Three Alphas, Fated To One, Played By One, But Mated To One

Chapter 101: The Cost of Anger

Mike’s POV

I could hear both cheers and arguments from my office.

At first I thought it was coming from the training grounds, but I realized that it was happening at the front door.

I wondered what had happened to cause such chaos, so I left the document I was working on and headed there to check.

Before I got near the front hall, that familiar sweet scent hit me like a tone of bricks and my heart pounded with joy.

Valerie was back. She had come back safely.

I couldn’t believe it and couldn’t wait to see her.

I hastened my steps but before I could walk out of the door, I heard her argument with Innocent.

Innocent was complaining about the warriors getting hurt during the mission, while Valerie reiterated that the injuries were unavoidable.

I didn’t want to get involved in their usual arguments, but I had to step in eventually. Otherwise, the deadlock would never be broken.

"What’s happening here?" I asked as soon as I got close.

My beta, Andrew stepped forward.

"Rogues, Alpha. Two waves of rogues attacked us but we retrieved all missing members."

In a situation like what they had faced, not losing some of the members was already a blessing.

I couldn’t expect them to come back unscathed.

I couldn’t believe that Innocent would use this to fight with Valerie.

Was she always this petty?

"And the injured?" I asked with my eyes glued to Valerie.

"They were unavoidable but none fatal." Andrew answered.

"That’s good. Get those injured to receive treatment. The rest can go and recuperate." I was very proud of Valerie.

This was her first mission, yet she had executed it perfectly.

However, Innocent didn’t seem to agree with me.

"Good?" she repeated. "You call this good?"

My gaze shifted to her but I couldn’t bring myself to feel the affection I usually felt.

She was acting like a shrew.

"The mission was a success. That’s all that matters."

I didn’t want to argue with her. So, I cut her argument short.

"But..." She started again but I didn’t give her the chance to finish.

I turned to Valerie who was about to walk away.

"Valerie." I called out.

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face me.

I didn’t know what to say after that so I just gave a casual compliment.

"You did well "

She didn’t respond and just nodded before walking away.

I stood on the balcony long after the courtyard had emptied.

The sun had already dipped below the horizon, leaving behind a dim, fading glow that barely touched the edges of the pack grounds. Shadows stretched long and thin, swallowing the last traces of warmth.

But I didn’t move.

I couldn’t.

My hands rested on the cold stone railing, fingers curled tightly against it.

Below, everything had returned to normal.

Or at least...

It looked like it had.

Wolves moved about. Healers rushed in and out of the infirmary. Voices carried faintly through the air and life went on.

Like nothing had happened.

However, I couldn’t get her injuries out of my head.

It was like a curse displaying them in my mind over and over again.

Even now, the image of her standing in the courtyard refused to leave my mind.

Straight-backed and unyielding.

Covered in blood that wasn’t entirely hers.

She hadn’t looked like the same girl who once kept her head down and avoided eye contact.

She hadn’t looked like the same girl who endured everything in silence.

No.

She had looked like something else entirely.

Someone else.

Someone... I didn’t recognize.

And that unsettled me more than anything.

My grip on the railing tightened.

I sent her there.

The thought hit me again.

I had sent her on a dangerous mission with uncertain results.

At the time, it had felt justified and necessary to teach her a lesson for challenging me.

Just because she had looked at me like I didn’t matter. Because she had said she didn’t care about me, I had acted impulsively.

Not as an Alpha.

But as a man whose pride had been bruised.

I exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down my face.

That wasn’t leadership.

I had let anger dictate my decision.

I had sent her into danger.

Not because it was the best choice.

But because I wanted to prove something to her and to myself.

Maybe even to Innocent.

My chest tightened uncomfortably.

If something had happened to her...

If she hadn’t come back...

My jaw clenched so hard it hurt.

I pushed the thought away.

No.

She had survived and came back.

She had led a team to success.

A bitter scoff escaped me.

Of course she had.

She is someone who knows how to endure and adapt. Eight years of slavery had tempered her a lot.

