My Alphas' Dark Desires-Chapter 365: Xander’s Confession

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Chapter 365

~Valerie’s POV~

That hit somewhere deep—an ache I couldn’t quite name.

I don’t know. It was maybe guilt or empathy. Everyone thought I was lucky. Six mates, bonded to me by the Moon Goddess’s will.

But they didn’t see the chaos underneath—the constant pull, the fear of hurting one to protect another, sometimes being too overwhelmed to not know what to do.

It felt like I was constantly walking on eggshells.

I reached for her before she could turn away, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. "I’m sorry, bestie. I really am. I should’ve made more time for you."

She sniffled, then laughed weakly. "I thought if I spent more time with Isla, you’d notice and get jealous. But you didn’t."

I grinned and pinched her cheek. "Actually, I did. But I thought you just wanted to hang out with her."

"Well, that too," she admitted, rolling her eyes. "But still."

We both laughed then—real laughter, the kind that felt like home.

"Come on," I said, tugging her pillow closer. "Let’s have that sleepover."

She nodded, smiling again. We dimmed the lights and slipped under the blankets, shoulder to shoulder.

But as Solstice drifted off beside me, I couldn’t sleep. My mind drifted back to the quest I had completed—the hydra, the coin, and their distorted voices.

"How on in the Moon Goddess’ name did they always do that?"

"Sleep, Valerie; I believe you have more problems when it comes to your last quest," Astra cautioned, and I shut my eyes.

But only one thought remained. I knew I had to tell Solstice about them sooner than expected.

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~Kai’s POV~

Like I said, I did not want to believe that Dristan was involved in this mess, but his disappearance was not screaming, "I did not."

Still, as my friend, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt while we all figured out what in the witchcraft was going on and poisoning the school fast.

After Valerie left, Xade and Axel went to confront Kieran to quell the rumours from his side while I... I just drifted, restless, pacing the courtyard where Marianne was found, letting the night air do nothing for me

Kaiser was in turmoil within me. I did not know what to do.

I did not leave with them earlier to avoid beating the living daylights out of Kieran if what Valerie said about him escalating the rumors was true.

This was Dristan. Though at times we don’t see eye to eye, he was one of my best friends.

And I did not know how to help him.

After roaming the courtyard, I returned to the house to find Xade and Axel had returned.

Relief washed through me. I was ready to ask them what they found out when all of us froze at the unexpected but not unwanted presence inside our living room.

"Xander." My voice was flat as we all whipped our heads in his direction.

Xander stood close to the doorway, looking casually royal as ever with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes, as though he never opened the door, which I was certain he didn’t.

My fist clenched, waiting for one wrong move.

"There’s a front door," Axel pointed out.

"Yes. You could have used that instead of acting creepy," Xade added, knives in my tone.

His half smile was gone quickly, and his eyes turned cold. He stepped forward, hands spread as if to calm us.

"I need to tell you something."

My chest tightened. So many thoughts ran through my mind at that moment. Did he find Dristan?

Or did he know the culprit of the rumours?

Was Valerie hurt or worse?

But whatever thoughts my mind scrambled at that moment did not match with the big reveal that came out of his lips.

"I’m the culprit."

Silence ensued over the room as every one of us heirs stared at Xander as though he had grown a second head.

"Didn’t you guys hear what I said?" he questioned, breaking the silence. "I am the one hypnotising people using Dristan’s appearance."

As if on cue, all three of us chorused that singular word in disbelief. "What?"

"Yes."

"You’re joking," Axel spat.

"No joke." Xander’s voice was steady, almost tired. "I am but..." I did not let him finish his sentence.

Within a second, my hand moved before my brain caught up. I had bridged the gap between us and punched him right in the face, sending his body moving back two steps.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Xade barked, stepping forward.

Xander touched his lip, smirk turning into something raw. "To protect Valerie."

"Jeez, fuck, Xander! Is protecting Valerie something good enough to actually comatose a student and pin the blame on Dristan?!" Axel literally screamed.

"You thought framing someone would help?" I demanded, breath hot.

