me, Amira, but I need to speak with my mate-”

“Well, ye don’t need tae knock ma bloody door down, ye fool.” She smiled and shook her head as he ducked through the doorway.

Sylvie swallowed her lust as the shirtless, giant beast strode towards her, his hazel green eyes rimmed with gold.

“My love, are you alright?” His stare flickered over the Vampires but returned to her with a soft tilt of his head.

She smiled. “I’m fine, Rowan. Do you need something?”

Mila shuffled on the bed, her head making unusual motions in Sylvie’s peripheral vision.

When Rowan went to speak again, she interrupted. “I’m sorry but is no one going to mention the crest?”

“Mila!” Shan growled, her tone holding a warning, but it was too late.

Sylvie’s interest was piqued. “What crest?”

“Your mark,” Mila said, giving Shan a look. “On his chest. It’s your family’s crest. Your paternal line is-”

“Dead,” Brodi muttered. “All dead.”

Mila scowled. “They were Generals, which means you’re from a warrior line.”

Sylvie huffed, looking from Mila to Rowan’s bare chest and worked her mouth.

“So you’re saying my father is- was a general?”

“Yes. And that’s why we weren’t going to mention it,” Shan grumbled, throwing a shady glance at Mila.

Rowan frowned and cleared his throat. “Will you leave us for a moment?” he said, not making eye contact with anyone but Sylvie, but the Vampires’ sudden disappearance proved they knew who he was speaking to.

“Are you alright?”

Sylvie gnawed on her lip and sighed. “I-” she laughed a little. “I guess. I mean, I know I should feel something. Sad. Disappointed... But... I don’t know. As far as I knew, my parents were dead when I was a baby and the fact that they are dead but in a different way than I thought doesn’t matter much to me. I still ended up in a home, abused and neglected for years, and I’m still trying to figure out who the hell I am. So I-”

She clenched her jaw as foreign anger rose in her belly. “I think I hate them.”

She met Rowans’ eyes, and her brows furrowed. “I know it makes no sense, but I just... I hate everything that the concept of parents stands for. I- I...” Rowan knelt in front of her, and she sighed again, resting her forehead against his. “I probably need some more therapy.”

“I’m sorry,” Rowan said softly, tilting his head to kiss her cheek. Left then right. “Whatever you need, I’ll be here.”

“I know.” Sylvie smiled and grabbed his hands, pulling him up as she stood. “Now, is there anything else you needed when you barged in here?”

His face morphed into a mischievous smile. “A little birdy told me training wasn’t hard enough for you today.”

Rolling her eyes, she huffed. “No. It wasn’t. It was a waste of time, and Rosie was not supposed to say anything.”

“The little birdy did not wish to be named. And besides, the day is still young, and you haven’t trained with me yet.”

“Oh?” Sylvie’s cheeks flushed as they walked from the infirmary into the afternoon sun. “What did you have in mind?” Their night together at the lake flashed through her head, and she bit back a smile.

That was a type of training she could throw herself into...

“Come with me.” Rowan grinned.

“This sucks, and I hate you.”

“It’s just a warm-up, and don’t be a baby.”

“You’re a baby.”

“You’re attracting a crowd.”

“Yeah, maybe because you’re making me fight you in my underwear.”

“It’s activewear. Besides, no one would dare look at you that way. You are an alpha.”

Sylvie groaned and finished her galloping around a squared-off section of ground on the forest edge. Rowan had a light sheen of sweat and looked delicious with his tattoos on full display as he faced her and bowed his head. There was a collective inhale from the shifters around them, and Sylvie raised a brow.

“Pack thing,” he grunted, lowering his stance and gesturing for her to do the same.

She did and brushed a stray hair behind her ear. “Where’s Elias.” No way he wouldn’t have shown up for the spectacle if he were there.

“Buying a nearby Blood Bank for the Vampires. Now focus.” He leapt at her, ducking low to tackle her legs, but she sidestepped and jumped on his back.

With a chuckle, he grabbed the arms snaking around his neck and threw her over his shoulder, dropping her on the ground at his feet. Rolling hard away from him, she only just missed his clawed grip reaching for her throat, and she grinned.

As she stood, she had to spit the dirt from her mouth and yelped as he attacked again, this time faster and aiming for her solar plexus. Then, twisting on her feet, she sprinted sideways and jumped for a low tree branch outside the square when his arm looped around her waist and threw her in the air. She spun like a football and rolled in the dirt as Rowan advanced again.

A feral look had entered his eyes, making her stomach flip as she stood with lowered stance.

She’d have to submit him somehow.

Looking for any opening, she almost lost her balance as his fist flew at her face. Instead, she tucked her shoulder just in time for the hit to sail past it and countered with a punch of her own in his ribs. The force of her punch surprised everyone, especially when the crunch of bone echoed in the ears of every shifter watching.

“Keep going,” he growled, punching again.

She ducked, circled out of his reach and used a push kick on his back to gain space. He was too big and too fast to subdue the usual way, especially after the extra magic juice of their marking, but she had a few gifts of her own.

Opening her mind and body to the trees along the square, she called to their roots, using her feet as a channel to guide them above ground. He spun to attack again when she darted behind him, raising her hands and pulling the roots forth.

Before he could think, she guided them around his torso and pulled him onto his back, the inches-thick roots too dense for him to break free from.

She jumped onto him, pinned his arms against his body with both roots and her thighs, and stole a kiss from his lips. The rumble from his chest vibrated right against her pussy, and she almost lost her mind until the cheers and applause from the shifters broke her horny spell.

“Tap,” she whispered, flicking his stubbled chin with her index finger.

“Never,” he said with a grin.

“Oh yeah? Maybe I should just leave you here then. Or should I tighten the binds?” She teasingly squeezed him with her thighs and felt the light tap of his fingers on her leg.

He grinned, and she returned the expression before standing and sending the roots back underground.

“Well, that fucked this square,” Natalie announced from the crowd, staring at the holes left behind by Sylvie’s antics.

“An easy fix,” Rowan replied, rolling his shoulders as if preparing for another round.

Oh fuck, no, he was preparing for another round.

“Now,” he purred with a smirk. “Where were we?”

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