My Alphas' Dark Desires
Chapter 232: Suspecting Her

Chapter 232: Suspecting Her

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Chapter 232

~Isla’s POV~

As soon as I stepped into the dorm, I gently closed the door behind me, grateful that—for once—the lights were off.

It was silence, blessed, still silence.

I let out a soft sigh and turned toward my room, ready to sneak in unnoticed, when...

"Hmm. Sneaking now, are we?"

I jolted like I’d been slapped by air and turned around to the sound of her voice.

Still, I couldn’t perfectly see what was happening until I put on the light.

"Va—Val..." I gasped.

My heartbeat raced, legs locked in place as my gaze shot toward the kitchen. There, illuminated faintly by the glow of the fridge light, was Valerie.

Valerie.

Perched calmly on a stool by the counter, sipping juice straight from the bottle like some kind of silent reaper, dressed in all black.

She raised a brow. "It’s Valerie," she corrected coolly.

I clutched my chest, breath catching. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Did I?" she asked, that calm, detached tone slicing through me more than any shouting could have. "But why would you be scared... if there’s nothing to hide?"

I swallowed hard. Her eyes locked on mine in a much too calm, too focused, way.

Something was off.

I tried to smile. "Uh... are you going out?" I gestured to her jogger clothes, desperate to change the subject.

Valerie shrugged, keeping her tone casual, but laced with barbed undertones. "Well, I don’t know. Considering I just got back from my jog... and saw something strange out there."

My stomach dropped and my throat tightened. "Strange?" I echoed, my voice thinner than I liked.

She didn’t blink. "Mmhmm."

I tried to keep my expression neutral, even playful, as I stepped further into the room. "Well... you were jogging, right? It was probably just the shadows playing tricks. You know how weird forest lighting can get under the moon."

Valerie hummed, not saying a word as she took another swig from her bottle.

The silence stretched. Uncomfortable.

Then she stood up slowly, her movements graceful and predatory all at once. Valerie walked toward me.

My mouth went dry as I anticipated what she was going to say next.

She paused when we were inches apart, leaned in ever so slightly, and whispered near my ear.

"Don’t stay out too late next time."

Then, just like that, she walked past me and disappeared straight into her room, leaving e standing there, frozen.

I waited until I was sure she locked her room door to sigh. My heart was pounding and my mind screaming.

Had she seen me? Did Valerie figure out I was the one?

There was no sure way of knowing without me explicitly stating or guiding her in that direction.

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~Valerie’s POV~

I hadn’t planned on staying up. But when I returned from the forest, still reeling from the fake tracker, the cold of disappointment in my chest, I needed to do something.

I walked into the dorm, saw Emerald heading toward her room.

"Astraea’s gone to bed," she said quietly. "The lights are about to go off."

I nodded.

"Night," Emerald added, vanishing behind her door.

"Night."

Once Isla was okay, I decided to confirm my thoughts. So, I walked towards Isla’s door and knocked twice on it to make sure I was right.

There was no answer, no lights were on, and definitely no sounds, just silence.

I frowned. She was out?

So I waited. I turned off the lights and sat in the dark, back leaning against the counter in the kitchen, my breath slow, measured.

I didn’t need to see her come in; I could sense it. And when a soft creak came from the door, a faint shift in the air pressure, the scent of someone trying to mask where they’d been, I struck first.

"Hmm. Sneaking now, are we?"

The way she jumped confirmed it.

Valerie Nightshade didn’t need cameras when instincts did the job better.

Isla tried to laugh it off, deflect and misdirect.

But the moment I stood and moved closer, I confirmed what I’d suspected the second I saw those earrings glinting under moonlight.

I leaned in—not to threaten her, not to press her—but to smell.

She smelled of grass and tree bark, a trace of crushed leaves and the scent of the same woods where I’d just come from.

But underneath that?

Male.

Strong, warm, slightly familiar scent wafted through my nose, but not clear enough to place. Isla had tried to scrub it off her ski by probably rolling on the grass, but the scent lingered at her collar, on her cheek, near her wrist.

And beneath that was the beautiful scent of arousal, which was slightly drifting away, faintly but all the while still present.

I pulled back slightly and gave her a knowing smile I knew would unsettle her.

Then I whispered softly and sweetly. "Don’t stay out too late next time."

I walked away without looking back, but my mind was still whirring.

Isla was hiding something or someone, but I wasn’t about to bother myself figuring it out. We all had secrets and even though I am so.... Curious, I forbade myself from trying to get answers.

When she was ready, she’d probably spill.

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

The next morning came too soon.

I’d barely slept, not with everything lingering in my mind like ghosts whispering through the walls.

The fake tracker. The almost-certain sighting of Isla in the woods, tangled in someone she clearly didn’t want anyone to know about. The look in her eyes when I whispered to her, and the scent that clung to her like a secret too loud to ignore.

Still, none of it prepared me for the ping of my phone that woke me before my alarm.

I groaned, rolled over, and squinted at the screen.

God knew if it was the field trip they were calling us for this early in the morning, I’d probably punch somebody.

Class Group Chat

Class Rep: Update everyone! The field trip has been rescheduled for next week. Unexpected scheduling conflict with transport, permits and some other unforeseen circumstances.

Signed.

Ava (Admin).

We’ll be in class today. Mr. West is not happy, so don’t be late.

Also, please verify your name on the new Physics project team list. Group reshuffles were made this morning. Good luck.

There was a skeleton emoji after all that, and I could already swear it was not good.

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