Marley and the Tale of Two Souls / Book 0.1 ✔️
Five: Marley

It took him two hours before he finally took the ores away from her and began to row the boat as easily as it is to pick up a calf or a chicken that likes to peek at faces. She would have openly complained about this situation if she did not need to figure it out herself. She felt like a complete idiot, Marley had heard stories about The Guild of Assassins but neglected to listen to the fact that they have animal companions but these animal companions are like spirit animals or in other terms, familiars and only come in one being. They mentioned their human more than once which means this Assassin was more than they let on, just like herself.

Marley never thought about being special. She was always a basic human being but in one single night, she met two talking cats and her dragon shifter mate who was still staring her down as if he could see right through her very soul. Although she could not blame him, she was some human girl who was able to have a mate and talk to animals and that was something that was slowly giving her a headache.

Granted, her parents were never faithful to each other. Sometimes she wondered which one of her siblings were her full siblings and which ones weren’t but then she would shrug it off. It did not matter, they were still her siblings one way or another but if she could have a mate and talk to assassin companions then can the others? and what was she really?

She internally groaned, thinking about it was too complex and complicated. She was a person, a living human girl who is stuck on a boat with a handsome man with creepy but hot eyes. She wished she had as much courage as this guy to openly stare and glare, he has stared so long she wondered whether he was doing it on purpose to annoy her or not.

“Why do you like to stare like that?” She suddenly spoke, her eyes sticking to the water beside her as she watched it move with the current and the ores. “Or are you one of those who like to annoy people?”

He had the nerve to chuckle. “The later.”

her face fell flat with annoyance, moving her gaze into his own. “Great, you are just like every other guy in this stupid world.”

“Like every other guy?”

“My brothers love to stare and make me squirm until I throw something at them.” She admitted as she crossed her tired arms. “They would do it as their way of making fun of me for being different. For being taller, thinner, and weirder. All of them have black hair and brown eyes and I am the odd one out.”

All she received was complete silence after she stopped talking. If she was being honest with herself, she had no idea why that all came out and all she felt was the humiliation of oversharing to a stranger.

“I think you are beautiful.” He softly said, his red eyes seeming to soften for a single second before he spoke again. “We are here.”

She turned, feeling a little light-headed from his words as she felt her face warm up. Marley was glad that it was so dark and hoped he did not possess the ability to be able to see in the dark like most animals and supernatural beings, she did not know a thing about dragon shifters, however, so her hope was thin.

She squinted her eyes to try and see better. There was a faint light, a small dim that hurt her eyes but she could see it. “Can you see anyone?” She questioned.

He did not respond, his dark demeanour seemed to darken the closer they had gotten to the island. Something was wrong, very wrong and his quiet demeanour was not helping her nerves. The boat hit the bottom of the ocean a few meters away from the shore. Without another thought, she stood and jumped out of the safety of the boat, water came to her knees as she sighed at her saturated clothing.

Logically, she would have waited until he left the boat and then rowed back home but something kept stopping and instead, she found herself being the brave one. Still not being able to see properly thanks to the fog, she watched the water sway around her body until slowly, all she could see was the sand and the male trousers sticking to her legs.

Her body slowly moved as she kept tripping over herself but after what just happened on the boat, she did not want to turn back to see if he was following behind her so instead, she kept her eyes forward. The light that she could see slowly became clearer until she walked up to it and picked up the handle.

“A lantern?” She questioned out loud to herself. “I thought-”

“Hello?”

Marley jumped, lifting the lantern to see the most innocent-looking girl, she has ever seen in her life. “Hi?”

The girl jumped, slight fear in her eyes as she eyed someone behind Marley before smiling. “I uh... my uh... Alpha took someone who was here. I... I do not know who but I snuck out of my home to see if he was waiting for someone and you guys are here!”

The girl’s soft golden-brown eyes lightened more and more as she spoke. The more words that came out of her lips, the more comfortable Marley got around her, this werewolf was too innocent for her own good. “So, if you know nothing then...”

“My Alpha will call the warriors and capture you two as well but I know a place where I can hide you guys until I can get into the prison. My brother’s mate is a warrior and he will let me into the prison until-”

“Do you ever get to the point?”

She jumped again, fear consuming her before she nodded her head. “Please... just follow me.”

Marley glared up at her joyful companion who only glared back as a response before she decided to turn and catch up with the she-wolf. “My name is Marley, what is yours?”

“Oh, I could tell that you are pleasant.” The girl giggled before shyly looking behind her as she lead them into the trees. “But him-”

“Do not worry about him,” Marley stated. “I am still trying to figure him out myself.”

She smiled. “I am Ava, all birdlike and lively.”