Their Hidden Princess Novel

---- Chapter 102 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." "| 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. Thome 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 | even here for?" Thorne snapped.

He gestured to Zora. "To beat her up? That seems highly unproductive." ---- "Need | remind you that you've never seen an active battle?" Lunerly hissed. "How would you know what is productive?"