Chapter 14

Rowan's POV

I hadn’t stepped outside in two days.

I told myself I was recovering. Resting. Healing.

But really, I was hiding.

It felt safe here. No Lunas. No Alpha Kael. No whispers behind my back. No sharp-eyed elders wondering why I was still breathing.

Just me, my thoughts, and my books.

So when Thessaly burst in that morning, all heat and impatience, I was less than pleased.

She didn’t knock. Just opened my door and scowled at me like I’d offended her personally. “You look like a ghost.”

I blinked up at her from beneath the blanket. “Nice to see you too.”

She dropped a bundle of clothes on the bed. “Get up. You’re coming with me.”

“No,” I said immediately, pulling the blanket tighter. “I’m not.”

She crossed her arms. “You’ve been in here for two full days. Staring at walls. Breathing like an old woman. It’s pathetic.”

“Thanks for the pep talk.”

“I’m serious.” She sat on the edge of the cot, her voice dropping. “Rowan, you were poisoned. Someone tried to kill your baby. You don’t get to curl up and let them win.”

I flinched.

She noticed, of course she did. “I didn’t mean—”

“You did,” I said softly. “And maybe you’re right.”

Thessaly was quiet for a moment, then touched my arm. “Come train with me. Just a little. Blow off the dust. Punch something. It’ll help.”

I hesitated. My head felt foggy, and the idea of being around anyone else made my skin crawl. But… sitting here, rotting in my own fear, was worse.

So I nodded.

The training field was tucked into the edge of the forest, flat and worn smooth by years of drills. Grass had given up the fight here long ago. Dirt and dust ruled now. A few warriors were already practicing,two clashing blades, one working with hand-to-hand. I kept my head down as we passed them, trying not to notice how they paused to glance my way.

I wasn’t imagining it. The stares. The whispers.

Thessaly handed me a staff. “Let’s warm up.”

I took it without argument, grateful for something to hold. The wood was smooth, balanced. Familiar. I used to train with sticks like this when I was younger, before everything went wrong. Before my pack was attacked and I was given as a gift.

We started slow. Simple movements. Blocks, turns, footwork,careful precision. Thessaly called out instructions, correcting my stance with a nudge or a flick of her fingers. My muscles complained at first, but then… they remembered.

I moved. I breathed. And for a moment, I felt like myself again.

Until he showed up.

Not Alpha Kael, though I’d half expected him, but one of the younger warriors. Big. Blond. Too confident. I recognized him vaguely,Toran, maybe? One of Zelma’s cousins.

He swaggered over like he owned the dirt beneath his boots. “Thessaly. Thought you trained with real wolves.”

I froze.

Thessaly’s voice was flat. “Go away, Toran.”

He didn’t. “What’s the point? She’s a liability. Everyone knows it.”

I straightened slowly, staff still in hand. “You want to spar?”

He blinked, then grinned. “You serious?”

“Terribly.”

Thessaly hissed through her teeth. “Rowan, no. He’s baiting you.”

“Let him.”

She hesitated. Then stepped back. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Toran cracked his neck and snatched a staff from the rack. He didn’t bow. Didn’t even wait for a start signal. He lunged.

I parried on instinct, the shock of the impact vibrating down my arms. He was fast, but predictable. He swung too wide, left openings I could’ve driven a dagger through. Still, he had brute strength,and something else: intent.

He wanted to hurt me.

I blocked again. And again. My arms burned. He smirked like he was toying with a child.

“You don’t belong here,” he said between strikes. “Everyone’s just waiting for Alpha Kael to snap and end your miserable life.”

I gritted my teeth. My grip slipped. His staff caught me in the side, hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.

My child.

I stumbled. The world spun.

Toran raised his staff again.

And something inside me cracked.

Not a sound. Not a scream. Just… energy. It surged up my spine like a wave. My vision blurred. The staff in my hand grew hot.

I saw his next move before he made it. Not just guessed,knew. Where he’d swing. How he’d step. How I could end it.

I struck.

My staff met his with a force that sent him reeling. He hit the ground with a stunned grunt, rolling to his side, coughing dust.

I stood over him, breath heaving, hands trembling.

Then I saw the glow.

Faint. Flaring at my fingertips. I quickly dug my fingernails into my palm, praying nobody had seen.

My heart stopped.

Thessaly rushed forward, stepping between us. “That’s enough.”

Toran groaned, wiping blood from his lip. “Slut.”

Thessaly turned on him. “Say that again, and I’ll make sure you never spar here again.”

He spat into the dirt, then stalked off, muttering.

I stared at my hands. The light was fading now, vanishing like it had never been.

Thessaly touched my arm. “Are you okay?”

“No,” I whispered. “Something just happened.”

She glanced around. The other warriors had gone back to their drills, pretending not to have seen anything.

“We don’t talk about it here,” she murmured. “Not out loud. Not with them listening.”

“But—”

“You defended yourself. That’s all anyone needs to know.”

I swallowed hard. Thessaly was right. I shouldn’t utter the words in my head.

A wolf with magic? Impossible. Forbidden.

We walked back to the healer’s den in silence.

My legs ached. My ribs throbbed where Toran hit me. But beneath the bruises, something else stirred,like a ripple across still water.

Power. Real, living power.

And the terrible knowledge that next time, I might not be able to hold it back.