Their Hidden Princess (Zora and Maximus) novel Chapter 248

Chapter 248

Zora’s POV

We started training early the next morning, with Valentin eager to incorporate Thorne in. I was curious too, to see if he would fill the missing piece.

While Valentin prepared the training dummies, Kairos explained to Thorne, “Those dummies will mimic vampire behavior. They will fight us, but their ultimate goal is to tear past us and get to the princess. You must protect our mate.”

“I will. I’m her knight,” Thorne said it so simply that it made my chest ache. Could it be that easy? Suddenly returned, could he fix everything in less than a day?

Maximus glared at Thorne, and my doubts rose.

Thorne didn’t need to repair his relationship just with me. My mates were wary of him. That needed fixing too, or this would never work. My mates didn’t have to like each other, but they at least needed to trust one another. Max and Kairos had finally reached that stage, and we all trusted Valentin because of his experience and authoritative presence.

Thorne was the odd man out.

“We have to work as a team,” Max grunted. “You think you can handle that?”

“Let’s give him a chance,” I said, trying to mediate for all the grumpy Alphas. “He hasn’t even had the chance yet to show us what he can do.”

“Are you ready?” Valentin called. “We’re about to start.”

We got into position. Kairos showed Thorne where to stand.

Valentin came closer to us. He looked at me and his eyes softened. They hardened again as he turned to focus on the fight. “Now,” he said, and the dummies came rushing toward us, their movements purposefully erratic, like the vampires out be. They spread out, encircling us, but my mates and I fought bravely.

Valentin shot magicks, holding his side of the line. I assisted when I could, on any that slipped by and got too close.

Max fought like a one-man army all his own. He lived in his brother’s shadow, and had used that to build for his own strength. He kept his eye on me, falling back when he ventured too far. Usually, keeping an eye on me would be enough, as he trusted Valentin and Kairos to do their jobs. Today though, his gaze kept slipping father, to Thorne.

Kairos fought like a man possessed by carnage itself. He was wild but pointed. And he seemed to be the only one, even including Valentin, who wasn’t keeping an eye on Thorne during this fight.

I was also guilty of this.

Before everything had gone sideways, the two had been friends. They’d likely trained and fought many times together over the years, and seemed to be in sync.

Kairos would swing high, and Thorne would swing low. They tore one of the training dummies in half.

That seemed to satisfy Valentin, who refocused on the enemies in front of him. I too was comforted by their easy comradery and concentrated on the enemies I could reach, those that slipped through the others’ line of defense.

It wasn’t enough to satisfy Max, however. He looked back at Thorne a lot, every chance he had, every second of opening during the fight.

Thorne fought nearer to Kairos, but was still covering the hole that had been told to fill. I’d barely had to do any fighting at all during this entire training session with so many diligent protectors around me. While I was relieved we were doing so well, I was also a little annoyed.

I’d been training too. I could fight. I wanted to be in sync with my mates, having their trust as they trusted each other, but they all seemed set on babying me, shielding me like I was a toddler. Like I couldn’t hold my own ground.

Max, with a growl, started moving over to cover Throne’s opening, which irritated Thorne who, while fighting the same dummy, bumped shoulders with Max – hard.

Max growled louder, “You are supposed to cover this area.”

“I am,” Thorne replied, just as heated. “Why not worry about your own section?”

I turned then, to see that Max’s movement into Thorne’s area had left a gaping hole in his own. Valentin was trying to cover for him, and I did too. I took down one of my own.

But three more had slipped through.

Max came running back.

Valentin took out one of them from afar.

“Nah, love. Sometimes Alpha men need to sort things out this way.”

“That’s insane, I said. “Stop this!”

“No,” Valentin said, stepping up to my other side. “Let them sort it out their way.”

Kairos seemed entertained watching Thorne and Max fighting, fur flying, but Valentin rubbed his forehead like he was exhausted. He let out a sigh that I felt down into my bones.

No, my chest.

I lifted a hand and pressed it to over my heart. Beneath, an ache was rising fast – and hot – up through my ribcage.

The growls and yelps of the wolves echoed so loudly in my ears that I couldn’t hear anything else.

I was overwhelmed.

“Valentin,” I said, reaching for him. My voice must have been too soft, he didn’t react. Could he not hear over the fighting either. Instead, I turned to Kairos.

I didn’t even get to say his name.

The world starting turning black. My limbs felt so heavy, I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t keep myself upright.

I started to fall.

Kairos glanced at me, and in his eyes, I saw a flash of fear.

Then everything went black.