Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 135

Chapter 135

Natalia

Eight o’clock in the morning came way too early. My muscles were still sore from yesterday’s impromptu spar, and the last thing I wanted to do was subject myself to more of Andrei’s criticism if he was still in a rotten mood. But a deal was a deal.

I arrived at the training grounds to find Andrei already there, setting up a series of obstacle courses. Damon was off to the side, his arms folded across his chest as he watched Andrei with narrowed eyes.

“Morning,” I called. “What’s all this?”

Andrei didn’t even look up. “Training equipment. Obviously.”

I bit my tongue and exchanged a what–the–fuck–was–that glance with Damon behind Andrei’s back. Damon just shrugged, just as baffled as I was.

“We’re starting with a warm–up,” Andrei said, straightening. “Three laps around the perimeter. Go.”

The command was barked like we were his subordinates instead of his equals. I looked at Damon again, but he just started jogging. With a sigh, I followed.

The perimeter of the training grounds was about half a mile, so three laps meant a mile and a half of running before we even started the real workout. By the time we finished, I was feeling surprisin

orated despite the early hour, although I was out of breath and sweating.

“Not bad,” Andrei said as we completed the final lap. “But you should be able to do that without breaking a sweat, Natalia. Your stamina clearly needs work.”

Before I could answer, Andrei immediately moved on to the next exercise. “Push–ups. Three sets of twenty. Go.”

And so it went. Push–ups, sit–ups, burpees, squats–one grueling exercise after another, with barely any rest in between. Andrei demonstrated each move with irritating perfection, his body moving through the motions like a well–oiled machine.

Even Damon, who was in excellent shape, was starting to struggle by the time we reached the obstacle course.

But as the morning wore on, it became clear that Andrei had it out for me. Damon could sweat and fail and moan, but Andrei rarely spared him a glance. Yet every time I completed a task, Andrei had some issue with it. Every time I faltered, he had something nasty to say. Even when I performed well, he complained and nitpicked.

“Focus, Natalia. A real attacker won’t wait for you to catch your breath.”

“Faster. You’re too slow. Your enemy would have killed you three times over by now.”

“Is that really the best you can do? I expected more from you.

Each criticism stung more than the last. I was trying my hardest, but nothing seemed to satisfy him. And through it all, he maintained that cold, detached demeanor, like I was just another warrior in need of training, not someone he’d been about to mark during the full moon.

The final straw came during a combat simulation. Andrei had set up a scenario where Damon and I had to defend against multiple attackers–played by some of the Moonshadow warriors. We were doing reasonably well until Andrei suddenly changed the rules.

“Natalia’s been captured,” he announced, roughly grabbing me by the arm and pulling me away from Damon

Chapter 136

+25 Bonus

Now you have to rescue her.”

Before I could protest, he had me pinned with both of my arms behind my back. His grip was so tight it hurt. “What the fuck, Andrei?” Damon growled. “This wasn’t part of the exercise.”

Andrei shrugged, still holding me immobile with ease despite my struggling. “Enemies don’t follow a script, brother. You need to be prepared for anything.”

“Let her go,” Damon demanded, taking a step forward.

“Make me.” Andrei tightened his grip on me. “That’s the point of this exercise, isn’t it? To rescue your mate from danger?”

Something in his tone made me stiffen. There was an edge there. Something about this didn’t feel like an exercise. This seemed a little too real for him.

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