Even when no one expects her to.

Even when no one believes in her.

Even when I don’t.

My eyes closed briefly.

Suddenly the scene earlier appeared in my mind like a clear HD video.

Her flinching.

That small, almost invisible reaction when I raised my voice at her earlier.

The way her body tensed instinctively.

Like she was preparing for something worse.

Something she had already experienced before.

Something I had allowed.

A sharp pain twisted in my chest.

I hadn’t just failed her as an Alpha.

I had failed her long before that.

Back when she was nothing in this pack.

I cut short those thoughts because they reminded me of something I wanted to forget.

The memories of me joining other pack members to bully her were very clear and I refused to revisit them.

I exhaled slowly, opening my eyes again.

The courtyard was empty now.

Everything was silent except my mind. It was loud and all it could echo was her name.

All I could think about was her voice, her defiance, her arrogance when she said she wasn’t my property.

My fingers curled again.

Because she was right.

And I hated how much that truth unsettled me.

For so long, I was used to taking whatever I wanted because I knew I was the future alpha.

Even after becoming the alpha, I thought everything was under my control.

But she is different.

Valerie wasn’t something I could control.

And the more I tried...

The more she slipped out of my grasp.

My chest tightened again. Not out of anger, but something akin to regret.

I didn’t realize when my feet started moving.

Only that I was already outside her door.

Standing there and staring at it.

My hand hovered just inches away from the wooden door but I didn’t dare to knock.

I could hear faint movement inside.

She was awake.

My hand lowered slowly.

I didn’t knock or open the door.

And didn’t go in.

Because for once I didn’t know what to say.

What could I say?

I’m sorry?

The words felt foreign. But if I didn’t say them, then what?

I exhaled sharply then turned away.

Because standing here like this...was pointless.

If I couldn’t say anything, then what was the point of going in?

My steps were slow as I walked away, but my mind seemed to have stayed behind with her.

.

.

.

The next morning I headed to the hospital to check on those who had been injured.

There was still the smell of blood lingering in the air from the day before.

I looked around at the people who were injured and bandaged. Lying in bed and waiting to recover.

Then, I found her.

I hadn’t expected Valerie to be in the hospital this early in the morning.

She must have come for a change in dressing.

However, I soon found out I was wrong about that.

Andrew sat on one of the beds, his arm being wrapped tightly.

He stood up when I approached.

"Alpha."

I nodded slightly.

"No need to be so polite with me. How bad are the injuries?"

"Nothing serious," he replied. "We’ll all recover."

My gaze swept to where Valerie was sitting getting her wounds bandaged.

She was sitting alone at the far end of the room and was bandaging her wounds personally.

There was a deep cut on her arm that seemed to be reminding me of what I had done.

Something sharp twisted in my chest making it hard to breathe.

However, even at this moment, she didn’t look at me or acknowledge me.

It was as if I wasn’t even there. She completely ignored my presence and for some reason, that made me more concerned than her anger.

I could feel the invisible distance growing between us.

"She refused help at first," Andrew said quietly beside me.

My eyes didn’t leave her.

"What?"

"She said others needed it more."

My jaw tightened.

How could this woman be so clueless?

I didn’t expect her to treat the members of the pack so sincerely.

But why did she have to make sacrifices when no one even cared about her?

Truthfully, no one in the pack deserved her kindness.

"Stubborn," I muttered.

Andrew huffed lightly.

"Strong."

My gaze flicked to him briefly.

Then back to her.

"...yes," I said quietly.

She was stronger than I had ever given her credit for. Stronger than I had ever allowed her to be.

Guilt settled deeper in my chest.

"How did she do out there?" I asked.

Andrew didn’t hesitate.

"She led the team well. If not for her leadership and strategy during the ambush, we might not have made it back.

"She kept the group together," he continued. "Made decisions quickly. Protected the injured. And even took down a couple of rogues herself."

My eyes narrowed slightly.

"She really fought those people?"

"Yes." Andrew answered quickly.