Three Alphas, Fated To One, Played By One, But Mated To One-Chapter 78: A Dangerous Realization
Karl’s POV
I shouldn’t have been there.
That was the first thought that crossed my mind as I stood in the shadows of the trees overlooking the training grounds.
The sun had barely risen, casting long golden streaks across the open field, and yet the place was already alive with movement.
But not the kind I expected.
Women.
Not that there were no female warriors in the pack, but there aren’t many.
However, today the few occupying the training grounds were those who had been forbidden from training by the unwritten rules of the Night claw pack.
They were girls who had married their mates and given up their training as warriors.
Several women stood on the training ground holding wooden staff.
They moved awkwardly, their stances clumsy and uncertain, but the determination in their movements was unmistakable.
And at the center of it all....was Valerie.
She stood calmly in front of them, correcting their posture and demonstrating simple techniques.
Watching her made my heart feel strange.
A feeling that had surfaced a few times every time she was close to me, but I couldn’t understand what it was.
Three years ago, the girl I had chosen as my pawn had been quiet, broken, and easy to manipulate.
She had barely lifted her head when someone spoke to her.
Now she stood like someone entirely different. She looked confident and focused.
I leaned against the tree behind me, crossing my arms as I observed the scene.
The girl named Mira nearly dropped her staff again.
Valerie caught it before it hit the ground. I couldn’t believe that her reflexes had recovered so fast.
"Your grip is too tight," she said calmly, causing Mira to frown.
"If I loosen it, won’t I lose control?"
"No, you won’t," Valerie replied. "You’ll gain flexibility."
She repositioned Mira’s hands carefully.
"Tension won’t create strength."
The other women listened closely.
Even from where I stood, I could see how seriously they were taking her words.
This was leadership. And not the kind that caused fear. It gave others confidence.
As I watched, I couldn’t stop the small smile tugging at my lips.
"She’s improving very quickly," I admitted.
"You should stop watching her like that." My wolf said in my head without any warning.
"Like what?"
"Like a wolf watching prey."
That description made something inside my chest flatter.
"Isn’t that what she is?" I replied lightly. "My prey?"
"If that’s true, you’re taking a very long time to catch her."
It was right.
Three years.
Three years of patience and manipulation, and I still had nothing to show for it.
And yet somehow...the situation had started slipping out of my control.
I watched Valerie move again, adjusting Lina’s stance.
Her hands rested briefly on the other woman’s shoulders as she guided her posture.
"You’re smiling," my wolf said suddenly.
I frowned.
"I am not."
"Yes, you are." It insisted.
I forced my expression to neutral.
"Don’t read too much into it."
"You should be careful. We will find our own mate, but if you keep going like this, you will be trapped in your own net."
Before I could protest, I noticed several warriors approaching the training grounds aggressively.
Soon, and argument broke out with the brute who had tried to hit Valerie the previous day leading the charge.
Just as they were about to escalate, Mike walked from a far and intervened.
"Women don’t need strength. We can protect them." Boris said to Valerie with so much conviction, I almost believed him.
"I disagree."
Mike said as soon as he got close.
Everyone turned.
Mike stood at the edge of the training ground with an unreadable expression.
Besides him stood his beta and gamma.
Boris looked stunned. It seems he hadn’t expected him to show up.
"A...alpha"
Mike walked forward slowly.
His eyes moved from the women training to Valerie.
The kind of gaze he gave her made my heart palpitate with irritation.
Then back to Boris and spoke.
"Explain yourself. What is going on?"
Boris quickly pointed at the women.
"They’re disobeying their mates!"
"Disobeying their mates, how?" Mike asked.
"All I see are women training." He added.
"That’s not their place!" Boris said as if that was the gospel truth.
I wondered where the Night claw pack had gotten that tradition.
Didn’t they know that forbidding the women from training was basically weakening the pack?
The more fighters a pack has, the better, but this pack is special, they forbid people from training based on gender.
How old-fashioned.
"Since when is training forbidden?" Mike’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Boris froze. Because everyone knew the answer to that question.
It wasn’t. It was just an unwritten rule that couldn’t be used legally.
The pack simply expected women not to do it. But there was no official law.
Mike looked at the women again who had been training with Valerie.
"Did someone force you to be here?"
All three shook their heads in unison.
"No, Alpha," Mira said.
"We chose to come." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
The place went quiet.
Then he said something that surprised everyone.
"In that case... continue."
The training ground went completely quiet.
Even I blinked in surprise.
Since when did Mike become such a considerate mate?
It seems that I need to step up my game before leaving. Otherwise, Valerie would already be marked and claimed the next time we meet.
Boris looked horrified.
"But...al..alpha..."
Mike’s voice turned colder.
"They are not breaking any laws."
I could see Boris clenching his fists even from where I was standing.
"But their mates...." He started but was shut down immediately.
"If their mates have a problem," Mike interrupted calmly, "they can come speak to me."
That ended the argument instantly. No one wanted that conversation.
Boris looked furious, but he couldn’t say anything else.
Mike turned and began walking away.
But just before leaving the training ground, he glanced at me briefly.
He had actually noticed me.
Without another word, he looked away and continued walking.
