Aselia slept in and out for the next two days, she didn’t leave her room and Yurian made sure no one would disturb her, except of course Xiran, who would talk to her whenever she was up.

Xiran had also acquired Yurian’s number from Aselia, so he could keep in contact in case of any emergency.

On the third day, Yurian came to Aselia’s room in a bad mood. He was fuming and his hair was in disarray as if he has been pulling on them. He began to pace the small room as his partner watched him with confusion.

"Yuri, what’s wrong?" She perplexedly asked.

"Aldridge is a fuc*ing prick," Yurian grunted with fisted hands, his eyes gleaming with anger.

"What did he do?" Aselia inquired while patting the space beside her so he would sit down instead of pacing the room in that enraged state.

"He has split us up and partnered me with Wasp. You will be reassigned as well. I don’t know what kind of bribe she must have offered Aldridge to come to this decision. As Raven is still recovering, she is now my headache," Yurian explained while settling beside Aselia and taking his face in his hands, he was not pleased with the development.

"Well, Yuri it’s their loss. He will soon realize that you and I work flawlessly together. I understand his apprehensions when it comes to me, but punishing you and partnering you up with someone like Wasp will only diminish your performance. Can’t understand why he would take such a decision," Aselia replied with a cluck of her tongue, not able to believe what she was hearing.

"You will always be my partner. Be careful though, I don’t have a good feeling about whom they will partner you up with," Yurian’s heart was restless, thinking they were going to pin her with someone else.

"I will be, don’t worry. I have to visit Raven today, although I detest the man he almost died because of me. Is he still in the recovery room?" Aselia inquired, patting Yurian’s shoulder.

"He is but be careful, hunters detest you right now and are out for blood. They might try to harm you or even kill you," Yurian was very apprehensive about all the rumours that have been flying by.

"Expected, they can try and I will kick their as*es." Aselia had a mischievous smile on her face which made Yurian laugh too as he got up.

"Got to go, mission. But I will see you as soon as I will come back," They both hugged each other before departing to different destinations.

Aselia headed for the recovery room where they kept Raven.

She slightly knocked on the door and another hunter with white hair opened it, seeing her his face got contorted in anger and revulsion.

"What do you want?" He inquired briskly.

Aselia ignored his harsh tone and said: "I am here to see Raven."

"Why? So she can finish what that abomination of yours couldn’t? Leave, you are not allowed or wanted here," he tried to dismiss her but Raven’s small but hoarse voice sounded from inside. As if he was still in pain.

"Let her come in, I want to talk to her," the hunter on the door had another annoyed look at Aselia but threw the door open, letting her step inside.

Raven was laying on the bed with both his arms and neck bandaged. There was another bandage on his head, indicating an injury that may have occurred due to his fall.

"Silver Wolf, can you give us some time alone," Raven requested the other hunter.

"Are you sure? She can’t be trusted anymore. What if she tries to kill you?" Silver Wolf gave Aselia a disdainful look.

"She won’t," Raven barely whispered.

"Alright, I will step outside but will remain there. In case she tries something," giving one final ominous look to Aselia, Silver left the room.

"How are you doing?" Aselia queried while trying to keep her emotions in check.

"White Falcon, thank you for saving my life. I know you have always detested me due to my behavior and didn’t have to save me, yet you did," Aselia was utterly surprised at his words, she wasn’t expecting him to say that. She thought he would curse her.

"We have our differences and I don’t agree with your approaches toward me, but at the end of the day you are my comrade and I always try to protect my companions. What we do is vital to this world’s peace," she replied calmly keeping eye contact with him and her head held high.

"I have loved you for a long time and I always thought you acted hard to get with me. I loved the way you always rebuked me, I enjoyed that. But I was wrong, I didn’t realize you detested me until very late and still didn’t stop my lewd behavior. I apologize."

Raven was using all his force to speak and Aselia couldn’t believe her ears. His face held genuine sentiments and she knew he was speaking the truth.

"I am sorry Raven but I don’t love you," Aselia kept the answer as precise as possible. She didn’t want to drag on this topic.

"You love him and the way he cares about you I can see why. Although your actions caused irreparable damage to our organization I understand why you did what you did," Raven’s face appeared in great pain.

"Thanks for understanding, I wish you a speedy recovery but I have to go now," Aselia awkwardly pursed her lips and turned to head for the door. This was not the topic she had come here to discuss with him and felt uncomfortable.

"Thanks for coming, I didn’t expect you would," Raven replied with a slight cough.

"Take care, Raven," Aselia opened the door and stepped outside where Silver Wolf was standing with his back against the wall.

He was as tall as Xiran was and just like Yurian, he was a hound, but a silver hound. His snow-white hair, deep sky-blue eyes, and sharp features made him stand out among all the hunters. Silver’s body was lean with sinewy muscles covering it in just the right spots, indicating the number of hours he spent in training. There was a distinctive howling silver wolf tattoo on the right side of his neck.

The man was in his mid-thirties which made him almost 10 years older than Aselia and yet both of them used to be in the Platinum category before Aselia was stripped of her title. Silver used to be Marhia’s partner and had been partnerless since her death.

It was the first time Aselia was meeting him since her return as he had been on a covert mission to extract some sensitive information. Silver has always been a man of few words and believed in getting the job done. Aselia approached him and spoke sombrely:

"I am sorry about Marhia, she was my friend too."

"Save the act, White Falcon. We lost so many good people because of your mission and that’s how you repaid us. Do you have any idea how much Markius’s death will hurt us? Hurt our organization. You should have been kicked out."

He hissed at her and the contempt his words held hurt Aselia deeply.

"It was either I let him kill Markius or he would have killed all of you, including Aldridge. I am not denying my actions, they hurt a lot of people but Xiran was innocent, he shouldn’t have been targeted in the first place."

"Grow up, girl. This is war, your parents were innocent too, my family was innocent too and yet they were slaughtered without a thought. The enemy doesn’t care about your innocence. We needed Xiran to get to his father and you let that opportunity go. You no longer belong to us, every time I see your face I am reminded of Marhia and I wish you would have died in her place. She was loyal and she was my partner."

Aselia could see the emotional turmoil the man held in his bluish orbs. He missed her and considered Aselia to be responsible for her death.

"I am sorry," Aselia mumbled, lowering her head.

"Leave, White Falcon. I don’t want to see your face. You enrage me, we are not friends anymore," Silver Wolf fisted his hands, trying to contain his anger. Another hunter appeared in the corridor and informed them that Aldridge wanted to see both of them in his office. Silver Wolf nodded at the informant and headed for Aldridge’s office on his sturdy legs. Aselia quietly followed.

Reaching the door, Silver knocked on the door.

"Come in," Aldridge commanded and they stepped inside. "Have a seat," Aldridge instructed them and they both sat down in anticipation of what he wanted to tell them.

"Considering the recent events, I had to make some necessary changes. White Falcon, you are no more a leader and head of your team so I broke it up. It was time for Yurian to lead his team." Aselia felt her heart clench at his words, she had toiled hard to get here but she didn’t show this on her face as Aldridge continued:

"You needed to be placed under someone uncompromising, so I am teaming you up with Silver Wolf," His words threw the room into a bone-chilling silence.