Too Late To Regret, My Alphas

Zaiden:

If there was one thing I had learned over the past five months, it was that Rosalie was far stronger than she believed herself to be.

Unfortunately for her, believing it and proving it were two very different things.

She was waiting for Eiden when we reached the clearing that morning, stretching her arms while quietly humming to herself. The moment she noticed me carrying the practice weapons instead of him, her smile slowly disappeared.

"...No."

I raised an eyebrow. "No?"

She pointed directly at me. "I recognize that look."

"What look?"

"The one that says you are planning to ruin my morning."

Sanding right beside me, Eiden laughed without the slightest bit of sympathy. "I told you she’d figure it out."

Rosalie looked between the two of us suspiciously. "You two again planned something together."

"Maybe."

"Zaiden."

"Hm?"

"I don’t like that smile."

"It’ll build character." I tried to reason.

She groaned dramatically. "I already have character."

"You’ll have more after today."

She muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like a curse, even though I knew she didn’t curse, before following us into the center of the clearing.

Unlike last week’s training, today I had no interest in teaching her awareness or patience. Today she was going to fight.

"Again?" she asked while accepting the padded practice guards Eiden handed her.

"Again."

"I still ache from the last session."

"You recovered."

"Barely."

I tossed her a wooden practice knife and she caught it automatically. "Good reflex."

"I learned from experience." She replied with a tight smile.

Eiden walked toward the shade of a nearby tree before folding his arms and announced, "As usual, I’ll supervise."

Rosalie immediately pointed at him. "You could supervise by stopping him."

"I’m afraid that’s not part of today’s lesson."

"Traitor."

"I have accepted that title." Eiden left no room for not triggering our already upset mate.

So before those two could get into an argument, I stepped into position. "Ready?"

She inhaled slowly before nodding. "As I’ll ever be."

She rushed me first. Much faster than she had two days ago at Eiden. I was already impressed. Her knife came toward my shoulder just as I slipped to the side. She adjusted immediately.

Even better.

The second strike aimed lower. I redirected her wrist. She spun with the movement instead of resisting it.

Excellent.

Then she hesitated, exactly where I expected. I caught her forearm and twisted. Her balance disappeared and a heartbeat later she was flat on her back, staring up at the morning sky.

"Again," I said.

She groaned. "I was doing so well."

"You were."

"So why am I eating dirt?"

"Because your opponent doesn’t care how well you were doing."

She glared at me before climbing back to her feet. The next attempt lasted longer. Nearly thirty seconds. Then I swept her legs.

The third ended with me trapping both of her wrists against a tree. The fourth with her pinned beneath me on the grass. The fifth... with her somehow managing to elbow me hard enough that Eiden actually applauded.

"Better!"

Rosalie smiled proudly as she announced, "I got him."

"You did."

Then I swept her feet again and she landed with an indignant squeak.

"This is bullying."

"This is training."

"They are becoming the same thing."

I offered her a hand. She accepted it. And the instant she stood, I attacked again.

Her eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"A real opponent won’t wait until you are comfortable."

She barely managed to block.

Good.

We continued. Minute after minute. Again and again and again. Every time she adapted, I increased the pressure. Every time she improved, I removed another advantage. There were no pauses, no warnings, and no predictable rhythm. The frustration gradually became visible across her face.

"This is so unfair!" She ducked beneath another strike.

"You said fighting wasn’t supposed to be fair." I reminded her of something she said to Eiden just a day before when sneaking an attack on him.

"I changed my mind!" She returned.

"You don’t get to."

She lunged as I deliberately left an opening. And she took it exactly as planned. The moment she committed, I stepped inside her guard, caught her around the waist, and used her own momentum against her. We both hit the ground. Only... I landed on top.

Rosalie let out a breathless huff.

"You..."

Her back rested against the cool earth while one of my knees settled beside her hip, keeping her from immediately rolling away. One of my hands lightly held both her wrists above her head while the other rested beside her shoulder to keep my weight off her.

She squirmed. Actually, she fought. Hard.

Her hair spread across the grass like black silk, framing a face flushed from exertion. Every determined glare she sent my way only made the corner of my mouth lift higher.

"Get..." She twisted sharply. "...off."

"No."

She tried bucking me off balance. Almost.

"You are cheating."

"I’m winning."

"Same thing."

Behind us, Eiden called out with infuriating calm. "Rosa."

She immediately looked toward him. "Mhm?"

"What are you focused on right now?" He asked.

She blinked as if not expecting the question. "Getting him off me."

"Wrong."

She frowned.

"You should be focused on ending the fight."

The realization crossed her face. But it was too late. She growled, like actually growled and a pulse of Alpha energy rippled through the clearing.

I looked down into her eyes, notiicng how the familiar brown had begun giving way to brilliant gold.

"There you are," I murmured.

Her breathing changed. Her wolf... I could feel her pushing closer to the surface. Her fingers curled instinctively as sharp black claws slid from her fingertips. Her canines lengthened into unmistakable fangs as she bared them at me.

Finally.

This was what I’d been waiting for. Not anger. But her wolf. The part of her that stopped overthinking. The part that fought.

She gathered herself beneath me, clearly preparing to throw me off entirely. Strong enough now that she probably could. However, before she moved, our eyes met.

I couldn’t stop the grin spreading across my face as pure pride filled my chest. And she saw it.

Confusion replaced some of the fury in her expression. "You..." she breathed.

"You did it." I said before she could finish.

She froze.

The wolf was finally looking back at me instead of hiding. Instead of shrinking. Instead of fearing its own strength.

For the first time since we’d begun training, Rosalie wasn’t fighting because I told her to.mShe was fighting because she wanted to.,Because her wolf wanted to. Because she had finally stopped holding herself back.

The hesitation lasted only a heartbeat.

It was enough.

I released her wrists. Instead, my hand slid gently to cup her cheek instead. Before she could question the smile still on my face, I leaned down and captured her lips in a brief, warm kiss that stole away the last remnants of her frustration.

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