My Alphas' Dark Desires-Chapter 58: Simpulation Training

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Chapter 58

~Dristan’s POV~

There was a pause. A small one. He liked that answer. I could tell.

"Very well." He returned to his desk, adjusting his cuffs and lowering himself into the chair with the slow confidence of a king on a throne. "It shall be done. It would be made into an accident during one of your training courses."

To think he had thought that far was... stomach-wrenching.

"If that will be all, Alpha," I said, turning. I had barely started moving when I stopped. One step away. "You can kill her if you want," I added. "But since you’ve noticed she has everyone’s attention... why not use that to our advantage?"

Silence. Long, annoying silence settled between us as though he was gauging my response and scrutinising every step.

He didn’t answer.

I turned my head slightly to glance over my shoulder. "She could be the perfect distraction. If they’re all drawn to her, let them stay distracted. Let them tear each other apart over it."

"Speak."

"Let them fight over her. Let it twist the alliance. Break their focus. Shift their purpose. If she’s useful, then I say use her. After all, you want capable pawns on your chessboard."

My father studied me long and hard. Then, finally, he gave a small nod.

"Fine," he nodded, "she just bought herself a little time."

I had achieved my goal and saved Valerie from my father’s wrath briefly. That was all i needed to say as one word more would expose the truth to him.

Which was another reason why I could not let word get out that she is mated to me.

She’d be dead faster than before she can breath her last breath.

"As you wish, Father."

I left. Even as the door clicked shut behind me, I didn’t stop walking until I reached the end of the corridor, far from his study. That was when I clenched my fist hard.

The leather of my gloves strained, and blood seeped from where my nails, no claws this time, dug into my palm.

My body trembled with restrained fury, lightning buzzing faintly under my skin.

"You want to use our mate like a tool?" Soren snarled in my mind.

"I don’t want to," I muttered. "But it’s better than watching him kill her."

Soren rolled his eyes at me. "She deserves better. We deserve better."

"I know."

I was silent for a moment till I got to the front of the house. Silence.

"I need distance," I informed Soren using our link. "I can’t protect her if he sees how much she means to me."

And right now... she couldn’t know how far I’d go to keep her alive even if she hated me for it.

All I could hope for was that she had others to protect her, but still, I had this uneasy feeling in my gut telling me no—do not trust anyone with your mate.

Fuck!

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~Valerie’s POV~

It had been two days since I lost control. Two days since I screamed their names and tried to rip the bond out of my chest.

Two days since I failed, woefully.

Things had been... quiet since then. Not in a peaceful way, but in the suffocating, everyone’s-watching-you-too-closely kind of way. freewёbnoνel.com

The heirs weren’t hovering anymore. Even Dristan—especially Dristan—had disappeared into whatever dark place he called comfort.

There were no words, no glances or even glares. Not even their wolves growl in my head.

But I felt them.

Everywhere I went, I felt their eyes—even if they weren’t there. I felt the weight of what I tried to break still clinging to my ribs like vines.

And now? Now I was standing in the middle of PSA’s training field again, staring down another mission, well, another trial.

Only this one felt different.

Professor Laria announced it with her usual clipped tone, not with hair out of place or a smile on her face.

"Live environment combat simulation," she said. "Standard mission retrieval, combat level three. Work with your team. Watch for mana surges. Trust your instincts."

Right.

Except I was paired with him.

"Valerie Nightshade with Cadet Erik, Group Delta."

I didn’t even know him. Erik looked more like a bookworm who got shoved into a fight club by mistake. Thin-framed, glasses slipping down his nose. His aura was faint and uncertain.

Awesome.

Still, I didn’t argue. I didn’t protest. I was too tired to care. It was a simulation.

We entered the dome, one of the biggest in the Academy. And the moment we crossed the veil, the world changed.

I knew simulations. I knew the way the tech wrapped illusions around physical terrain. But this...

This was different.

A thick, misty forest unfolded around me. The air was heavier and somewhat colder like it had swallowed something alive and hadn’t let it go.

My boots crunched softly against uneven leaves. Above, crows cawed from high branches and shadows moved.

A low buzz in my bones told me something was wrong, and Astra, my wolf, was silent, too silent.

I tightened my grip on the hilt of my blade and glanced behind. Erik was walking behind me, his attention was clearly on our surroundings. "Erik, stay close."

He nodded shakily. "I—I will."

Thank goodness he didn’t act liek a total whim whow as depending on me. Even though I knew he wasn’t that strong, I could see him trying to put on a brave face which was admirable.

We moved through the fog together. Step by step. But the longer I walked, the more I felt it.

It was not just fear, nor the simulation. This was something real. And by real, I meant something planted.

The snap of a branch was the only warning I got.

"MOVE!"

I shoved Erik hard. The ground beneath my boots exploded. A burst of magical energy surged, shooting up like a geyser and snapping hidden wires from the soil. They screamed past my face like blades.

I flipped backward, just missing the edge of a glowing rune trap, and landed hard against the dirt.

Erik was safe—for now—but his eyes were huge with terror. "That—That’s not in our sim training! That’s not regulation!"