CHAPTER SIX

The training ground smelled like dust, blood, and ego.

I have been training for the past three days after the council meeting, under the supervision of Kael. Something about how I need to prepare myself from any situation. So far I hate it here especially the bitch Nyra and the weird stares from the pack, not that i can’t handle but it is exhausting.

I stood in the middle of the arena, surrounded by wolves who were supposedly Kael’s elite warriors. Their eyes lingered on me with skepticism, not just because I was new—but because I was me. The she-wolf Kael refused to let go. The one the Black Ash Council whispered about behind closed doors.

The one with too much fire.

“Again,” Kael’s voice rang through the open field. I breathed hard, sweat clinging to my neck as I faced Jane, my opponents, who had proven more skilled than she looked. My punches were too wild. I was too impatient. My power wasn’t responding the way it had before.

My wolf was pacing, agitated beneath my skin.

“You’re off-balance,” Kael murmured, coming closer. “Focus.”

I scowled, wiping blood from my lip. “Maybe it’s hard to focus with everyone watching me like I’m about to explode.”

“They’re afraid of what they don’t understand,” he said. “Prove them wrong.”

Before I could respond, the voice I loathed most sliced through the air.

“Or maybe they just don’t like having a cursed rogue playing Luna.”

Nyra.

She strutted forward, dressed in black leather and spite, her hair pulled into a sleek braid, jaw sharp as ever. Her voice was honeyed poison.

“You’re bleeding, Serena,” she said mockingly. “Isn’t that beneath your so-called destiny?”

“Back off, Nyra,” Kael warned, stepping between us.

But I moved past him. “Let her speak. She always needs an audience.”

Nyra’s smile widened. “Oh, I’ll speak. Especially when your presence is unraveling everything Kael built. You don’t belong here. You’re chaos in silk. Just because fate mated you doesn’t mean the pack will follow.”

I met her eyes. “They don’t have to. They’ll kneel anyway.”

A murmur rippled through the watching wolves.

Kael stepped forward, voice tight. “That’s enough, both of you.”

But Nyra wasn’t done. She leaned in close, her words soft enough for only me to hear. “You think he’s protecting you? Please. You’re a distraction. A mistake. And soon, mistakes get cleaned up.”

The malice in her tone was too sharp to ignore.

That night, I found the lock on my door slightly off. A scratch on the window frame. A faint scent that didn’t belong.

Something wasn’t right.

I should have listened to my instincts.

That morning, Kael was gone. Off on a mission at the western border, supposedly handling rogue sightings. He left in a rush, brow furrowed, jaw clenched. Something wasn’t right, and yet I let him go.

I paced my room restlessly. The air felt wrong—thicker. My wolf itched under my skin. I was supposed to meet with the Council again, but the messenger never arrived. And then…

Everything went silent.

Too silent.

I opened my door to find two guards standing there—ones I didn’t recognize. Before I could speak, a sharp pain shot through my neck.

A tranquilizer.

Darkness swallowed me.

I woke up in chains.

The cold of iron bit into my wrists, and a damp stone floor pressed against my spine. The room was dark, lit only by torches flickering along high, unforgiving walls. My wolf stirred weakly, suppressed by something… unnatural.

Magic.

Panic clawed at me, but I forced myself to stay still, to listen.

A door creaked open. Heavy boots approached.

Ronan.

His golden hair looked sharper under torchlight, but his smile was the same smug curve I’d seen the day he sentenced me.

“Sister,” he said smoothly. “You’re awake.”

I surged forward, snarling. The chains yanked me back.

He tutted. “Tsk. Still so feral.”

“You did this,” I spat. “You betrayed me.”

“Correction,” a second voice purred from the shadows. “We betrayed you.”

Nyra stepped into the light, lips painted in satisfaction.

“Surprised?” she asked. “I told you you’re a mistake and mistakes get corrected.”

“Why?” I choked out.

Ronan crouched, his eyes gleaming. “Because you were never meant to survive. You’re the last piece of a prophecy that was supposed to be buried. And now… we’re going to fix that mistake.”

I shook, not from fear—but fury.

“You don’t know what I’m capable of.”

“Don’t worry,” Nyra whispered, leaning close. “You’ll show us soon enough.”

The door slammed behind them.

I was alone.

But my power was stirring—slow, volatile, hungry.

And this time, I wasn’t planning to be saved.