Chapter 15

Eric's POV

Training her is a mistake.

I know that the moment she squares her shoulders across from me, blue eyes steady, jaw set in quiet determination. The morning air is cool, dew still clinging to the grass beneath our boots, but she looks grounded, present in a way that tells me she’s already learning faster than she should.

“Again,” I say.

She doesn’t question it.

She moves quickly, faster than expected, her strike sharp and controlled. I block it easily, but the force behind it makes my arm jolt. Not painful. Just… unexpected.

My wolf stirs.

Careful.

I circle her slowly, assessing. “You’re thinking too far ahead.”

She exhales. “I know. I just… feel it coming.”

That gives me pause.

“Feel what?”

She hesitates, then shakes her head. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like my body knows what you’re about to do before you do it.”

That shouldn’t be possible.

I gesture for her to attack again instead of responding.

This time, I don’t restrain myself.

She barely has time to inhale before I close the distance. Her eyes widen, but instead of freezing, she adapts—twisting out of my grip, ducking under my arm with instinctive grace. Her elbow brushes my ribs, light but precise.

I grab her wrist, pivot, and suddenly she’s pressed against my chest.

Too close.

Her breath hitches, warm against my throat. Her scent floods my senses—clean, wild, layered with something deeper that makes my wolf tense and alert.

She stares up at me,lips parted. She's so beautiful I couldn't help but stare back. I felt something I hadn't felt in years ............ desire.

The air between us tightens.

I release her immediately and step back.

“That’s enough for today,” I say, voice rougher than I intend.

Her cheeks are flushed, chest rising quickly. She looks unsettled—but not afraid.

“That was good,” I add, forcing control back into my tone. “You’re improving faster than expected.”

She lowers her gaze. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No,” I answer quietly. “It just means you’ll need more training.”

We walk later, not as Alpha and trainee, not even as pack members. Just two people taking a stroll through the pack lands.

Sunlight filters through the trees, dappling her hair with gold. She seems more at ease here than she does within walls.

“You’re quieter than Anton,” she says eventually.

“That’s intentional.”

She smiles faintly. “Hannah says you think too much.”

I snort despite myself. “Hannah talks too much.”

She laughs softly, the sound tentative but genuine. It does something to my chest I don’t like acknowledging.

“Thank you,” she says after a while.

“For what?”

“For not treating me like I’m fragile.”

I stop walking.

She turns, confusion flickering across her face.

“You’re not broken,” I say firmly. “You were just never taught what you’re capable of.”

Something shifts in her expression—surprise, maybe relief. She doesn’t respond, but the weight of her gaze lingers.

The forest is quieter than the training grounds, the canopy filtering sunlight into soft gold. She walks beside me, hands tucked into the sleeves of her jacket, gaze drifting from tree to tree like she’s memorizing escape routes.

“You always watch your surroundings like that,” I note.

She shrugs. “Habit.”

“From where?”

She opens her mouth.

Then closes it.

Something flickers across her face—hesitation, maybe. Or resolve.

“I wasn’t safe where I came from, not like my life was threatened.....but........”

That’s not an answer.

But it’s an honest one.

I nod, letting it rest. “You’re safe here.”

She stops walking.

I turn to face her, confused by the sudden tension in her posture. She looks like she wants to say something—needs to say something. Her hands curl into fists.

“There’s something I should tell you,” she says quietly.

My chest tightens.

“All right.”

She swallows. “I—”

Her gaze drops to the ground.

“I don’t know how,” she finishes instead.

Silence stretches between us.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not ready to,” I say, keeping my voice steady.

“Whatever it is—it doesn’t change that you’re under my protection.”

Her eyes lift, bright and wet, and for a moment I think she’s going to break.

“Thank you,” she whispers.

Whatever she was about to say, she buries it deep.

And I let her.

When we return to the house, Anton is waiting near my office, his posture tight.

“We need to talk,” he says.

Cora hesitates. “I’ll go find Hannah.”

I nod and wait until she’s gone before turning back to him.

“What is it?”

He closes the door behind us. “Our scouts picked up movement near the northern border.”

“Rogues?”

“Yes. And more organized than before.”

I exhale slowly. “Go on.”

“The Lincoln Pack reached out.”

That makes me straighten.

“They want an alliance,” Anton continues. “Joint patrols. Shared intel.”

I don’t respond immediately.

“Derek Lincoln doesn’t make peace offers without reason,” I finally say.

“That was my thought too,” Anton agrees. “But rogue activity is increasing on both sides.”

I move to my desk, bracing my hands against the surface. “Set the meeting. But I want increased patrols in the meantime.”

Anton nods. “There’s something else.”

I look up.

“We found tracks near the eastern forest,” he says carefully. “The rogues who attacked Cora before… they’re still in the area.”

My jaw tightens.

"Didn't we kill all five of them?"

"One escaped. I think they have another group"

“They were watching,” I say.

“Yes.”

After Anton leaves, I sit alone longer than I should.

I don’t know where Cora came from.

I don’t know what she’s running from.

But I know this—whatever danger is circling her isn’t finished.

That night, we eat together.

Hannah fills the dining room with warmth and chatter, Anton teases her relentlessly, and Cora sits quietly, observing more than speaking. I find myself watching her without meaning to—the way she listens, the way she seems surprised every time she’s included.

At one point, her gaze lifts and catches mine.

She doesn’t look away.

Something tightens in my chest.

After dinner, as the others clear the table, my wolf presses closer to the surface.

Protect her.

“I am,” I murmur under my breath.

But even as I say it, I know the truth.

I don’t know who she really is.

And with alliances forming and rogues closing in, that unknown could change everything.

Still, when she smiles at something Hannah says, eyes bright and alive.

I already know.

Whatever this is between us, it’s only just beginning.