Too Late To Regret, My Alphas

Rosalie:

By the time today’s training session finally came to an end, I had reached one very reasonable conclusion.

Zaiden and Eiden were determined to shorten my lifespan.

There was simply no other explanation.

These past several days, they had somehow made it a routine to drag me in the middle of the forest, work me until every muscle in my body screamed in protest, and then have the audacity to look proud of me while I silently contemplated whether burying the two of them somewhere deep in the forest would count as self-defense.

Not that I couldn’t see the results. That was the truly infuriating part.

Every morning, Zaiden somehow found another weakness in my movements that I hadn’t even realized existed. Every night, when I reflected on the training, I found myself instinctively correcting those same mistakes. My reflexes had become sharper. My balance had improved. Even Eiden admitted that my instincts during sparring had begun to rival those of wolves who had trained for years.

Unfortunately, knowing the training was working did absolutely nothing to lessen my desire to shove Zaiden into the nearest lake whenever he casually said things like, "Again," or, "You were dead three moves ago."

Today’s torture had revolved entirely around endurance.

Apparently, according to Zaiden, winning a duel wasn’t about landing the hardest punch. It was about remaining dangerous even after your body begged you to stop moving. So naturally, he had decided that we would spar in rounds with almost no rest between them.

Every time I thought we’d finally finished, he would calmly raise two fingers.

"Round two."

Then...

"Round three."

By the time he announced round six, I was seriously questioning whether he secretly enjoyed watching me suffer.

"I hate you," I informed him somewhere during the fifth round while trying - and failing - to catch my breath.

"No, you don’t."

"I do."

"You’ll disagree in about fifteen minutes."

"I absolutely won’t."

He merely smiled before knocking the practice knife from my hand... again.

Eiden had been absolutely useless as usual. Instead of rescuing me, he sat comfortably beneath a tree, occasionally offering extremely helpful advice like - "Keep your guard up." Or... "Try not to get pinned."

As though I was choosing to end up flat on my back every few minutes.

When the session finally ended, I didn’t even bother pretending to stand gracefully. I simply collapsed onto the grass, staring up at the sky while internally composing a very passionate complaint against both my mates.

Somehow, they still had the nerve to look pleased.

"You improved," Zaiden said.

I answered by lifting one hand and making a very unladylike gesture in his general direction. Eiden burst into laughter. "I think that’s her way of saying thank you."

"It means," I muttered without opening my eyes, "that you are both terrible people."

"And yet," Zaiden replied far too calmly, "you’ll still show up tomorrow morning."

"Unfortunately." I muttered. The only reason I survived that thought was because today was Sunday. My glorious, wonderful, precious Sunday.

Ever since the bookstore’s business had started booming in the recent months, Grandma Maggie had immediately insisted that the bookstore remain closed every Sunday.

"You girls need a proper day off," she had declared firmly. "A business is only successful if the people running it don’t work themselves into exhaustion."

It had been a wonderful idea. Until Lily and I looked at the weekly sales reports. Business had become too good to ignore. Sundays still brought in a surprising number of customers, especially families and college students. Completely closing the store every Sunday felt... wasteful.

So after several discussions, we eventually reached a compromise. One of us would work only the morning shift every Sunday while the other enjoyed the entire day off. The following weekend, we’d switch places.

Once the bookstore became stable enough and once we had a clearer picture of our long-term finances, we would hire a new staff only for Sundays. Maybe a college student.

Today happened to be Lily’s turn.

After a quick shower upstairs, I wandered into Eiden’s kitchen wearing a white blouse and dark loose denim. I also left my freshly blow-dried hair down.

The first thing I did was pour myself a large glass of ice-cold water. I leaned both hands against the kitchen counter as I drank greedily. Only after emptying nearly half the glass did I finally feel remotely alive again.

I was reaching for another sip when I sensed someone approaching behind me. Before I could turn around, warm arms slipped gently around my waist and a familiar, comforting warmth surrounded me.

Eiden.

He rested his chin lightly against my shoulder, his embrace loose enough that I could step away if I wanted to. Obviously, I didn’t.

His hair was still damp from his own shower, carrying the clean scent of cedarwood and fresh rain that somehow always reminded me of him. The mate bond stirred immediately, like something inside me had been quietly waiting for this exact moment.

I slowly lowered my glass onto the counter before turning my head just enough to press a soft kiss against his cheek. The effect was immediate. A bright smile spread across his face.

"So..." he murmured, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. "You are not mad."

I couldn’t help smiling. "I wanted to be."

"Wanted?"

"I really did." I sighed dramatically. "I wish I could stay mad at you and Zaiden." Before I managed to finish the sentence completely, Eiden gently captured my lips.

It wasn’t a demanding kiss. Just slow and affectionate. The kind that somehow stole every remaining complaint I had been preparing. He lingered for only a moment, softly catching my lower lip before finally pulling away. Then he leaned forward to place a lingering kiss against my forehead.

"I’m just relieved," he whispered.

I blinked up at him. "About what?"

"That you haven’t decided to murder us yet."

"I haven’t ruled it out."

He chuckled. "I’m begging you now..." His forehead rested briefly against mine. "...if Zaiden ever actually pushes you too far during training..." His smile turned sheepish. "...please don’t kill me along with him."

I laughed despite myself.

At that exact moment, another familiar voice drifted into the kitchen. "I have never once planned on pissing off the love of my life."

Both Eiden and I turned.

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