My Alphas' Dark Desires
Chapter 227: They Are All Affected

Chapter 227: They Are All Affected

*****************

Chapter 227

~Valerie’s POV~

My breath caught, confused when a hand grabbed mine and yanked me backwards.

"She’s with me," came a sweet, cold, and sharp voice, laced with frost and violets.

I knew that voice.

Isla.

Only she could weaponize calm like that.

The next thing I knew, I was being dragged through a side corridor I didn’t even know existed, my feet stumbling to keep up, the fabric of the hoodie muffling my panicked breaths.

When she finally stopped, we were in an empty, narrow alcove between the dining hall and the older classrooms—barely wide enough for two people to stand shoulder to shoulder.

Isla yanked the hoodie down.

"What the hell were you doing?" she demanded, crossing her arms, blonde hair glittering under the window light.

I blinked, still catching my breath. "I—I wasn’t doing anything."

"You were about to crumble," she snapped. "Right there. In front of him. Again."

"I wasn’t," I lied. My voice cracked, so that was cute.

Isla narrowed her eyes, pressing her lips into a thin line. "Valerie, I’ve seen you face down an assassin, but you flinch at your mate like he’s made of poison."

My jaw clenched. "He is, Isla. He hurt me every time I let him in. And now..."

I trailed off, swallowing thickly.

"Now what? I’ve noticed how you’ve been avoiding all of them. One mistake, Valerie, one that Dristan made, was all it took for you to give the others a blanket punishment. They are paying for it. Why?"

My shoulders sagged. "That’s not the case."

Isla narrowed her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. "You know, when I left, I hoped you would take the alone time to think, to sort things out with them like a grown-up and not hide from them, but it seemed things only turned worse."

I wasn’t sure whether to share it with her. "It’s... that’s not it. Now I can’t look at any of them without... feeling this... urgh... not just butterflies or whatever. It’s physical, it’s ache and heat. Like I’ll explode if they touch me, and if they don’t..." My shoulders slumped as I tightened my hold on my bag strap. "...like I’d collapse."

Isla sighed. "The bond’s settling. You were mated to six alphas in less than half a year. You think there’s not going to be a reaction?"

I turned my head. "I’m not ready."

"And yet," Isla said gently now, "you still dream about him."

My cheeks flared with heat. I didn’t have to ask how she knew. She just did, and the look she gave me told her all she needed to know.

Honestly, I missed her and felt stupid that I let my anger push her away.

"I dreamt of Dristan," I confessed softly. "And it was... vivid. It felt so real, Isla. He—he kissed me."

She had that bored expression on her face that said, ’Is that all?’

"Didn’t you guys do more than that in Kieran’s house the other day?"

"Ye... no. It was more than that. And you’d know if you did not cut me short."

"Fine, carry on."

"Dristan kissed and touched me to the point we got naked, and I..." My voice broke. "I wanted it. Wanted all of it, for him to have me and mate me."

Isla sighed, tutted before reaching for my hand in hers. "Fuck you. What’s the shame in saying or wanting that from your mate when you are of age?"

She squeezed my hand gently. "You’re not wrong for that."

"But it wasn’t real. And now I feel filthy and humiliated because I can’t stop thinking about it, him, and about them even after all the hurt."

"Because you’re bonded, not broken."

"I feel broken. And we aren’t marked."

For a long moment, Isla said nothing. Then she tilted her head. "There’s something else, isn’t there?"

I nodded. "My necklace... It’s gone."

Her eyes sharpened. "Gone as in misplaced?"

"No. Gone as in stolen. I found a note."

"What did it say?"

I hesitated before answering: "’Now it has a better owner.’"

Isla’s entire demeanour changed as the frost gave way to something fiercer that made her dangerous.

"Someone stole a piece of you," she said darkly. "And they want you to know it. Ballsy"

I met her gaze. "Isla... what if that necklace was the only thing keeping me sane? I was told it was shielding my heat."

That was all I said to her for her to know its importance. She reached up, brushing a strand of hair from my cheek. "Then we’ll find it. Together."

I nodded, too tired to argue.

But deep in my chest, a sense of unease stirred because someone wasn’t just after the necklace; they were after me.

And I doubt, or perhaps it was true, that the necklace thief was the same person who wrote the anonymous note.

"Valerie?" Isla tapped my arm.

"Huh?"

"How are you, though? You know, Silver and..."

I gave a weak smile. "I am fine and sorry for how I lashed out at you the other day. I just..."

"I understand that it is hard to trust anyone currently, but I just want you to know I am here for you. Also, even if you wish to stay mad at your mates or avoid them, you can’t do that forever, girl. First of all, how do you plan on avoiding Dristan when the drills for the Alpha Forge are going to get harder right after the field trip?"

I blinked. I had completely forgotten all about our curriculum. For the final-year students, we were going to have a three- to four-day field trip starting tomorrow.

And then the following week, it was rigorous training.

The problem now was how to do all of these and keep my head low, keep my mind focused, and find the culprit who had stolen from me?

While I was still wrapped in thoughts, with Isla giving more of her advice, my ears caught something from afar, and I snapped my head in that direction.

"That’s true, she’s been expelled, evicted... she’s long gone. I mean, who fakes IDs and other documents to enter PSA?"

"How dumb could she be?"

"I’ll bother right now with her wannabe sidekick, Valerie. At least she still remained. How are we not sure she also faked her entry?"

Several gasps followed before the final idiot spoke, "Ohh, juicy. If she did, then I bet the Alpha Kings’ Heirs would go ballistic."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.