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*****CHAPTER 3

MAE'S POV

As soon as the men got on their heels, heading for me, I immediately packed the coins from the counter top, shoving them into my dirty, oversized coat before running on, pushing my way through the throng in the market while the men continued to scream "thief" at me and kept on with the chase. I continue to run, colliding into a fruit seller's carriage and sending the fruits rolling off the cart. The man screams curses at me, and I yell back an apology.

"Sorry." And then I kept running on my heels, never stopping for a second. I turned my head to see the men gaining on me now, hot on their heels too. But as soon as I turned my head again, a pair of strong male hands drew me as fast as lightning away from the eyes of the crowded marketplace, pulling me into a tight corner. I lifted my feet to defend myself from my attacker, but I stopped as soon as I saw the face of the person who would have suffered from the severity of my weeblepunch.

Oliver, my best friend, raised a finger to his lips to hush me from making any noise, and then he pulled me down with him, hiding ourselves behind several barrels of oil. I breathed heavily as I tried to catch my breath, our eyes peeping to the road, watching my pursuers run on in lost hope of finding me. A minute later, Oliver got up from the ground, pulling me by the collar of my coat as he did. I stood on my feet and fought his hands off until he let me go. But that was not over. He searched through my pockets and pulled out the coins hidden within. Placing the coins on his palms, he counted them with his eyes, and I did not fail to catch the disappointed look on his face as he did so.

I hopped on my toe, having had enough of his interference, and I struggled to retrieve the coins from his grip, but he held his hand high up and far away from my reach.

"Eighty bronze coins, Mae. "You are going to get yourself almost killed because of eighty bronze coins?" His tone sounded even more disappointed than his expression, but I did not care. I continued to jump on my toe and tried to reach for the fruits of my labor.

Well, technically, someone else's. But I still labored to have them when I was chased by those thugs. So, yes. That deserved to be counted as labor too.

"You're never going to understand how some people's lives depend on eighty bronze coins, Oliver." I finally stopped struggling and glared at him instead. With a small, defeated sigh, he finally surrendered and lowered his hand. I retrieved the coins from him immediately and counted them hurriedly with my fingers to be sure none were missing. When I confirmed they were all intact, I shoved them back into my pocket and gave him another warning glare.

"You have to learn to stay out of my business, Oli."

Oliver, however, snuck his nose into the air in self-defense. "Stay out of your business when you almost got killed."

"I wasn't going to get killed." Stop exaggerating."

"Lose an arm, then?"

I shrugged defiantly, and Oliver made a frustrated sound at the back of his throat.

"Do you not care about losing an arm, Mae?" Really? You don't?"

I rolled my eyes at him, wanting nothing more than to escape his usual scoldings and lectures. "Whatever. It wouldn't make me any less beautiful."

Oliver chuckled in pure disbelief.

"Why are you so sure?" "Don't tell me your overconfidence comes from knowing that you are literally the most beautiful woman in the entire Black Wolf pack."

I fluttered my lashes at him in a flirty manner to back up his statement.

"Everyone knows that."

Oliver laughed again, his warm coffee eyes never leaving me for a second. With the way we were standing close to each other, anyone could point out who the thief was and who the nobleman was amongst us. Oliver was dressed in a nice, expensive cloak that bore the insignia of someone who worked in the castle, which he truly was, while I was in my oversized, dirty trench coat that I inherited from my father, my hair unruly and unwashed for days. Like always, I wondered how the gods had allowed two completely opposite souls to become best friends in the first place.

"You proud little thing." He ruffled my hair, and I pushed his hand away and tried to fix my already messy hair—an effort I knew was in vain.

"You are too pretty for a pretty thief, Mae." I pray you get married to a good man one of these days so you can get off the street real quick. "And without a missing arm too."

"I don't need a man to get off the street, Oli." "I have told you that a million times." I took a step forward and peered into the road again, relieved that the coast was finally clear and we could move along. I turned my head again to look back at Oliver, inquiringly.

"What are you doing here, by the way?" "Aren't you supposed to be in the palace, errand boy?"

"The Alpha wanted me to send a message to an elder." Oliver answered. I did not bother asking further because I knew that no matter how hard I tried to dig in, Oliver would never tell me a thing that related to the castle. They were purely confidential information, he would maintain. Ever since I had known Oliver as a child, he had worked at the castle with the Alpha his entire life. We had first met at the market when I was ten and he was only a year older. He had caught me trying to steal from a fruit vendor, and instead of telling on me, he had offered me his own fruits and handed me some extra change too. That was the highest level of humility anyone had ever shown to me, and ever since then, Oliver and I have become super close, and he has always saved me from trouble, one way or another.

"Alright then." I shrugged again and began to back away from him. "See you around, Alpha boy."

And then, I sent him a small cap salute and finally turned my back on him, running off and all the way home.

Back to the same house that turned me into a petty little pretty thief.

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