CHAPTER 49: HOW DARE YOU?!

Her words sent waves of shock rippling through the air, and an expression of utter disbelief etched itself onto Darius’s face.

"I refuse to train under you or kiss you."

"Do you even realize what you’re saying right now, young lady?" Darius asked, raising a sharp brow as a scoff escaped his lips. "You refuse me, seriously?"

Victoria’s eyes narrowed, but her thoughts remained guarded behind a hardened gaze.

Oh yeah? Rather than letting all of you see the full memories of my first life and bring about a second death for me, I’d rather not allow it at all. I’ll be the one to kill you before I let that happen the second time, she thought to herself, swallowing hard. You can keep having those blurry dreams, they’ll never become clear.

"But girl... you could just promise to kiss him and not actually do it," Leo whispered into her ear, his breath tickling the side of her face. His tone was light, almost amused, but his words carried weight.

Victoria turned sharply to him, her expression shifting into one of disbelief.

"I mean, these three heirs are connected to the moon sickness and so many other secrets," Leo continued with a knowing smirk. "Getting close to them is beneficial."

"There’s no point in promising anyone a kiss," Victoria muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes in frustration. "Even if there are leads, I can find other ways to uncover the truth when the time comes."

"Fine then," Leo said with a subtle nod, lowering his voice again. "I support whatever decision you make."

Victoria nodded silently in return. Then, squaring her shoulders, she spoke with purpose. "I’d rather train under my elder brother Damien than under you, Alpha Darius," she declared, her tone laced with resolve as she turned to take her leave.

Before she could take another step, Darius moved. He grabbed her roughly by the wrist and yanked her backward, slamming her against the wall with startling force. Her back hit the cold surface, and her hands were pinned above her head, helpless beneath his grip. Without hesitation, Darius leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, kissing her with a fierce, possessive hunger.

Her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh boy... he’s such a fool," Leo muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. Without another word, he raised a clenched fist and delivered a powerful blow directly to Darius’s waist.

Darius broke the kiss abruptly, stumbling back with a pained grunt. His face etched with agony as he clutched his side. He had assumed Victoria did it anyways and not the invisible Leo.

"How dare you?!" Darius roared, his voice filled with fury, his eyes locked with Victoria. "Do you really think you could refuse me?"

"That’s my line!" Victoria shouted back, her voice firm as she cleaned Darius kiss With the back of her hand afterwhich she landed a slap on his cheek making his eyes even widen open in utter disbelief. "I should be the one saying how dare you!"

Then, more softly, she whispered under her breath, her voice barely audible. "Did he... did he get any memories from that?" Her gaze flicked to the empty space beside her, her question clearly directed at Leo.

"Nope. He can’t get memories from the kiss if you didn’t kiss him willingly," Leo replied, heaving a heavy sigh. "He’s just so dumb right now... I seriously want to kick him again."

"Wait, really?" Victoria’s eyes widened in excitement. "You mean he actually can’t get memories unless I kiss him willingly?"

"Exactly." Leo confirmed as he heaved a heavy sigh.

"Good then." Victoria replied , her voice barely above a whisper with a smirk plasterd on her lips all while her hands are folded over her chest.

Across the room, Darius blinked in confusion, his brows furrowed but the slap is even the least of his worry. "How come I didn’t get any memories though?" he asked aloud, his tone dripping with frustration. "Is it because I didn’t kiss you properly... or maybe because you didn’t kiss me willingly?"

"He’s not completely dumb after all," Leo muttered into Victoria’s ear, laughing mid-bite as he devoured a hamburger. "At least he figured out that much."

Darius took a step forward, eyes burning with determination. "Let me kiss you again, Victoria. I really don’t want to force the kiss. Just kiss me willingly now that you know the reason why I had wanted to do it in the first place. You don’t have to train under me anymore only if you kiss me willingly. I was so close to seeing that girl’s face in my dreams," he said, his voice low and demanding as he reached toward her once more.

But before he could touch her, Victoria’s leg flew up and delivered a brutal kick between his legs. Darius let out a strangled groan and dropped to the ground, curling forward as pain consumed him.

"To hell with you!" Victoria spat as she turned on her heel and strode away. He deserved that.

****

"I thought you only devoured gold," she said casually, raising a brow as she walked down the hallway. Leo, invisible to others, strolled leisurely beside her.

"Well... eating golden jewelry keeps me full, sure," Leo replied between bites, now holding a cola in one hand and another hamburger in the other. "But Werewolf food? It’s delicious. My taste buds have been dancing since I started eating your kind’s food. Unlike gold, which has no taste or aroma, this..." he pointed to his burger "...is art."

Victoria couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle. She no longer reacted to his constant nudity after all, she’d tried reasoning with him countless times to wear something, anything but since he never listened, she’d decided to simply respect his odd wishes.

****

When the closing bell rang, Victoria made her way out of the school building and toward the sleek black car waiting near the gate. Inside, three of her brothers...Callum, Theo, and Lucien were already seated. Damien, as usual, was absent.

She didn’t see Mirabel at school all day too, and that only confirmed her suspicion even though she doesn’t want to believe it as she thought Mirabel was smart.

But then if Mirabel isn’t directly connected to hanging that board, she might know who did it, Victoria thought, sighing softly as she approached.

"Oh, my sweet sister!" Theo exclaimed the moment he spotted her. He stepped out of the car and swept her into a warm hug, patting her back affectionately. "How was your first day at school?"

"It was fine, brother," Victoria replied with a small, genuine smile. "I made some new friends... well, I’m not sure if I should call them friends yet. Let’s just say they’re chat mates for now."

"That’s great!" Callum said as he stepped forward, hugging her next. "Anyway, let’s get you home. Elder brother Damien promised he’d come home early today to make dinner. You’ve always loved his cooking since you were little, and he said he’s preparing something special just for you."

Victoria’s smile faltered slightly. "Oh... I won’t be staying home tonight," she replied, her tone touched with regret. "I forgot...I’m going to a party with my new chat mates."

"A party already?" Lucien’s voice perked up with interest as he stepped beside them, his eyes wide with excitement. "Then we should definitely come with you. No way are we letting you go off on your own."

"What do you mean?" Victoria scoffed lightly, hands on her hips. "I can take good care of myself. It’s just a home party, nothing crazy."

"Even if it’s just a home party, we’re still going," Callum interjected with a firm nod. "You and Mirabel attended her friend’s party together. Since she followed you there, we figured she could look out for you but she’s sick right now. I got a call from mother this morning. She couldn’t make it to school either. So now, it’s up to us."

"Besides," Theo chimed in, grinning, "your loving brothers need a break too. We’ve been buried in schoolwork and no one’s been able to throw a decent party. At least the freshmen have theirs coming up, but we probably won’t attend that. This is our one chance. And yes, we’d also like to meet your new... ’chat mates.’ Maybe we’ll help you decide if they’re worthy enough to actually be called friends."

Victoria rolled her eyes but smiled. "You all are unbelievable."

"Let’s go home first," Lucien added as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder and opened the car door. "We’ll enjoy Damien’s dinner, get dressed, and then head to the party together. But no sleeping over....we all return home tonight."

She got into the car with a small sigh of surrender. Callum and Theo flanked her on either side in the back seat while Lucien sat up front with the chauffeur.

"You’ve got crazy brothers," Leo whispered in her ear, laughing in that familiar, mischievous way. Only she could hear him, of course. "But I’m not surprised. Still... maybe having three bodyguards at a party isn’t such a bad idea."