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Chapter 49
~Jade’s POV~
The answer surprised . "You left your family?" I asked.
He shook his head lightly. "Not exactly, but I was in the city for business." His lips curved faintly. "Your mother and I t the morning before she travelled. She ntioned you were at ho and... I offered to stop by."
I folded my arms. "Did she ask you to babysit ?"
He hesitated. Then he exhaled. "No. She did not." I waited, knowing the explanation was far from over.
"I asked about you," he admitted. "She told you were staying ho alone. I suggested I could visit and check in on you." His expression softened. "Your mother playfully said I could stay over if I wanted. It would give us ti to catch up."
"And?" I pressed.
"And," he added with a faint chuckle, "perhaps give you ti to learn a lesson or two about defending yourself."
I blinked. "So this is about training?"
"No. I ant what I said about catching up with you, kiddo. I missed you. Your mother and I may not have ended up together, but I love and care about you." His eyes softened as he reached for my head and ruffled my hair a little.
"One talk led to another, and I accepted her offer. She was relieved, informing that your neighbour had gotten an ergency at the hospital when she called that morning. She didn’t want to leave you all by yourself."
I rolled my eyes, typical mum and her issues. "Well, congratulations, now you are stuck with ."
Kael chuckled. "Don’t say it like it’s a burden. I’m happy. Besides, I told her you looked like you needed proper combat training."
I scoffed. "I can defend myself."
He raised a brow. "Can you? You’ve been out of training for years now. You’re still a novice."
Sothing about the way he said it, and my brief training since the new year, made feel slightly confident in my abilities.
"I could win you in a match," I shot back before thinking it through.
The corner of his mouth lifted slowly. "That is a bold claim."
"Are you scared?" I challenged.
Kael stood, rolling his shoulders slightly as if already warming up. "Intrigued."
A spark of excitent replaced the heaviness that had been sitting in my chest all day. Maybe this was what I needed. Sothing physical. Sothing grounding. Sothing that was not about my mates or curses or royal politics.
Sothing to keep my brain functioning from my sha of offering myself to be fucked and still getting rejected over it, no matter what the reason was.
We walked out to the backyard, where my mum’s open field stretched wide under the fading sun. The grass brushed lightly against my ankles as we took our positions opposite each other.
Kael studied carefully. "Last chance to withdraw," he said lightly.
I dropped into a ready stance, twisting my head. "Not happening."
For the first ti that day, my thoughts were not tangled around Xade, Xavier, and Xander, which was a good thing. I needed focus, and I needed to get out of my head and house.
"Attack," Kael urged.
Kael did not repeat himself. The mont the word attack left his lips, instinct took over.
I lunged forward, aiming low first. My fist drove toward his ribs while my leg swept toward his ankle, a combination move drilled into years ago when training still felt like a ga instead of survival.
Kael, on the other hand, moved effortlessly. He pivoted, catching my wrist mid-strike and redirecting my montum past him. His foot hooked behind my leg, and before I realized what happened, my back t the grass with a dull thud.
Air rushed from my lungs. In just one minute, he was done with . Chuckling, he offered a hand. I slapped it away and rolled to my feet instead.
"That doesn’t count," I muttered.
"It absolutely counts," he replied calmly. "You telegraphed your movent. Your shoulders moved before your attack."
I circled him this ti, forcing myself to breathe evenly. He remained relaxed, hands loose at his sides, watching rather than reacting.
That annoyed . I wanted to watch like him, but I knew he wouldn’t make a move until I did. And most tis in the past, it led to losing.
If I attacked, I could lose. If he attacked, there was a high chance I would lose. So what was I to do? Strategy was my niche but against Kael or my mates, I was handicapped.
Leaving it up to fate, I feinted left. Kael didn’t move.
I spun right instead, lifting my left hand as though I was to attack his face. Rather, I drove my elbow toward his chest. This ti, I felt the impact.
He stepped back half a pace, surprise flickering briefly across his face before experience took over. His hand caught my arm, twisted, and used my own force to flip again.
Grass scratched my skin as I landed harder than before.
"Better," he admitted.
