Chapter 69

Thorne

Thorne had no clue why he was dragged out of bed by the Headmaster that morning. He further had no clue why he was going to the gym to train. He tended to train outdoors. He was uneasy as he opened the door to the gym, unsure of if the Headmaster was going to punish him? Reward him? He had no idea what for either way.

When the doors opened and Thorne spotted a mass of red hair in the middle of the gym all his questions were answered.

Fucking Zora Smith.

Of course, this all revolved around her. She was the ever-present knife in his side. First, she’s his fated mate. Then, he has to reject her. Then, he becomes her knight. And now, he was her sparring partner under the watchful eye of their headmaster.

As he sparred with her that morning, he couldn’t help but wonder why he was there. He knew the Queen and Valentin Lunerly had a history. They both were key figures in winning the war with the vampires. Lunerly had been mated to the Queen’s sister, for Gods’s sake. Thorne had seen Lunerly in the castle a few times, but they’d never interacted. He knew that Lunerly was also in the running for the Princess’s hand in marriage.

What he didn’t get, however, was why the fuck Valentin Lunerly cared about Zora Smith.

“You’re too far on your heels,” he corrected as Thorne landed a punch to Zora’s forearm.

Thorne watched as Zora corrected herself before trying to swipe at his side. She missed by a landslide and Thorne took the opportunity to wrench her arm into an awkward pin behind her back. She grunted in pain before kicking into the side of his calve. Then, it was Thorne turn to twist and cry out as he dropped Zora to the ground. She fell on her back and immediately skittered away from him to get to her feet.

“Too slow,” Lunerly said. He sounded like he’d rather be anywhere but in the gym at that moment. “A wolf going a hundred percent would’ve pinned you in an instance.”

“Then tell this wolf to go a hundred percent,” she grit from between her teeth as she stood. She dropped back into a defensive stance and glared at Thorne. “Stop going easy on me.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Thorne said and genuinely meant it. She was still his fated mate, bond or not. He had zero desire to see her in pain.

“You’ll get her more hurt if you go easy on her,” Lunerly snapped. Then, the anger was gone and he was neutral again. “Go in for the kill, Blythwitch.”

So Thorne did.

He threw punch after kick after punch at Zora. Surprisingly, she managed to absorb most of them and counter back. But Thorne was watching the way she was sinking back on her heels. He knew he could catch her off balance.

As she threw her entire weight into him, he sidestepped her. Zora lunged forward and Thorne took the opportunity to jam his elbow into her back. She flew to the ground with the full force of his strike and nearly bounced off the gym mat.

“Fuck,” Thorne hissed and immediately went to help her.

She batted his hand away and tried to force herself up on her own. He must’ve seriously hurt her as she got to her hands and knees but couldn’t make it past there.

After watching her try, twice, Lunerly finally stepped in. He hoisted her up from under the arms and sat her back on her feet. Thorne couldn’t help but notice the way Lunerly’s hands lingered on Zora’s waist. They splayed out as if they were trying to touch as much of her as possible.

Jealousy lit up in him like a wildfire.

“What am I even here for?” Thorne snapped. He gestured to Zora. “To beat her up? That seems highly unproductive.”

“Need I remind you that you’ve never seen an active battle?” Lunerly hissed. “How would you know what is productive?”

Thorne was silent.

Lunerly stepped past Zora to narrow his eyes at the other man. “In war,” he started. “Your allies are your greatest strengths. They know you better than yourself. You are Miss Smith’s knight. You should be devoted to her.”

“Smith isn’t even a high alpha,” Thorne protested. “She shouldn’t have a knight.”

Lunerly’s nostrils flared. Luckily for Thorne, Zora stepped in between the two men. She gave Lunerly a pleading look then turned to Thorne.

“Look,” she braced her hands on her hips. “Neither of us wants you to be my knight. But what the Queen says, goes. So suck it up and punch me like I’m actually a threat instead of breakable.”

But you are breakable, Thorne wanted to say. The image of her face as he’d broken the bond was the first thing in his mind whenever he looked at her. How lost she’d looked. How broken.

He sucked in a breath through his nose. “Fine,” he said. He turned to look at Lunerly. “How am I supposed to fight as her Knight versus her ally?”

“Knights are an extension of a High Alpha,” Lunerly said. “You’re supposed to fill in the blanks where she can’t. Be the strikes she can’t take or the strikes she can’t throw. In sparring with her, you’re to learn her weaknesses. That way, you can fill in where she doesn’t.”

Thorne nodded once. Lunerly nodded in agreement. “This is true in wolf form as well,” Lunerly said. “Miss Smith’s wolf is much smaller than yours. But what she lacks in strength, she makes up for in agility.”

He motioned between Thorne and Zora. “Shift,” he demanded. “I want to see the same sparring as wolves. Miss Smith has had less practice in this form and we need to catch her up.”

Thorne nodded at Valentin then let the wolf in the back of his mind race forward. With a shake, he shifted into a large dark blonde wolf. He shook his fur clean of his human skin as he landed on all fours then looked towards his sparring partner.

She was frozen, eyebrows knitted.

“Miss Smith,” Lunerly deadpanned. “I asked you to shift.”

“I – I can’t,” Zora stuttered. Her forehead was crinkling and un-crinkling as she tried to force the shift. She managed to elongate her canines slightly, but as soon as she made eye-contact with Thorne, they shrunk back into her mouth.

“Fuck,” she hissed.

She made a face again and looked down at her hand. Her nails slowly extended from her finger tips but, once again, as she made eye contact with Thorne, they shrunk back in on themselves. Lunerly seemed to notice this. He glanced to the side at the blonde wolf.

“Blythwitch,” he said “You’re dismissed.”

“What about sparring?” Thorne threw down the line, tail flicking in annoyance.

“It will wait for another day,” Lunerly said. “Dismissed.”

Thorne shifted back into his human form and stormed out of the gym. That whole morning had been a colossal waste of his time. Knight or not, Zora was not a match for him as a sparring partner. He was getting nothing out of that arrangement and Lunerly knew it. As he turned back to look at the two people still in the gym, he watched as Lunerly stepped up to Zora and braced his hands on her shoulders.

Anger and jealousy consumed Thorne again. How dare Lunerly touch her? She was his fated mate.

Not anymore, he reminded himself.

He turned his head down to the ground, rethinking all of his choices and loyalties. Would happiness be so miserable? Would repaying his debt to Victoria really make him feel fulfilled?

Just then, a shimmer of light sprouted from across the gym. Thorne turned his head just in time to see Zora’s body disappear into the white fur of her wolf.