My Alphas' Dark Desires
Chapter 233: Emerald’s Worry

Chapter 233: Emerald’s Worry

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Chapter 233

~Valerie’s POV~

I blinked twice. There was no trip, but we got class instead.

My first thought wasn’t about grades or group work or physics. It was, and I can’t avoid them today.

I groaned, dragging myself out of bed and straight to the bathroom.

I felt bad I never utilized my midterms properly to get a good go at things I needed to do and perhaps take a proper vacation.

By the time I arrived on campus, the usual morning buzz had settled into chaotic murmurs.

Students were gathered around the central hallway bulletin board where the new project pairings had been posted.

Whispers erupted everywhere. Some were cheers and others groans.

I pushed through the bodies until I could finally see the sheet.

My finger slid down the paper until it landed on my name.

Group 7: Valerie Nightshade—Ash Kaid, Ace Kaid.

I blinked. Then blinked again.

Oh, hell no.

The Lycan Twins.

I didn’t scream.

But inside, I was absolutely exclaiming, like someone had just told me I had to share a room with a pair of ticking time bombs.

Seriously? Out of all the people in this bloody academy... they paired me with the godsdamned twins?

The universe clearly loved me. I wanted to avoid my inmates, but now I was stuck with the best communicable duo I could get.

I stepped back from the list, my pulse ticking like a metronome in my neck. Of all my mates, Ash and Ace were the most... chaotic, wild, unpredictable, and prone to teasing and toeing the line between flirty and infuriating.

And now I had to build a physics model with them?

For weeks?

I rubbed my temple, already imagining the disaster this was going to be.

Behind me, I could feel their presence—like a twin wall of hot energy. And sure enough, the voices came right on cue.

"Well, well, well," Ace’s familiar teasing purr reached my ear. "Look who’s stuck with us."

"This is going to be fun," Ash added smugly from the other side.

I did not turn to look at them but inhaled, exhaled, and whispered to myself, Please, please, let one of them forget how electricity works.

"Valerie." Another familiar voice reached me, and I finally lifted my head to see Kai and Riven standing close to each other.

How tempted I was to just run into Kai’s comforting hand, but instead I held my ground and smiled sweetly at them.

I did not know if it was the mate bond, my heat... No, Solstice said I had no heat or my powers that made it seem like I was getting certain vibes and feelings from them than I’d normally get.

"Hey," Riven greeted softly, but his eyes remained glued on the duo standing beside me like they had won the lottery and I was their prize.

"Who’s your partner?" Kai asked, tucking his hands in his trouser pocket.

"Take a wild guess."

Riven scoffed a little, showing a bit of teeth. "Then... Good luck, Nightsade."

"Hey, why do you say that as though she was giving something terrible?"

Ignoring Ace, Riven turned, ready to leave, when he paused and glanced back. "You said it yourself."

I rolled my eyes and immediately took hold of their distraction to walk away, pretending to call after Isla.

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~Emerald’s POV~

I did not know if I was supposed to cry, feel bad for myself or simply rejoice.

I clutched my books in my hand against my chest as I stood, waiting for the change of story called my life.

I should never have gone home for the midterms, but I did, and that single choice gave me no choice at all.

But who was I kidding? It was either that or that. There was no avoiding my fate. It was just something I had to deal with.

And by dealing with, I mean the marriage betrothal announcement my parents presented me when I got home, and worse, to someone I did not know... in this present age and time.

I stood straight the second I saw the strange aura coming from the gate. And the second I lifted my eyes to see him, my breath caught in my throat at the sight before me.

I stood frozen.

Every instinct I had screamed to look away, to blend into the brick and ivy, to pretend I hadn’t seen him. But I couldn’t...

He was... unreal.

Tall, with lean shoulders that carried the kind of confident weight that came from too many battles won, too many eyes watched.

His hair was a cyan green, wavy and slightly tousled, and fell just past his shoulders like it belonged there, wind-kissed and wild. But it was his eyes that pierced through me, stopping my breath entirely.

Emerald green, just like mine, no worse, sharper, brighter, and wilder.

His gaze slid across the crowd like it was all beneath him, or maybe just irrelevant. But the second those eyes landed on me, just for a breath of a moment, it felt like the entire world tipped sideways.

My hands clenched tighter around my books, nails biting into the pages.

It’s him.

Gods. It’s actually him. The guy I’d been told about in the worst way possible, the very guy who we wolves saw as beneath us due to our hierarchy.

And just like that, the memory flooded in—uninvited, unwelcome, but far too real to ignore.

**Flashback**

~Winterbourne Estate~

I sat in the drawing room of my family’s estate, stiff-backed in a velvet chair that had seen generations of secrets whispered into its cushions.

Mother poured tea with trembling grace. Father stood by the hearth like some archaic judge ready to deliver a sentence.

"Emerald," Mother began, her eyes not quite meeting mine. "You’ve always known this day would come."

That was never a good opener. I stayed silent and waited for her to speak.

Father stepped forward. "You’ve been betrothed."

Okay, okay, okay.... Backtrack.

I’ve been what?!

But outwardly, I said nothing yet, allowing myself, my mind, and my wolf to process what I just heard.

Mother was the sister of a duke in the fae kingdom, and Dad was an alpha, ruling one of the packs in the regions. So gaining power through alliance was one thing my father had always loved.

He loved politics. He was good at it, and I had been trained to think and act and not be led by emotions.

I blinked.

"Betrothed to whom?"

"To a werefox prince." Mother’s voice was soft, like saying it gently would somehow stop the words from detonating inside me.

I laughed. Actually laughed. "A werefox prince? What, are we doing a fantasy reboot of my life?"

Neither of them cracked a smile.

"He’s from the Northern Reach," Father continued. "The Fenarion Pack. Their Alpha line is ancient and noble. This alliance is vital."

Vital. That word again.

They always used that word when they were about to trample over my life with some political scheme disguised as ’responsibility.’

"But I’m still a student," I said, gripping the arms of the chair. "I’m not ready for this. I don’t even know him."

"He’s transferring to PSA," Mother added relatively quickly, as though saying that would mean something good when the one place I considered my refuge was going to be taken from me.

Great!

"You’ll have time to get to know each other. He arrives tomorrow."