The Alphas & The Heiress

Chapter 5

New year's double update! Please like, comment, and vote! Enjoy ☺️
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Magnolia

We land in the middle of the woods. The air always feels thicker down here than on the mountain. There's something weird about how the fading daylight reflects and refracts on surfaces; it's linear, sharp.

"The boundary of their border is just past those trees, and if you look north you'll see the guard tower closer to their main dwelling."

"Impressive... for your first time being here." I lift an accusatory eyebrow at him.

"I may have done a fly by or two."

Of course he did. Always prepared.

"You wanna camp here tonight, Ma—," I elbow him in the ribs before he can finish my name. "Ow what the fuck?"

"Travel rules are in effect." I say in a hushed tone.

When we were fledglings dad would bring us out on week-long survival trips. He knew we'd eventually leave the proverbial nest and venture beyond the protection of the grove. He trained us to be ready for anything; to be foragers, hunters, assassins, to give aid and respite to those in need, how to tell someone's character with three questions.

While on these trips certain rules were in effect, travel rules. Leave no trace, trust no one, and protect your identity at all costs. Incandis doesn't share my same beliefs on the importance of an alias. He will use his real name but will change his backstory. I, on the other hand, always go by Syble. I have to cover my eyes because they're a dead giveaway. The blind fold I wear is a special fabric that acts like a two-way mirror; I can see out, but no one can see in.

"So how 'bout it, Syble? I set up camp, you bring back some game?"

"Fine but you're prepping it." I hate preparing game meat. I'll hunt it, and I'll eat it, but I want nothing to do with the in-between.

I stalk off into the woods looking for signs of a few rabbits or a deer. I make it only a couple hundred yards away before a growl emanating from our camp pierces the silence. I know Incandis can handle himself so I'm not exactly rushing to help him but I do turn and head back.

I'm not far from our clearing when I see five men, two flanking Incandis and three others standing in front of him on the other side of the fire pit. Five against two, not the worst odds I've ever had. I cloak myself in shadows, concealing me completely from view. I grab one of my blades and throw it like a disc so it spins horizontally through the air. The smooth edge of the blade slices the shoulder of the guard on the right before boomeranging around Incandis and slicing the arm of the guy on the left before returning to me. I snatch it out of the air by the center hilt and reattach it to my back.

"The fuck was the that!" The guards shout.

"He's not alone," growls one of the men standing in front of Incandis. I creep closer to the group still concealed in shadows.

Incandis groans under his breath, "for fuck's sake Ma—," I kick Incandis behind the knee to stop him from using my real name. He grunts at the impact and his balance waivers. We've been over this a hundred times. Travel rules.

"Who is he talking to?" Asks one of the bleeding guards. The other one shrugs, a look of bewilderment on his face.

I stealth around them and stand myself right in the middle of everyone, facing towards the two largest men. They look practically identical save for their eyes. The one in the middle has green eyes with flecks of hazel. Like a forest dwells within them. The other has warm, chocolate colored eyes that don't hold as much tension as, who I assume is, his brother.