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CHAPTER 11
~Kai's POV~
The quiet corner behind the old training grounds had always been my personal sanctuary. No one came here. No distractions. Just silence.
Usually, I could clear my head in a place like this. But today? It wasn't working. Because the second I sat down, my wolf wouldn't shut the hell up.
"Mate. Mate. Mate," Kaiser chanted internally.
I exhaled sharply, clenching my fists.
"Kaiser," I warned.
But he kept going. "Mate. Ours. Take her. Now."
I growled lowly. "I can hear you just fine."
Kaiser snarled back. "Then why are you ignoring the truth?"
I shut my eyes. "Because she's not my mate."
"Lies."
I could feel him pacing in my mind, restless, furious. Just like how I was right now, but if someone didn't see it in my eyes, they would probably think I was my usual stoic self.
"You feel it. You know you want her. You want to hold her, to protect her. And you sure as hell don't want any other man near her."
I stiffened.
My fingers curled into fists as I recalled the sickening jealousy that burned through me every time I saw Axel teasing her, or Xade looking at her like he wanted to toy with her.
Or Dristan… That bastard was always calculating, waiting, and analysing.
Still, Kaiser rumbled. "Her scent calms you. Admit it."
I hated how true that was.
That morning, when she stepped onto the combat field, my entire body reacted before I could stop it.
The faintest whiff of her scent, and my wolf eased—like she was something familiar, something safe.
And I hated that. Because nothing about her should be safe to me. I growled. "She's not mine."
Kaiser's voice was dark with amusement. "Keep lying to yourself."
"She's not mine if the Moon Goddess decided to fucking share her." There the cat was out of the bag. That thought alone sent a bitter taste through my mouth.
A mate bond was sacred with a single connection and a single person. Then why did mine have to belong to others? Why was Valerie bound to all of us?
How the hell was I supposed to accept that? How could I claim her, knowing she was meant for others, too?
Kaiser growled. "Then what are you going to do? Watch the others claim her first?"
I scoffed. "That stubborn brat? You think she'd let anyone claim her?"
Kaiser's growl turned into a low warning. "Don't insult my mate."
"Our mate," I corrected before I could stop myself.
Kaiser let out a satisfied growl. "Oh, now you want to claim her?"
I clenched my jaw. Damn him. He knew how to play games like that cunning Xade. Before I could retort, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was the special tune I used for the Alpha Kings' heirs.
So I knew at once that this was serious. I yanked it out, my gaze darkening as I read the message.
Dristan: Meeting room. Five minutes. Topic: Our mate.
Kaiser growled in satisfaction. "See? I told you to be fast."
My veins bulged, my fingers tightening around the phone.
"Shut the fuck up.," I reprimanded Kaiser, but even at that, deep down, I already knew I was screwed.
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~Drsitan's POV~
A mate.
That was the one thing I never wanted. Yet, here she was.
Valerie Nightshade.
The bane of my existence. The only person in this godforsaken academy who had the audacity to defy me.
And somehow, she was mine.
I sat in my private study, a dimly lit room tucked away in the East Wing of the academy's main building. It wasn't part of the dorms—it was an exclusive space reserved for me, where no one dared to intrude.
Except now, my thoughts weren't my own.
Soren, my wolf, was restless. He paced in my mind, threatening to take over.
"She is ours."
I exhaled slowly, resting my forearms on the polished wooden desk before me. The room was silent, but my thoughts?
They were loud as hell.
"She defied you. She resisted. She should have bowed, but she didn't."
That was the problem, wasn't it?
Everyone bowed to me.
Everyone.
I didn't have to demand submission—I simply existed, and they fell in line. But Valerie? She looked me in the eyes. She challenged me, and worst of all, I wanted to let her.
My fingers curled into a fist.
This was the Moon Goddess's idea of a joke.
Not only had she given me a mate, but she had shackled me to three others.
I had spent years ensuring my control remained absolute—never letting anyone get close or have leverage over me.
And now?
One girl threatened everything.
"She is different," Soren murmured in my head. "You feel it. She isn't just defiant—she is dangerous."
My jaw tightened as that much was clear. Valerie was skilled. I saw it all happen in combat class. No ordinary werewolf girl fought like that.
She was trained. Sharpened like a weapon. Valerie wasn't just another reckless, hotheaded omega trying to prove herself.