"I didn’t. Besides, I never hurt Marianne. Yes, I had the thought since she was the one who stole Valerie’s necklace and left her in heat while Titania helped but..."

"You what now?" Axel asked. "Acting like a saint after all the ruckus?"

"How can we even trust the words coming out of your mouth?"

"You can’t, but you have to believe me," Xnder replied in a somewhat pleasing tone.

I shut my eyes, shaking my head. Hell no, I was not going to fall for this. He did this to Dristan. So now that he’s been caught...

My thoughts were interrupted when Axel spoke next.

Axel laughed, a sharp, unbelieving sound. "So you created a witch-hunt for those against Valerie and hoped no one would get hurt? Brilliant."

"You have no right," Xade growled. "You put people in danger. You used someone’s name and twisted it. That’s wrong on so many levels."

Xander’s shoulders slumped. "I know. It blew up. I didn’t expect the White Witches to get involved. Nor a coma for what I did not do. That wasn’t my intent."

"Yeah, right," Axel said with a huff.

"He isn’t lyng."

We all turned when we saw Ash and Ace standing by our opened door.

"Now that is how one enter. Xander used magic to get inside," Kaiser did a mental note. Good but that wasn’t really what bugged me right now.

"Excuse me?" Xade questioned. "What aspect?"

"That he did not cause a brain shutdown for Marianne."

"Why and how would you have known?" I asked Ash.

"Because he would have since. Or better still, I should have when I got the necklace from her, but I didn’t," Ash responded.

"That doesn’t mean he did not help you finish the job on a later day," I spat.

"No, it doesn’t," Ace chipped in. "But, we Lycans can tell when someone is lying, magic or not. Xander Draco did not use Dristan’s appearance to hurt Marianne. This is a work of dark magic on a different level."

I raked my hands through my hair, tired of everything.

When it seemed like we had finally gotten something, we did not. We were right back to square one with no lead at all.

"So?" Axel wasn’t letting it go. He wanted to know more, as did all of us.

"What this means is... there is also someone out there who is using Dristan’s appearance to cause trouble."

"Why?"

Ace shrugged. "I don’t know."

"No. I meant, why Dristan?" I corrected it. Immediately, everyone glanced at each other and then snapped their heads in Xander’s direction.

"Why did you do it? Even I hadn’t figured out exactly why. If it was just a harmless joke or you specifically went for Dristan as a personal vendetta," Ash voiced.

Xander swallowed and wiped the blood trickling from his nostrils with a clean white handkerchief, which did not stain right after.

My blood boiled at the thought of how freely he used magic, which brought us to this situation.

I made a mental note to have Principal Whitmore, through my dad, ban the use of sanctioned magic on school grounds.

"When I first came to school grounds, I knew Dristan was the most feared Alpha heir. I had wanted to help pay back those who hurt Valerie and took on his appearance. But that wasn’t entirely something Dristan hadn’t done before."

That was the exact moment something in me snapped. I was angry he was still blaming Dristan.

I moved before I thought. My arm flew out; the intention was clear. Ash seemed to have sensed my rage.

"Hey!" Ash’s hand slammed into my shoulder, hard enough to stop me cold. He hooked an arm around my chest and spun me sideways, blocking my path. "Calm down, knight, and listen to him first."

Thankfully, he swooped in quickly before I threw another punch at Xander.

I swallowed, heat pounding at my temples. The room tilted for a second—anger, the urge to end this with one clean strike, a fist to shut the lie down.

My jaw worked. Ash’s grip was iron; he wasn’t releasing.

Xander watched me like a man watching a caged animal. No fear, only an odd pity. "You think punching me solves anything?" he asked. "You think violence erases what I did?"

"Shut up," I hissed through clenched teeth. The words scraped. I felt every pair of eyes on us—Axel’s tight, Xade’s cautious, and Ace’s tense—like weights anchoring me back.

Ash tightened his hold. "You’ll do nothing you’ll regret, Kai. Not here." He stepped between us again and shoved me lightly toward the couch. "Sit."