The Lunar Curse: A Second Chance With Alpha Draven-Chapter 473: A Private Training Ground

[Draven].

I almost kissed her. But I needed her dressed first.

"Sit."

She sat, barely. Her spine curved like a wilted flower.

I guided her arms through the sleeves and pulled the soft top down over her body. She exhaled, relieved, as if I had draped heaven over her skin.

Then came the pants. I held them out, and she lifted her leg—just one.

"Both," I said.

She lifted the same leg again.

I laughed under my breath. "The other one."

"Oh." She switched legs in slow motion.

Somehow, by some miracle, I got the shorts onto her.

When she was finally dressed, she slid back under the duvet without waiting for my permission, curling into it as if the bed had swallowed her whole.

I stared at her, hands on my hips. "You are impossible."

A tiny smile peeked from the pillow. "You still love me," she murmured.

"Unfortunately," I muttered.

She chuckled—soft, sleepy, adorable.

And I felt the warmth spread in my chest again, the one that always came when she let her guard down only for me.

Yes, she was impossible. And she was mine.

Leaving her curled beneath the duvet, I walked straight into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me with a quiet click.

The silence was welcome.

I pulled the tie from my hair, letting the weight of it fall down my back, then stripped and stepped into the shower.

The warm water burst from the overhead nozzle, striking my shoulders, sliding through my hair, running the day’s dust and sweat down my skin.

The moment the heat hit me, the memories of today unfolded one by one, from the horse race to the knife-throwing and finally, the strategy game. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Meredith, my wife—my Queen—who played every game with intelligence, restraint, and skill, and yet every victory she achieved carried its own danger.

Back in Duskmoor, she could train openly. There was no one to question her strength or watch her with the eyes of wolves, assessing a threat. Everyone there was my trusted people.

But here? Stormveil was a nest of watching gazes—hungry, calculating gazes.

She couldn’t spar and couldn’t demonstrate even a fraction of her physical prowess without whispers spreading like wildfire.

And the Council... They were already eager to tear her down.

I tilted my head back, letting the water strike my face. I need my wife strong. But I cannot let them see.

My hands flexed. Then the solution came—clean, sharp, and perfect.

A private training ground.

Restricted. Accessible only to me, Meredith... and perhaps Dennis and Jeffery. The only two men I trusted to keep her secret and train her when I could not.

A facility within the estate—far from the main building.

And it needed living space. A shower. A changing room. A place she could wash up and return to the house without proof of her training.

Jeffery would handle it. He was efficient, discreet, and deadly loyal.

I would speak to him as soon as I was done here.

Decision made, I lathered the sponge with soap and ran it across my skin—over my ribs, the muscles of my chest, down the length of my arms. The scent of cedar rose with the steam.

While the sponge moved, my mind circled the details of the private training grounds—the space that would allow my wife to unleash what she hides from the world.

I smirked faintly.

Meredith might complain the first day, then probably try to kill me the next. But she would thrive there.

I rinsed off under the falling water, letting the warmth wash away the last of the foam. When I stepped out, I wrapped a towel around my waist and dragged another through my hair.

When I was done, I dumped it and unwrapped the one around my waist and used it to wipe the rest of my body.

The mirror fogged as I crossed into the dressing room, still naked, and still drying, my quiet steps on cool marble.

It’s good that Meredith is sleeping now. If she were awake, she would be hiding her face with her hands and mumbling indignantly at me for ’tainting her eyes.’

I suppressed a low laugh.

The day had been long, chaotic, unexpectedly entertaining, but this—this quiet moment, knowing my mate rested safely a few steps away, was what settled my wolf.

I dropped the towel onto the stool, opened my wardrobe, and reached for fresh clothes.

After I dressed in a polo and slipped into casual trousers, I finished off by drying my hair properly, then plugged in the dryer and worked my fingers through the strands until they fell smoothly down my back.

Finally, I slipped into indoor footwear before stepping back into the bedroom.

Meredith was still asleep. She lay curled on her side, breathing evenly, her cheek buried in the pillow, one arm tucked beneath it. She hadn’t moved an inch since I left for the shower.

I watched her for a lingering moment, then quietly turned away. She needed the rest, so I slipped out of the room, closing the door with barely a sound.

As I walked down the hallway toward the first floor, I reached out through the mind-link. "Jeffery."

His response came instantly—steady, alert, the way he always was. "Alpha?"

"Meet me in my study. Now."

"On my way."

I arrived first, pushed open the door, and crossed to my desk. The study smelled of polished wood and old books. This was my third time in here since I returned home.

I took out a piece of paper and a pen, flattening them on the desk just as a knock sounded.

"Enter."

Jeffery stepped in, bowed his head, and closed the door behind him before sitting in the chair opposite me.

"I need a private training ground built. Not for the pack. For myself." I leaned back slightly in my chair.

Jeffery’s brows lifted by a fraction; that was the extent of his surprise. "For you, Alpha?"

"And for my wife."

His eyes sharpened with understanding.

I continued, picking up the pen. "She cannot train publicly here. Not without drawing attention she cannot afford. I want a facility constructed on the estate grounds—isolated enough that no one stumbles near it. Only you, Dennis, my wife, and I will have access."