She was a mystery, and I despised mysteries because they led to unpredictability, which in turn led to chaos.
I had enough chaos in my life.
My fingers reached for the drawer beside me. Slowly, I pulled it open.
Inside, tucked beneath a stack of neatly arranged documents, was a single, worn photograph. I stared at it for a long moment.
Then, without a word, I shut the drawer.
Not yet.
Instead, I grabbed my phone, my fingers moving swiftly across the screen as I typed a message and broadcast it to the others.
"Meeting room. Five minutes. Topic: Our mate."
I set my phone down as a slow smirk curled on my lips. Whether she liked it or not, she had just stepped into my game.
"Welcome to my world, Valerie."
*****************
~Dristan's POV~
The meeting room was silent except for the ticking of the clock. It had been thirty minutes since I last called for the meetings and everyone arrived but there was no sign of Xade anywhere.
Axel leaned against the table, arms crossed, while Kai stood by the window, his fingers drumming against the glass in irritation.
I sat at the head of the table, watching them. Waiting.
The moment all three of us were gathered, Axel spoke first.
"Are we seriously waiting for Xade?" he asked, brows furrowed. "He probably won't even show up. You know how he is—"
"He'll be here," I said flatly.
Kai exhaled sharply, turning toward me. "And why exactly do we need him here?"
I tilted my head, my gaze sharp, calculating. "You mean to say… you haven't sensed it yet?"
They exchanged a glance and Axel frowned. "Sensed what?"
I leaned back, my fingers tapping idly against the armrest. "Think back to today. Earlier in Combat class."
Axel stiffened. His brows furrowed as realisation dawned on his face. Then—his eyes widened.
"No way," Axel breathed.
Kai's expression hardened. "You can't be serious."
I lifted a brow. "Is it really that surprising?"
Axel ran a hand through his red hair. "He's also her mate?"
I didn't answer immediately. Instead, I turned my gaze to Kai, watching for any reaction.
He scoffed. "He's just the Middle Belt. In terms of territory and power, we three rule."
A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips. "Wouldn't the same have been said about the South?" My voice was smooth, deliberate. "Before they were eradicated?"
The room fell into a tense silence.
Kai clenched his jaw. Axel's smirk faltered.
I let my aura shift just slightly. The air in the room grew heavier and colder. Their wolves felt it—I saw it in the way their shoulders tensed, in the flicker of red in their eyes.
But neither of them called me out for it.
Instead, Axel exhaled, tucking his hands into his pockets. "So. She's mated to all of us."
His tone was unreadable, but I saw the flicker of emotion in his hazel-green eyes.
"Are we going to share," Axel continued, "or reject her entirely?"
Kai's shoulders tensed. Slightly.
But I noticed it. I smirked. "What's wrong, Kai? Scared of rejecting your mate?"
Kai's emerald-green gaze snapped to mine. "I don't see you rejecting her, either."
The air suddenly thickened between us as we both let our auras out. "Face it, Kai. Do you really think our parents—" I started, but then another shift in the atmosphere.
It was different from mine and slippery and uncatchable. All three of us whipped our heads toward the door as Xade walked in.
His silver hair was slightly tousled, like he hadn't bothered fixing it after a run. He wore a sleek black button-down, the top two buttons undone, paired with dark combat pants and boots.
He looked like he had walked straight out of a fight—or was about to start one. But as always, Xade was grinning.
Kai exhaled sharply, rolling his eyes. "Of course, he shows up now."
Axel smirked. "Took your sweet time, Xavier."
I watched him carefully. "You're late."
Xade strolled forward, completely unfazed. "Unlike you three," he mused, "I've been keeping an eye on our mate."
Axel and Kai snapped their heads toward him at the same time.
"So it's true," Axel said.
"You're her mate, too," Kai finished.
Xade's smirk didn't falter. "Yeah."
"And…?" Kai pressed, arms crossed.
Xade merely shrugged. "That's not my concern right now."
I narrowed my eyes slightly. "Then what is?"
Xade's smirk faded just slightly. His expression turned dangerously unreadable. "The real question," he said slowly, his voice dark with a hint of amusement in his tone and something sinister, "is why our mate is currently heading toward the most dangerous part of the city—the Graveyard Black Market."
An awkward, tense silence enveloped the room in a beat and then all of us chorused together.
"What?!"