The War God Alpha’s Arranged Bride Novel

---- Chapter 287 [Evelyn's POV] | glanced at the mat on the floor but didn't move an inch. | took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Alexander, wherever it is that you're planning, I'm not sure-" "Will you please just trust me?" he prompted. I clenched my jaw and, against my better judgment, moved over to the mat. | crossed my arms over my chest and gave him a pointed look.

"My reasoning for wanting you to give this whole thing another chance is because | believe you may have gotten the wrong impression before," he explained, "When training, | want you to imagine that your opponent has the power to make your worst nightmares come to life and the only way you can stop that from happening is if you take them down." "What is it that you fear, Evelyn?" Erik asks. | felt the tops of my cheeks start to heat up under their waiting gazes. "Well, |...I fear losing the things that mean the most in my life. The people | love, for instance.

My brother, Wendy, Nina, the ---- pack...You." Alexander lightly nodded his head. "What else?" he pushed. "| love my work. The greenhouse and the library. Those places make me feel safe and calm. Whenever | had a problem, | would try to either seek out a solution or just a moment to clear my head." "That's good," Thomas commented. "We want you to use all of these things you listed and keep them as your focal points throughout today's training." Just like yesterday, Thomas took his position on the mat across from me. "Get into your stance you learned," Alexander said.

| squared my shoulders and angled my feet apart while tucking my fists close to my chest. "Good. Now, when you look at Thomas, | want you to look beyond the man that's in front of you. In this exercise, you are to imagine him as that same opponent | mentioned earlier." 1 "Remember all things you hold dear to your heart, Evelyn," Erik instructed. "This opponent has the power to make all that disappear. It's up to you to stop him." The twinge | kept feeling in my chest was not assuring in the least. "You are putting a lot on my sense of imagination," | ---- hissed.

A long moment of silence passed before Alexander spoke. | noticed the way his voice lowered a couple of octaves. "Well, it wouldn't necessarily be considered 'imagination' if | were to give Thomas the order to destroy the greenhouse and burn down the library." My mouth fell open. It felt like a sharp claw was tearing its way through my stomach and up my throat. "You wouldn't do that," | gasped Surely, he wasn't being serious. But Alexander's expression remained impassive as he shrugged his shoulders and turned to glance at Thomas.

"If you allow Thomas to leave this tent, he's going to head straight to the greenhouse and demolish it piece by piece," Alexander said sternly. "Understand?" Instead of taking his own stance, Thomas stood up straight and gradually began making his way toward the exit. What the hell?! Thomas showed no signs of actually stopping. My heart lurched in my rib cage. No. No. No. NO! | had to do something! With every step he took, all my plants, ---- projects, and work were at risk. My first move was to keep him from moving any closer to the exit, but Thomas pressed on like a friggin' tank.

My own feet were being dragged against the ground as he pressed forward. "Goddamnit," | snarled. My right hand curled into a tight fist and reached my arm back as far as | could. Sorry, Thomas. But I'm not letting you destroy my work. | swung my arm with all the condensed pressure behind it and knocked him square in the jaw. Thomas staggered backward. While he seemed diverted for the moment, | took my chance to strike back again. This time, | had lifted my one knee and swung myself on a swift angle to where the flat part of my foot met the center of his chest.

That move sent Thomas back a few feet. He hadn't been able to watch where we were headed and ended up tripping over one of the benches. While my initial instinct was to stop and help him up, there was no telling if this little exercise was over or not.