My Alphas' Dark Desires-Chapter 108: Friend or Cousin?

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Chapter 108

~Valerie’s POV~

My eyes snapped to the source. Just beyond the treeline, Dristan stood one arm extended, smoke rising from his fingers.

To the side, Kai stood watching, his Guild following behind him like silent reapers.

"You’re late," I snapped, even as I gasped for breath.

"You’re welcome," he said smoothly, stepping closer. "I didn’t come for the target."

My heart jumped. "Then what did you come for?"

Dristan tilted his head. "You."

I didn’t get to respond.

From the corner of the trees, another shape moved—familiar, too familiar.

Titania.

She was supposed to be with the other half of her Clan. But she stood just off the perimeter, her hair windblown, eyes wide—watching me. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

And then she suddenly turned into someone. She met my gaze. And for a second, the forest faded.

I gasped when I recalled that face. I saw her father, my necklace—the smirk from that night.

A cold spike of memory ran down my spine. As I remembered that fateful night when the alphas had saved me. What was she doing here?

Isla grabbed my wrist. "Val, she’s not in our route. She’s not even on the mission. What the hell is she doing here?"

I couldn’t answer.

But before anything else could unfold, an alarm blared in the sky, then a red flare shot into the air.

"Time’s up," Dristan growled.

I swallowed and shut my eyes. When I reopened them, she was nowhere in sight. We turned. The student was secured. The extraction wards shimmered, and we returned to the starting field.

By the time we were done with the whole exercise, we all returned for a briefing.

At the debriefing, Principal Whitmore narrowed her eyes. "One Guild failed to extract any targets."

She turned slowly. "Guild Three."

Xade didn’t flinch. "It wasn’t a failure. It was a trap. Someone’s tampered with the simulation code."

Whitmore’s expression tightened. "I’ll be the judge of that."

My eyes flicked toward Dristan, who still hadn’t looked away from me.

And somewhere across the field, Titania slipped into the background.

I sighed when the meeting came to an end.

I’d barely gotten to my feet after the debrief when I felt the force of a human missile slam into my side.

"Val!" Isla’s voice sang in my ear, too bright for how sore my body felt. "Oh. My. Goddess. You didn’t tell me you had your own personal lightning god on speed dial!"

I groaned, half from exhaustion, half because she was squeezing the life out of me and I didn’t want people eavesdropping on our conversation.

A few of them already saw what Dristan did to save me. If more people spoke about it...

Gosh, I might faint from embarrassment.

"Isla, seriously. My ribs. Oxygen. Please."

She pulled back slightly, her face glowing with mischief and excitement. Her curls bounced as she grabbed my arm and spun me around like we were in a ballroom instead of a training field littered with the remains of magical chaos.

"Did you see him?" she continued breathlessly. "Did you see how Dristan stormed in like a storm-born avenger? That lightning shot? It was straight out of a battle romance."

"I’m pretty sure I wasn’t in actual danger," I muttered, brushing dust off my gear. "We were doing fine."

"Pfft." She waved her hand.

"The air practically caught fire when Dristan said you. Not ’the target.’ Not ’the team.’ Not even ’the girl.’ Just you. That’s not battle protocol. That’s a declaration. And you looked like you forgot how to breathe for a full five seconds."

I shot her a look. "I was startled. You would be, too if someone strolled into the battlefield and declared you the prize."

She wiggled her brows. "Doesn’t change the fact that you are the prize. And you’ve got princes fighting in your name."

I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair. I did not know if I was babysitting a child in form of a grown teenage girl.

"That’s the problem, Isla. It’s not just Dristan."

She blinked. "You mean... the others?"

I nodded slowly. "Kai, Axel, Xade. Even Ace and Ash have been acting weird lately. They all look at me like I’m the last slice of forbidden cake."

Isla laughed. "Val, you are the forbidden cake."

"Not helpful," I said, rolling my eyes at her. "You should’ve gone into theatre."

She leaned closer, grinning like the cat who caught all the canaries. "You say that, but you didn’t deny it."

"What is there to deny?" I huffed. "They all act like they’ve got some claim. Some bond. But what am I supposed to do? Share myself between four—or five—alpha heirs? Have a color-coded kiss schedule?"

Isla cackled. "Only if it includes themed days. Like ’Touch-Me-Not Tuesdays’ and ’Flirt-Until-Someone-Growls Fridays.’"

"Isla," I groaned.

She grew quiet for a beat, then bumped her shoulder against mine. "Look. I know it’s not simple. It’s messy and tangled and possibly fatal for your emotional stability. But... Dristan’s different."

I arched a brow at her. "Different how? He’s colder than Kai, moodier than Axel, and scarier than Xade when he’s not even trying."

"Exactly," she said, her tone softer. "And yet, when it comes to you," she made quotation marks with her fingers, "he stops being all those things. He listens. He watches. He defends. You see it, right?"

I hesitated. "Sometimes."

"Val," Isla said, turning to me now. "You ground him. You make him human."

I didn’t know what to say to that. My fingers tugged lightly at the corner of my wrist brace, a nervous tick I hadn’t noticed had returned.

"Are you saying this as my friend or as his cousin?" I asked.

She tilted her head, lips twitching with a reluctant smile. "Both."

I gave her a look.

"I mean it," she continued. "As your friend, I want you to be happy and safe and kissed so breathless you forget about any stupid thing or princess. And as Dristan’s cousin? I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. Like you’re the only truth in a world that’s been lying to him since birth."

My chest tightened. I looked out across the field where Dristan now stood with his back turned to us.

"I fear I’ll hurt them," I whispered.

Isla was quiet, then reached over and looped her arm through mine. "Then start with the one who looks at you like he’ll break himself first before ever letting you shatter."

I blinked back the sting in my eyes.

She smiled at me, mischievous and unrepentant. "Besides, let’s be honest—Dristan in a fight is hot, but Dristan in full protective alpha mode? That’s criminally attractive."

"Isla."

"Don’t lie. You thought it too."

I didn’t reply. Which only made her grin widen.

"Forbidden cake," she whispered, nudging me. "He wants a slice."

I groaned again, tugging my hood over my face.

And still—beneath the smirk that refused to leave Isla’s lips—I wondered how long I could keep pretending the answer wasn’t already there, right under my skin.

She plopped onto the grass, crossing her legs. "Okay, but seriously. What are you going to do?"

I hesitated. "I don’t know. How am I supposed to choose? What if I hurt someone by picking one? What if I hurt myself by picking wrong? Or what if... what if I’m just not ready?"