I groaned and pushed up. My muscles already burned, but stubbornness refused to let stop.
"Round two," Javelin called out.
"Cute of you to co out only now."
"Where’s the fun in watching you get your butt kicked?" Javelin laughed.
"Assist or simply spectate."
"I am doing both with an added touch of a comntator."
I ignored her teasing and tried to focus on the task at hand.
This ti, I let my eyes narrow in on him, his breathing, his calculating eyes, his stance and my senses heightened.
I lunged, attacking faster, and refusing to give him space. Punch, kick, pivot, strike. I forced Kael to move continuously, rembering every correction he had just given .
He blocked most of it, but not cleanly.
My knee clipped his thigh. My palm struck his shoulder, and he grunted. For a mont, I saw it—he nearly lost balance.
Victory surged too early. I rushed forward, not wanting to grant him any breathing space to recover, but my luck ran out.
Kael recovered instantly, grabbing my waist and sweeping my legs from under . I hit the ground again, this ti pinned beneath his weight, his forearm braced beside my head.
"You almost had ," he said, breathing slightly heavier now. "But you rushed the finish."
I glared up at him. "You sound proud."
"I am. It’s not every day you get to trash the Alpha Triplets’ mate."
As soon as he said that, Kael released and stepped back. I blinked, caught offguard by the fact that he knew.
Sweat clung to my skin as I stood again. My heart pounded, not just from exertion but from sothing sharper.
"Don’t look so surprised, love. I am a gamma rember, and my intel is very good." I swallowed, already wondering what other news he had.
Kael stepped closer and leaned in just close enough to tease . "Your school has such juicy gossip. It simply takes back to my high school days."
My brows creased, and I stepped back, fighting the fear and nervousness creeping inside of . "Why are you into my school’s gossip?"
He shrugged, taking his stance and twisting his neck from side to side. "It’s classified." I gave him the eyes, and Kael rolled his eyes in surrender before lifting his palm.
"Fine, it’s not what you think. I am not a perv, I promise you."
"I know. However, spill. What do you want with my mates?"
"Nothing. But just know it has nothing to do with you or your mate. Just so intel concerning drugs and an inside man who attends your school."
"Inside man?"
"Like I said, classified. Now lets get back to..."
"Wait. Did you really just co to stay here because you missed or because of your mission?"
His shoulders slumped. Kel exhaled deeply before straightening his back. "You’re right. It wasn’t entirely a coincidence. However, I ca cause I missed you. Now... rember why you’re here."
I gave a nod. I was learning, and thanks to my little conversation with him, I saw things in a new light. Not everything was as it seed, and speaking of which, so was Kael.
My eyes sharpened, and all of his moves beca clearer to now that I looked.
"Again," I said.
Kael’s brows lifted. "You’re not tired?"
"Yes," I admitted. "But again."
The third round began differently. I did not rush. I watched him the way he watched . Every shift of his weight. Every tightening muscle. Every tiny tell.
When I moved, it was quiet, asured. I attacked high, forcing his guard upward, then dropped low and spun behind him. My heel hooked his ankle swiftly before his brain or his body could counter my attack, while my hand pressed firmly against his shoulder blade.
He stumbled.
Before he could recover, I shifted my weight and used his montum against him, executing a clean takedown exactly as he had done to earlier.
Kael’s back hit the grass. I froze, almost shocked at myself. On the other hand, he stared up at , genuine surprise written across his face.
I stepped back slowly, chest rising and falling. "I... won?"
A laugh burst from him as he sat up. "You adapted." He shook his head in disbelief. "Most trainees take months to do that."
Warm pride spread through , pushing away the heaviness that had followed all day.
For the first ti since everything fell apart, I did not feel embarrassed, rejected, or confused.
I felt strong.
Kael rose to his feet, brushing grass from his clothes, eyes studying with new intensity.
"You learn frighteningly fast, Jade," he said quietly. "Your instincts are not ordinary."
I wiped sweat from my forehead, trying to hide my smile.
"Ready for round four?" I asked.
His grin returned, sharper this ti.
"Oh," he said, stepping back into stance, "now I’m taking you seriously."
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