The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 144: Wooden toy.

~Dahlia’s POV~

"Urghhh!" I groaned, flexing my back as the scorching sun overhead beat down on me with vengeance.

It was late afternoon, and for some reason, Alpha Kai had asked me out of the house and into his pack’s training ground because according to him, I needed to train... or he needed to train me for future purposes.

And what he meant by that is if per adventure I end up leaving his pack to settle at the human village I’ve been yapping on and on about going to.

Not like I needed the training by the way, I could fully take care of myself.

My back made a popping sound as I stretched again and in frustration, I dropped to the floor, picked up a water satchel and brought it to my lips, all the time ignoring the way his red eyes followed me like a shadow.

I noticed him whisper something to his Beta, Xander, noticed the way the latter mixed before walking off, and then he strutted over to me with a small mischievous smile across his face. He drawled; "you’re not supposed to be drinking water yet."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because it’s not your break yet." He answered without missing a beat.

I frowned now, not in annoyance but in sheer frustration as I dropped the satchel on the floor, raised my now empty hands into the air and sighed; "See, I’ve dropped it."

"After you’ve gulped down more than half of its contents." He smiled, causing me to roll my eyes at him.

Alpha Kai then helped me to my feet. I watched him skeptically as he took several steps away from me, and tilting his head to the side, he sassed; "Now, sir me what you’ve learnt so far."

My jaws dropped. "Huh?"

"You’ve been training. I mean, Xander has been showing you the basics of hand to hand combat for the past hour. Show me everything he’s been teaching you. Come at me!"

My eyes bulged as the realisation of what he was implying came crashing down on me and I bit down on my lower lip to fight the slight tremor running down my spine as I took a defensive stance.

"Your posture is poor, Dahlia sweetheart," he drawled flirtatiously, and I swear, I couldn’t help the sudden heat that erupted on my face as soon as I heard that outrageous nickname. "Square your shoulders, lift your head but don’t forget to block your face with your arms!" He barked, effortlessly reminding me that despite his playful nature, he was still an Alpha.

I sighed and immediately did as told. "Is this better?"

"No!" He yelled, "look forward!"

However, I had just raised my head e like he had instructed when he suddenly charged at me, and because I was so stunned by this sudden action, I stumbled backward, unable to catch myself when his left leg swept underneath my feet, causing me to tumble to the floor like a pile of bricks.

"Argh!" I shrieked in anger. "You’re cheating!"

He smirked, "I didn’t."

"You told me to do one thing then did another!" I argued, "that’s cheating!"

Alpha Kai smiled, but I didn’t. This time, when he offered to help me up, I refused his hand, laying instead on the hot sand as I glared up at him.

"Dahlia baby, in a real fight, your opponent will never wait for you to get your shit together. They’d look for your weaknesses and exploit them just like I just did." He drawled, but I simply scoffed, insisting on not taking the hand he was offering to me. Eventually, he gave up and came to sit beside me on the hot sand.

At the feel of his warm body brushing against mine plus the scorching sun bearing down at me, I jumped into a sitting position, my eyes widening as sparks of electricity shot through my body.

"It’s still considered cheating in my books because this is not a real fight. You’re training me."

"And I am training you to know exactly what to expect in a real fight." He argued, and again I rolled my eyes.

Suddenly, a comfortable silence settled between us and while I stared at a distance, I could feel his eyes boring holes into the side of my face.

I smiled. "If you continue at this rate, Kai, there will soon be two deep holes by the side of my face caused by your intense stares."

Kai chuckled at that but made no move to look away. He replied; "And how can I not stare when you look like something straight out of my dreams."

My breath hitched at his words and godforsakendammit! I don’t know why, but I found myself turning to face him.

However, the look I found in his eyes stole my breath away. It made the dead butterflies in my stomach come to life with maniacal vengeance. When he brushed a stray tendril of my hair away from my face, the action causing his calloused fingers to brush slightly against my skin, my insides trembled. I bit down on my lips, sighing in content whilst hoping that this serene moment would never come to an end.

But it did.

It fucking did.

Because suddenly, I heard a loud excited squeal from a far distance. "Mommy!" The voice called and I groaned, knowing that it was Amara even before I saw her.

"Mommy!" She squealed again, waving excitedly, "I just got a wooden toy!"

Kai chuckled from beside me whilst rising to his feet while I on the other hand only smiled softly as I curiously watched her. For some reason—call me paranoid— but I suspected that she’d intentionally distracted us.

This was not the first time she’d do something like this around Kai, and now, I was certain as hell that it definitely wasn’t going to be the last time.

These days, she definitely acts like the weapon created for my doom. And maybe she was. Maybe she was created specially by Alpha Zarek.

—

I had been so lost in thoughts, wondering why my four year old was suddenly acting up when suddenly, Kai’s voice snapped me out of my daze.

"Anyways, there’s something I’ve always wanted to ask you..." Alpha Kai’s voice trailed off as he turned in the direction in which Amara now stood, and instinctively, I stiffened.

I hated when unnecessary attention was directed at Amara. I hated when she was directly or indirectly in harm’s way as it always brought out the mother-hen instinct in me.

My shoulders tensed and slowly I rose to my feet, whilst beating off the dirt particles clinging to my free pants. "What is it?" I asked slowly, my eyes latched on his which was still focused on Amara.

He sighed and then turned to face me. For a moment, I wanted to pull away my hands when he suddenly held it in his. I wanted to scuttle away when his eyes bore into mine. But I didn’t. Instead, I drew in a sharp breath and waited for whatever he had to say.

And he did.

He muttered; "I know that this may come off as me being a bit nosy, but I’ve always wanted to know who Amara’s father is... she sometimes reminds me of someone I used to know but—"

"He is human." I said quickly, my voice steady even though my heart rate was running at a thousand beats per second. "He was a trader who would usually come to sell livestock to the traders in Silvermoon pack. We met one time... and we fell in love."

My heartbeat accelerated impossibly as my eyes followed him closely, watching the way he digested my words like they were moldy food. He probably doesn’t fully buy the story but I didn’t care. I was unwilling to tell anyone— or him the truth, knowing fully well that he knows who Alpha Logan is, meaning that he might also know who the man I’d slept with was.

"Oh." He muttered softly, turning again to glance at Amara who was now frowning as she regarded us silently from a distance.

"Yes." I smiled sadly, wanting to sell my story, and also wanting him to drop the subject. But he didn’t. The poke nose!

"If you both were in love then where’s he? Why’s he not in your life? Why did he leave you to bear the burden of raising her alone?"

His words made anger rise within me but gritting my teeth to stop myself from lashing out unnecessarily, I snapped; "Amara is not a burden. And Jacobi is dead."

Kai, probably noticing the sharpness in my tone turned to face me then with wide eyes. He whispered; "I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to..."

"I know, it’s not your—" I had just begun to say when he suddenly pulled me into his arms, hugging me as he whispered soothing words into my ear.

I closed my eyes briefly, savoring the moment, but as usual was snapped out of it when I felt a pat on my thigh and I dropped my gaze, groaning when I noticed Amara standing beside me, her wide eyes alight with mischief as she smiled at me.

And then she lifted a wooden object to me, saying; "I just got a wooden toy."

And by the gods, I nearly exploded with frustration.