Chapter 9: The Intrusion

"Your form is wrong," a voice said.

I was in the forest, as I was nearly every afternoon, training. I was halfway through my fifty push-ups and as soon as I recognised the voice I just rolled my eyes.

"It's not," I replied bluntly.

Alpha Rivers seemed to spend more time on our territory these days than he spent on his own. He was constantly delivering grain and vegetables - one day he came with a single sack of turnips and spent three hours in our kitchen talking to Tobias and getting in my way as I was trying to cook.

He also had this irritating habit of following me into the woods. I was a woman who valued my time alone and I used to find the forest a peaceful escape. But now it was just another place I had to keep an eye out for him and put up with his condescending, sexist, annoying comments.

"You're making it harder for yourself without any benefit," he sung, an amused smile on his lips.

"I'm not," I repeated.

"Straighten your ba