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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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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. Please leave this book a review on the main page to share your thoughts! And share it with everyone you know because it needs more exposure! 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 ever read this, I
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Bonus Scene 1/2: Chapter 59.5
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 Bonus Scene 2/2: Chapter 60.5
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
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Prologue
FOURTEEN YEARS AGO “Over here, Sush,” the old man said from the hospital bed, his voice hoarse and weak, the words came out in barely a whisper. Seventeen-year-old Sushmita Alagumalai came home to find her uncle on the floor next to a broken mug, a pool coffee spilling over the floor. She screamed and the neighbors came over, calling the emergency helpline as she tried to wake her uncle. An ambulance arrived and she was held back as the medical team checked his vitals - another heart attack, strapped him on a stretcher and hauled him into the ambulance, letting Sush sit with him and hold his hand. In a journey that seemed too long, all she could think of was, “Please, help him. Please make him wake up. I’ll be good. I’ll do anything. Don’t let him go, too. Please.” She didn’t know who or what she was praying to. She’d just lost her aunt two years ago, and she and her uncle had been grieving her death ever since. They were happy that they still had each other, until the first heart
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 1
PRESENT DAY The Duke of L’ouest, Greg Claw, remained pensive as his darkened eyes examined the pictures and screenshots for what was probably the twentieth time. The report his top hacker curated for him - behind his back - would normally warrant a praise, a raise, a pat on the back for the initiative taken, but this was one that changed everything he thought he knew, everything he thought he believed in the last three months, everything he thought he could have. Which was why he simply accepted the stack as the glow of his complexion dimmed, leaving Jade - his hacker - without a word. The decision was supposed to be an easy one and Greg felt ashamed to admit that he hesitated and - for a brief moment - considered looking the other way, asking the subject why before doing anything rash. But he knew why. It was written in the evidence. Asking wouldn’t just waste more time and make him vulnerable, it’d make everyone he knew vulnerable. What changed his mind within microseconds? What
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 2
Izabella opened her mouth to speak but found herself muted. She tried to scream and realized that she was only forcing air out of her lungs. Before her brain computed what was happening, vines appeared from the concrete against her back and bound her limbs and body to the wall. Flowers of transparent petals grew within seconds on the tendrils, exuding a scent that she didn’t think much of when two women she’d never seen before seemed to magically appear behind Greg, both dressed in black. Izabella screamed Greg’s name, trying to tell him about the two women, who she perceived as imposters, not knowing that they were the empress and consort of the vampire community, whose presence Greg requested. Greg, his eyes now a deep onyx, began, “Izabella Delilah,” the fact that he used her full name and that his eyes were a shade that she’d never seen told her everything she needed to know. Her neck stiffened. Her wrists tried to break free but the tendrils only tightened around them. The du
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 3
At the Paw-Claw residence - the king changed his last name to include his mate’s a few years back as a birthday gift to himself - Greg extracted a white envelope from under his seat as the two pups behind raced in unbuckling themselves before getting out as soon as the car doors were opened and raced to the front door. Enora waited patiently for Greg to unbuckle her, carry her out, and set her on her feet. Her hand reached for his as they took their time traipsing to the entrance. Enora was filling him in with her classmate’s profile and quirks, and he listened attentively, enjoying the momentary distraction despite having already memorized every single profile of the pups and their families in that kindergarten. It wasn’t as if he knew everything either, he admitted. He didn’t know which ones threw watercolors and painted their classmates’ faces and clothes during art, demanded a potty break twenty times a day or vandalized the tables and chairs and subsequently got detention. All
The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 4
In the evening, with Enora in the space on his crossed legs, they tore stale bread and the girl clearly didn’t get the memo when she aimed the first chunk at the mother duck of purple feathers, turquoise beak, and yellow eyes. She only missed because Greg lifted her and turned her away right on time, so the bread was hurled neatly in front of the animal, who quacked in appreciation. And so it became a game, for Enora to estimate how far off she should aim to get the ducks while her uncle deflected her point of focus. Her giggles showed that she was having more fun than their previous duck-feeding exercise. When the last of the bread was gone, some of which injured two ducklings and most of which scattered around the flock, Enora pulled out a strand of leaf next to Greg’s leg and tried to reach the dragonfly minding its own business above an empty lilypad. Before the insect got away, a gray elastic structure came from underwater at the edge of the lilypad, and the dragonfly disappeare
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- The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Epilogue
- The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke Chapter 85
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