Too Late To Regret, My Alphas

Rosalie:

I had always believed our training sessions were hard.

After all, Eiden woke me up before sunrise almost every morning. We ran until my lungs burned, practiced balance until my legs trembled, and sparred until I collapsed onto the grass, convinced I couldn’t possibly move another muscle. By the end of every session, I was drenched in sweat, exhausted, and secretly proud of myself for surviving another day.

That illusion lasted exactly three minutes after Zaiden announced, "I’m training you today."

I should have known that smile on Eiden’s face meant trouble. He wasn’t laughing at me. He was laughing for me.

"You look awfully happy," I muttered while stretching my shoulders.

Eiden raised both hands innocently. "I have been waiting for this day."

I narrowed my eyes. "That doesn’t sound encouraging."

"It isn’t," Zaiden answered without the slightest hint of sympathy.

Twenty minutes later, we found ourselves deep inside the forest rather than the usual clearing behind Eiden’s house where he normally trained me. The morning air was cool, sunlight filtered through the dense canopy above us, and birds chirped peacefully, completely unaware that I was about to question every life decision that had brought me here.

I looked around.

"There aren’t any practice dummies."

"You won’t need them."

"No targets?"

"You won’t need those either."

I blinked in confusion. "Then... what exactly are we doing?"

Zaiden picked up a smooth stone from the ground and casually tossed it into the air before catching it again. "You have become stronger."

I smiled proudly. "I know." But my smile disappeared the very next moment as he continued.

"But... you still think like prey."

"...Excuse me?"

He tossed the stone again. "When you enter a new place, what’s the first thing you notice?"

"The surroundings?"

He shook his head.

"The exits?"

Another shake.

"The enemies?"

"No."

I frowned. "What is it then?"

He looked around the forest once as he answered, "Everything."

Before I could ask what he meant, he suddenly threw the stone. Not at me, but past me. It struck a tree behind me with a sharp crack, making me instinctively spun around.

"Too slow."

I looked back at him. "What?"

"You reacted after the sound." He folded his arms. "You should have reacted before the stone ever left my hand."

"You are kidding."

"I’m not." Without warning, he bent down and picked up another stone. This time I watched his shoulder. The instant his muscles moved, I ducked. The stone flew over my head.

"Better."

I blinked and asked, "That’s today’s training?"

Zaiden smiled as he corrected me. "That’s only the warm-up." Something about the way he said it made me regret asking. For the next half hour, the forest transformed into the strangest training ground imaginable.

He never attacked me directly. Instead, he constantly changed my environment. Sometimes he threw pebbles toward nearby bushes, forcing me to identify whether the sound came from him or something else. Other times he snapped branches from different directions while I stood blindfolded, making me point toward the exact location of each sound.

And whenever I hesitated...

"You would already be dead."

Whenever I guessed wrong...

"Dead again."

Whenever I reacted too late...

"Congratulations. You survived another... three seconds."

Meanwhile, Eiden watched from beneath a nearby tree, occasionally sipping from the water bottle I’d foolishly assumed was meant for me.

"You are enjoying this far too much," I complained.

"I really am."

Traitor.

Just when I thought I’d finally started understanding the exercise, Zaiden completely changed it.

"Close your eyes."

I obeyed.

"Now." His voice became quieter. "Find me."

I frowned.

"Use everything except your eyes." He guided.

The forest suddenly became... loud. Leaves rustled. Birds fluttered overhead. A squirrel scampered across a branch. Wind brushed against my face. For the first time, I realized just how many sounds I normally ignored.

I slowly turned my head. Nothing. Then a faint shift of weight, barely audible. On my left.

"No."

Zaiden’s voice came from behind me.

I jumped.

"I didn’t move."

"What?"

"You followed the sound of a rabbit."

Eiden burst into laughter. "Oh, Rosa..."

"I hate both of you."

"I know. But we still love you."

Unfortunately, the torture wasn’t over. Next came what Zaiden called territory awareness. He handed me five small pieces of colored cloth. "Tie these anywhere within one hundred meters."

I looked at him. "That’s it?"

He nodded before adding, "Then come back."

Five minutes later, I returned feeling rather pleased with myself.

Zaiden smiled. "Good." Then he handed me another five. "Now, find the first five."

I stared at him. "Are you sure you aren’t trying to mess with me on purpose?" I couldn’t help asking.

"This is real training, love."

The exercise sounded easy. But it wasn’t. Every tree looked the same. Every rock looked identical. The deeper I walked, the more convinced I became that the forest itself was mocking me. By the time I finally located the last strip of cloth, I was sweating harder than after most sparring sessions.

When I returned, Zaiden nodded approvingly. "You got lost only twice."

"Only?"

"It’s a good improvement."

Eiden thoughtfully added, "Yesterday it would have been four times."

I glared at him, but he smiled sweetly.

The final exercise nearly finished me. Zaiden scattered dozens of wooden tokens throughout a rocky stream. "Collect every single one. But there’s one condition, you can’t let the water ripple."

I was so stunned that I couldn’t even voice it out loud. So I just stood there and stared at him.

"If your movement creates visible ripples..." He picked up every token I’d already collected. "...you start over."

It sounded impossible. It practically was. Every careless step disturbed the water. Every rushed movement sent tiny waves across the stream. Again and again and again. By the time I finally managed to finish, my legs were shaking so badly I nearly collapsed at the edge of the stream.

Zaiden crouched beside me. "Do you know why I made you do all this?"

I could barely breathe. "So you could watch me suffer?"

Eiden laughed so hard he nearly dropped his water bottle.

Zaiden ignored him. "In a real fight, strength matters." He tapped lightly against my forehead. "But awareness decides whether you live long enough to use that strength."

Only then did I realize something. I slowly turned toward Eiden. "You... always went easy on me."

He smiled knowingly. "I wondered when you’d notice."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"These past months, you have been building your foundation." He nodded toward Zaiden. "He specializes in survival."

Zaiden crossed his arms before adding, "And survival is rarely fair."

By the time we finally headed home, every single muscle in my body screamed in protest. Even breathing felt like work.

"I don’t think I can walk tomorrow," I groaned.

"You’ll walk." Zaiden sounded entirely unconcerned. "You’ll complain. But you’ll walk."

Eiden chuckled.

I wanted to argue. Instead, I simply leaned against Eiden’s shoulder for support as we made our way back. The strange part wasn’t the exhaustion. I was used to post-training soreness by now.

No... this felt... different.

My entire body ached in a way it never had before. It wasn’t just my muscles, even my skin felt oddly sensitive, while a faint, unfamiliar warmth lingered beneath the ache.

I frowned to myself.

For some reason... this didn’t feel like ordinary post-training soreness at all.

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