The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

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

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

Four months later, Greg found himself in an elevator headed for the sixteenth floor alongside his cousins and the queen, along with the ministers and a few warriors. The metal doors parted and they trooped down the well-lit corridor with glass-walled meeting rooms on each side, indifferent to those peering at them. Only the room at the end had opaque walls and doors, bookended by a guard on each side. At the sight of the neighboring species, the guards instinctively blocked the entrance doors, forbidding entry. It was their presence which told Lucy where to go. She knew who they guarded anyway. “Lowell. Harlow. Is Valor in there?” Lowell, blond with a diamond face, replied with crossed arms, “He’s in a meeting, a matter of great urgency that just arose. You have been notified about the postponement of the treaty execution, I believe, Your Majesty.” Lucy’s head tilted to the side as her lips lifted into a smirk. “We have a meeting with him. Now. It was scheduled last week and it’s

After illegible signatures were slashed across dotted lines, Lucy demanded, “Where are they?”“Well,” Valor began. “Seeing that I initially sought a postponement, the ones behind the conspiracy aren’t her—”Lucy and Xandar growled, shooting up from their seats once more as their thunderous rumble echoed through the room, at which time every other wolf and lycan stood. The strength of their snarls reverberated through everyone’s eardrums, making Abbott and Valor shudder internally. Their glacial, onyx eyes drained the color out of Valor, and Xandar’s voice turned deeper and more threatening than anyone had ever heard when he ordered, “You fucking get them here. In this room. In thirty minutes. Or we will invoke Clause 4.”Valor didn’t need reminding what Clause 4 was: if the event of breach, the kingdom may hold the commander of hunters hostage until the breach is remedied, subjecting him to any form of treatment the kingdom deemed appropriate. Where the breach remains unremedied with

The following week, Greg and thirty mavericks trooped into the hunters’ headquarters. Each type of hunter would have ten mavericks breathing down their necks in the coming months, who would rotate at month’s end. Greg himself would turn up in any department at any time he deemed fit. Bless his cousin-in-law…fine, and cousin - for materializing this big-shot request he made. The archers, chameleons and octopuses crammed in the welcome lounge to greet them. Valor’s idea was to start with an introduction session “to break the ice”. A gust of frustrated exhale left Greg when he replied, “I break necks and limbs, sometimes ribs, but never ice.” Taking one step closer, towering over Valor who swallowed and tried not to squirm, Greg declared, “I’m not here to make friends, Valor. My people and I have memorized every face, name and background of every hunter months before today. If you and your people have not conveyed the thirty-one names and faces here to memory, I’d recommend you step