My Alphas' Dark Desires-Chapter 32: Guilds and Clans

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Chapter 32

~Valerie’s POV~

Principal Whitmore let the silence settle for a moment, as if letting her words sink in.

"Welcome to the Alpha Forge," she repeated steadily. Everyone could appreciate the sharpness in her tone as that spoke a lot of what we were about to face.

"From this day on, your lives will change. This isn’t like anything you’ve done before. The Alpha Forge is a specialised training program designed to test not just your strength, but your leadership, strategy, and survival skills. It will make up 30% of your entire year’s scores."

I swallowed hard. Around me, a few students shifted uneasily. Isla stood straighter.

"There are five Guilds," the principal continued, stepping to the side so a large holographic board behind her could light up with names. "And two clans within each. Each clan has eight members. Your training, missions, and tests will happen within these groups."

She turned and began reading off the names.

"Guild One—Astrum. The Star Guild.

Guild Two—Lunaria. Moon.

Guild Three—Ventus. Wind.

Guild Four—Ignis. Fire.

Guild Five—Terra. Earth."

I exhaled slowly. Terra. That was the one Storm had placed me in. The farthest from the heirs. Supposedly.

"Now," Principal Whitmore said, motioning for a teacher to bring over a clipboard, "with the call of your names, you will go stand with your respective Guild and Clan leaders."

A tall, stern-looking instructor stepped up and began reading names off.

"Guild One, Clan A: Alpha Team—Isla Storm, Bennett Corin, Maxine Vale, Yara Hunt, Felix Dorne, Elira Mave, Darien Kole, Jace Riordan and Rhys Rhianon."

Isla turned to me with wide eyes and mouthed, Alpha Team. I grinned at her and gave her a small nod. She moved away, stepping into line with her new team. She didn’t look nervous—she looked ready.

"Guild One, Clan B: Beta Squad—River Locke, Serena Vale, Dean Myles..."

The instructor continued down the list, each name sharper than the last.

"Guild Two, Clan A: Assault Team; Sirius Jade, Emerald Drake..."

"Guild Two, Clan B: Sentinel Squad..."

"Guild Three, Clan A: Tactical Strike Team; Astraea Kana, Micah Michael..."

"Guild Three, Clan B: Tactical Squad; Marcus Dane..."

"Guild Four, Clan A: Dragon’s Breath..."

"Guild Four, Clan B: Phoenix Squad..."

Then finally...

"Guild Five, Clan A: Desert Storm—Avery Kain, Mira Rhodes, Sebastian Trey..." I zoned in, waiting. "Valerie Nightshade."

"Guild Five, Clan B: Onyx Guard— Erin Cross, Anne Ginger, Tylen Shade, Renna Mare, Otto Fenn..."

My name had been called. I stepped forward, falling in line with Clan A of Guild Five. Onyx Guard. Storm had done it. He’d actually kept me off the radar.

Or so I thought.

Principal Whitmore cleared her throat. "Now, for the Guild Leaders. These are the students who have been trained from birth for leadership. They will guide you through this process."

Her voice rang out, strong.

"Guild One—Dristan Alexander."

Guild Two—Axel Zeno."

Guild Three—Xade Xavier."

Guild Four—Kai Draven."

She paused. "And Guild Five... Professor Jupiter."

I tilted my head slightly, trying to spot the professor, but I couldn’t see anyone stepping up.

"But due to unforeseen last minute circumstances," Principal Whitmore said, her voice crisp, "Professor Jupiter will not be leading this year’s Alpha Forge Trials for Guild Five."

A murmur rippled across the field.

"Therefore," she continued, "Dristan Alexander will lead Clan A of Guild Five with his team, while the other Guilds will share the remaining members of Guild Five’s clans."

Isla turned slightly in her line, her brows furrowed. I felt her eyes glance toward me, and I met her gaze.

My stomach twisted.

Dristan, leading Guild 5’s clan? Fuck.

I shot a look toward him. He stood tall, arms crossed, cyan-blue eyes cool—but I could tell. He was amused. Almost smug.

A moment later, the other heirs stirred. Axel took a step forward, shaking his head. "This wasn’t agreed upon."

Xade scoffed. "He already has a guild."

Kai just folded his arms, saying nothing, but his eyes flicked toward Dristan with a kind of knowing challenge.

The murmuring got louder. It was starting to feel less like orientation and more like a battlefield.

Principal Whitmore raised a hand. "Enough. My mistake. Guild Five’s clans will be split equally among the other four Guilds."

I clenched my teeth.

Storm’s plan—his carefully arranged plan—was falling apart right in front of me. How did my cousin not see through this and check the facts about this professor?

And Dristan?

He turned, scanned the crowd, and pointed.

"Clan B," he said calmly. "Come with me."

My chest tightened. No. No, no—

Before the group could begin to move, I stepped to the side, locking eyes with a girl in Clan B—Avery, I think.

"Trade with me?" I asked quickly, before I could talk myself out of it.

Her eyes widened. "Seriously? You want to be in Clan B?"

"Umm, yes. Don’t you want to be under Dristan?" I asked, stating the obvious and praying my plan to use Dristan’s fan girl charms on her would work. I owe you a nice meal."

She grinned. "Deal."

We swapped places just as everyone began moving. She practically bounced over to Clan A, glad to be with Dristan’s team. I slid into Clan B’s row, head down.

It worked.

Seeing this, Clan A was split between Guild 1 and Guild 2, while Clan B was assigned to Guild 3 and Guild 4.

I ended up with Kai Draven in Guild 4 and wasn’t particularly feeling bad. Although I had hoped o a bit on Axel or Xade.

They seemed like less trouble than Kaid and Dristan to be honest.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Dristan’s eyes narrow. I felt it before I even looked up.

When I finally glanced over, he was already watching me, his jaw tight, fists clenched at his sides, but he didn’t say a word.

But I felt the fury rolling off him like waves.

"Now, I shall leave all Guild Leaders/Masters to interact with their Clan leaders and guild members," Principal Whitmore announced.

Just as we were about to leave, she lifted her index finger. "Also note, the first two names in the Clans are the clan leaders, except the guild master wants to appoint new sub leaders, but that can only be done after the first two weeks of training. Understood?"

"Yes, ma’am!" everyone chorused and with that, she left us.