CHAPTER 98: ARE YOU PLANNING FOR ME TO DIE ON THE WAY?

Meanwhile, back at the forest where Darius had taken Victoria, the two of them remained standing silently, their gazes fixed on the array of weapons displayed before them. The forest air was thick with tension, broken only by the distant cries of birds and the rustling of leaves in the wind.

"Are we going to stand here forever?" Victoria finally asked, releasing a heavy sigh of frustration that carried the weight of her impatience. Her eyes flicked briefly toward Darius, silently demanding an explanation.

"I thought you were enjoying the view," Darius replied at once, his lips curling into a faint scoff. His tone was teasing, though edged with command, which only deepened the look of disbelief spreading across Victoria’s face. "If you are ready, then choose. Pick a weapon....one that will belong to you for life. Consider it your signature weapon."

Victoria swallowed hard as her feet carried her forward. Her eyes roamed over the glinting steel. Memories of her past life surged in her mind. Back then, despite the cruelty and neglect she suffered, she had always slipped out of the mansion to hunt wild animals for herself.

Now, standing before the vast selection of gleaming steel and wood, she felt her chest tighten. There were no knives among them, but her eyes lingered on the swords and spears. Something inside her stirred. Without hesitation, her hand reached forward, fingers curling firmly around the shaft of a spear. Her expression hardened into one of determination.

"I’ll take this," she said at last, her voice steady though her throat tightened, and she swallowed hard afterward as if sealing a pact with herself.

"Nice choice," Darius remarked, his eyes briefly narrowing with approval. He stepped forward as well and reached for a sword, the blade gleaming like liquid silver in the sunlight. Turning back to her, he studied the way she held the spear. "You’re familiar with it, aren’t you? The way you grabbed it tells me you know at least the basics."

"Yes," Victoria admitted, her tone solemn, the weight of her truth settling between them. "But my skill is... limited."

Darius nodded once, his expression unreadable, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of curiosity. "Then let us see what you can do."

Without another word, Victoria shifted her stance, planting her feet firmly in the soil. Her grip tightened on the spear as she raised it, leveling the sharp point directly at Darius. Hatred and anger flickered in her eyes like a storm contained within glass. Darius, calm and unflinching, mirrored her readiness with his sword in hand.

In the next moment, they moved. The clash came swiftly, the air slicing with the force of their intent. Victoria lunged forward, the head of her spear driving toward Darius with all the pent-up fury in her heart.

But Darius’s hand shot out with inhuman speed. Before the spear could meet its target, his fingers closed around the shaft, halting its advance in midair. The sudden resistance jolted through Victoria’s body, and a shiver raced down her spine, the shock of his strength sending her heart thundering in her chest.

"You possess no skill after all," Darius declared coldly, his voice sharp as steel. With effortless strength, he wrenched the spear completely from Victoria’s hands, spun her around in one swift motion, and sent her crashing to the ground. Her back slammed against the earth with a dull thud, and before she could react, Darius loomed over her, pinning her beneath his weight. His sword gleamed menacingly by his side as his gaze bore into hers. "Is this what you call skill, my lady?"

"I already told you my skill is limited!" Victoria shot back immediately, her voice a mix of defiance and humiliation. She writhed beneath him, pushing against his chest, trying desperately to shove him off. But her efforts were useless.

He was far too strong.

Of course he was. How could she have expected to bring down an Alpha like Darius with nothing more than her self-taught hunting skills? He had been trained from childhood, schooled in every weapon and every tactic, his body molded into power and discipline. She, on the other hand, had been forced to train alone, her only lessons born from desperation....the kind of training one gained from fighting for scraps of survival.

"Limited?" Darius scoffed, his expression darkening with cruel amusement. "You have no skill at all, young lady." His words cut like a blade, laced with mockery.

At last, he pushed himself off her and rose to his feet. Extending a hand toward her, he offered to pull her up. Pride stiffened Victoria’s spine. She slapped his hand away and forced herself to stand on her own, brushing dirt from her skirt with shaky fingers.

"I should have bothered my brothers to teach me some skills then," she muttered bitterly, her voice sharp as she exhaled a heavy sigh. "I’ll make sure of it once I get home."

"But you could have defeated him if you had used one of the weapons from your locket," came Leo’s calm, unseen voice, echoing softly in her mind. Darius, of course, remained oblivious to it. "Those weapons are imbued with power. You know this. With them, even an Alpha like him wouldn’t stand a chance."

"I know," Victoria whispered under her breath, her voice laced with frustration. "But if I rely only on them, I’ll become a puppet to my mother’s legacy. It will look strange...unnatural for me to defeat everyone without learning a single skill of my own. I can’t just let her weapons do all the work. I have to practice. I have to earn it." With another sigh, she steadied herself, gripping the spear once again as though it could anchor her trembling resolve.

"Anyways..." Darius’s voice cut through her thoughts like a whip, dragging her back to the present. "Since you are skill-less, you’ll begin from the very first stage of training. To build your body, strengthen your grip, sharpen your breathing... you will run around this forest. Not once. Not twice. But one hundred times."

Victoria’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief. Her jaw slackened as she glanced around at the vast stretch of trees surrounding them, the endless expanse of wilderness. The forest was wide, deep, and dangerous no doubt. Running it even once would be brutal. A hundred times was madness.

"Tell me..." she asked at last, her tone dripping with sarcasm and disbelief. "Are you hoping I die along the way?"

Darius only smirked, lifting his glass of juice to his lips. "Oh, that’s right," he mused aloud, "you don’t have a wolf to aid you. But it doesn’t matter. I believe you can do it. You simply need determination, Victoria." His eyes burned with challenge, his tone suddenly heavy with command. He gestured at the clearing where they stood. "This is your starting point. And this will be your finishing point. Run until you complete every lap. I’ll be right here... watching."

As if on cue, two muscular men emerged from the shadows of the forest, stepping forward to stand by Darius’s side. Their presence was imposing, their gazes sharp and unreadable.

"They will accompany you," Darius explained, his tone leaving no room for argument. "They know the forest well. You won’t get lost with them guiding you."

Before Victoria could protest further, two women appeared as well, each carrying a silver tray laden with food and drink. They set them neatly upon a long wooden table. Darius sat down at once, as if the matter were already settled, and poured himself a tall glass of juice. He downed it in one long gulp, sighing in satisfaction as though nothing in the world weighed heavier than his thirst.

"I asked you a question," Victoria snapped, fury tightening her voice. She marched a few steps closer, her brows furrowed, hands placed firmly on her hips. "Are you planning for me to die on the way? You told me to run a hundred laps....one hundred laps in this forest. Do you even hear yourself? When I collapse, will you just send word to my parents that I perished during your training?"

Darius’s eyes hardened. He set his glass down with deliberate force, the sound echoing in the silence. "If you do not want to train," he said slowly, anger creeping into his tone, "then tell me what you want. Or perhaps..." His gaze darkened as he leaned back in his chair. "Shall I transfer you to Auren or Zephyr instead?"

Victoria flinched at the names, but her anger only surged hotter. "I know you’re doing this because of what happened at the vacation house your sister dragged us to!" she yelled, her voice cracking with raw emotion. "Only heaven knows what passed between you and my brothers. And now you’re taking it out on me, punishing me as if I were them. Tell me, Alpha Darius....what exactly lies between you and my elder brother?"