Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lyra's POV

“Follow me,” Alpha Kael said.

I stood still trying to comprehend what I had just heard but time gave me no option as I had to play two roles at a time - comprehending the situation and obeying the command.

Waving the thought at the back of my head, I placed my focus on Alpha Kael making sure that I do not lose his track, else I will be missing in this complicated place called a pack.

We got to the chambers and turned left, the journey looked like an endless one that's filled with complicated mazes. Alpha Kael paused for a while and I knew that we had gotten to our direction.

There was a golden door that had a lock, pondering on the reason why we had gotten up to this point, I watched him open the door with the key.

“It's nicknamed “The Underground Chambers,” this is where I trained my soldiers,” Alpha Kael said.

The underground chambers was a bit dark as different equipment laid in their shapes and sizes, each weapon having the ability to send an individual to the gates of death with open arms.

“Our training begins now,” Alpha Kael said.

Before I could gain my footing, I was sent flying. I hit my body on the cold marble floor as pain coursed through my body.

“Rule no 1: Always be prepared” Alpha Kael said.

“Stand up,” he added coldly.

I stood up, my body shaking as a result of the earlier impact. My instincts scream within me to submit, to apologize for my own existence. The old Lyra would have. The one who showed cowardice in the Blackfang pack, who has accepted every cruel word and dismissive glance.

That Lyra was dead.

Pouring blood to the training circle dust. I stilled my resolve.

Something flickered in Alpha Kael’s eyes - approval, perhaps, recognition but it did not give me time to identify it before he moved.

This time, I was ready. I managed to dodge the first strike, and felt the air passing through my cheek. But the second one caught me in the stomach, driving away air from my lungs. I shifted back a bit, holding my stomach and refusing to fall.

“You are thinking like a prey,” Alpha Kael said as his deep blue eyes bore into mine.

“Prey reacts, predators anticipate,” he added.

I lunged at him - clumsy but desperate. He sidestepped effortlessly, his hand catching my wrist and using my own momentum to send me flying again.

“Anticipate,” he repeated.

The training continues till the sun rises up from its horizon. It was merciless and straightforward. Anytime I fell, Alpha Kael demanded that I rise. Everytime I hesitated, he pushed harder. My body became a canvas of bruises, my muscles ached - sign of exhaustion. It went from being physical to something almost spiritual.

But I didn't break.

By midday, something began to shift. My movement born from desperation and pain gave rise to rhythm. I began to see the patterns in Alpha Kael's attack, a minute before he struck. My omega senses once used to detect danger and submit to it became weapons of warfare.

“You're improving,” Alpha Kael said, blocking my strike with his forearm. “But you are fighting to survive, I need you to fight to win,” he added.

He left me in the underground chambers as I continued with my training oblivious to the events that were going on in the pack.

After a few minutes, Alpha Kael came back to the underground chambers and I noticed that he had two water skins in his hands. He handed me one.

“You did well today,” he said. He sat down beside me.

I gulped down a huge chunk of water before replying.

“I got my ass whooped up for twelve hours straight,” I said.

“Yes. But you got up, every single time” He said, staring at the far end of the chambers.

“Do you know what separates an Alpha from an Omega Lyra?” He asked.

“Genetics.” I said bitterly. “Fate. The moon goddess is playing games on us” I added.

Alpha Kael shook his head.

“That's partially correct. Alphas are trained from birth to believe they are meant to lead so they do. Omegas are trained to believe they are meant to submit so they do. But the wolf inside does not know the ranks. The wolf knows strength, wisdom and the will to survive.”

I stared at the Alpha who had taken me in when every danger sign was there.

“Why are you doing this to me? Training me?” I asked, although my voice trembled a bit.

“Because I see what you could become.” His cold blue eyes stared at me with such intensity. “Your old pack saw weakness where I see potential forged in fire. They discarded a weapon they were too blind to recognize.” He added .

Your old pack saw weakness where I see potential forged in fire. They discarded a weapon they were too blind to recognize.”

"And what weapon is that?" I asked

"The kind that's already survived what should have killed it." He stood, offering his hand. "Come. Your real training begins now."

I took his hand, letting him pull me to my feet despite my body's protests.

Under moonlight, Kael taught me what the other wolves never would. He showed me how to use my smaller size as an advantage, how to turn an opponent's strength against them. He taught me that strategy could destroy the opponent rather than engaging in the battle of power.

"Power isn't about who's strongest," he said, demonstrating a technique that used strategy over power. "It's about who's smartest, most adaptable, most willing to do what others won't.”

Three weeks later, Alpha Kael announced my test.

"Three warriors," he said. "Defeat them, and you prove you've learned something. Lose, and we start over."

The three Ironclaw warriors who stepped into the circle were massive, experienced, confident. They looked at me, seeing a small, omega, female with expressions ranging from pity to disdain.

I smiled.

The fight was chaotic. But within that chaos, I found the patterns Kael had taught me to see. I used their size against them, their confidence as a weapon. When the first one lunged, I wasn't where he expected. When the second tried to corner me, I turned the trap into his own cage. The third, watching his packmates fall, fought smarter—but not smart enough.

When the dust settled, I stood alone in the circle, three defeated warriors at my feet. My body screamed with pain, blood dripping at a faster pace, but I stood.

The gathered Ironclaw pack stared in disbelief.

Kael walked into the circle, his expression unreadable.

"Well done," he said, his voice carrying across the training ground. Then, quieter, meant only for me: "You're not training to survive anymore, Lyra. You're training to conquer."

As he said those words, I smiled. I realized that something within me has changed. I wasn't the omega who had been chased out from her pack.

I was becoming something far more dangerous.

I was becoming myself.