My Alphas' Dark Desires novel Chapter 44

Chapter 44: They’ll Be Fighting For Me

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

Chapter 44

~Valerie’s POV~

Following Isla’s yell, the cheers erupted a second later, but all I could hear was my heartbeat slamming against my ribs like it wanted out.

I bent over, hands on my knees, taking gulps of air. My throat burned. My lungs felt like someone had taken a match to them. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel-com

But damn it even though something was amiss, I won.

Xander stopped beside me, just behind the line, not even winded. He stood tall, hands on his hips, his dragon mark glowing faintly at the edge of his collarbone. "Impressive," he said smoothly. "For someone running from six mates."

I glanced up at him with a tired grin. "Try running with six of them."

His lips twitched, and he gave me a light nod, almost... respectful?

The others reached us moments later.

Kai arrived first, soaked in sweat but still wearing that smug little smirk. Axel followed, breathing heavier but not looking too bad.

They both nodded at me, not saying anything yet, but I could feel the storm brewing behind their eyes.

Isla ran into me as she hugged me tightly.

She had come in 5th which was a good one, though she may have come in 9th had those 4 dollopheads not let their anger get the best of them.

Then came the whispers from the few crowds of students that had circled around.

"Did you see how she passed the Dragon Prince?"

"She didn’t even use her powers."

"That backflip off the spikes? Insane."

I was trying to process all of it, trying to stay grounded, when the announcement came again.

"The rest of the runners will finish the course. All disqualified cadets must report to the review station."

Cue the dramatic walk of shame.

Ash walked past us, a nasty cut on his lip and blood smeared down his jaw. Dristan followed a step behind, face thunderous. Both of them were bruised. Angry. Dead silent.

I barely held in my groan. Seriously? Punching each other in the middle of a race? What the hell, Dristan?

I expected things from Kai, but Dristan seemed like someone who wouldn’t dirty his hands due to his ego. I was wrong.

This made me wonder. None of them actually liked or loved me, so besides ego, why else did Dristan react?

I tried to think, to see if I had missed something, but I couldn’t find anything.

"You’re lucky," Ash muttered as he passed me. "I was going to kiss you at the finish line."

I replied without missing a beat. "Then I guess I saved both of us from being sick."

He scoffed and kept walking.

Dristan didn’t say anything. Not a word. He didn’t look at me either, but I could feel the tension rolling off him like thunder.

His knuckles were scraped and bloodied. Whatever happened between him and Ash wasn’t a slap-fest—it was personal.

Ace came up later. He wasn’t even running. Just walking with his hand rubbing the growing knot on his forehead.

"You’re dangerous," he grumbled at me as he passed. "You didn’t even need to punch me."

I gave him a small smirk. "You hit a tree branch, genius. It must hurt badly since you did it yourself."

"Still your fault," he muttered.

I know I didn’t owe the Alpha Kings Heirs, but I just couldn’t help but retort since the Lycan Princes did bring it upon themselves.

Whatever.

Principal Whitmore stepped forward again, clapping once and lifting her mic.

"That was one of the most... intense opening runs we’ve ever seen. Congratulations to the top three cadets. Your rewards will be issued during your next briefing."

She gave a pointed look at the disqualified ones. "And to those who failed to keep composure, especially royalty, you are not exempt from the consequences. Report immediately for disciplinary review."

The crowd went silent again. Nobody dared cheer now.

And that’s when things started to shift.

Students stared at me differently.

Some impressed. Some jealous. Some... threatened?

I could feel the weight of being number one, even if it was just a seven-mile run. But it was more than that.

Everyone saw the fight. The tension. The blood on Dristan’s knuckles. The way Ash smirked at me like I was already his and how Xander stirred lovingly at me like I was a prize—his prize.

The Alpha Kings’ Heirs were dangerous.

But the new royals?

Unpredictable.

And I was caught right in the middle of it all, either as a winner, a target, a mate, or maybe all three.

"Great," I muttered under my breath. "Just what I needed—more eyes on me."

Isla and Emerald found me seconds later and practically tackled me in a group hug.

"You freaking legend!" Isla shouted.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify