CHAPTER 4: THE PRICE OF POWER

Morning came before Luca was ready for it.

He stepped out of the sanctuary and immediately felt the cold air against his face. The forest was covered in a thin layer of mist, and small drops of water clung to the grass beneath his feet. Somewhere high in the trees, birds were beginning to call to one another.

Luca stretched his arms and looked toward the clearing.

Elias was already there.

He stood in the center with his arms crossed, waiting.

“You’re late,” Elias said.

Luca looked toward the sky.

“The sun just came up.”

“And?”

Luca sighed.

“I suppose that’s not an excuse.”

Elias turned toward him.

“Today, you learn discipline.”

Luca walked into the clearing.

“I thought we were training my power.”

“We are.”

Elias pointed toward a large tree.

“Run to that tree.”

Luca looked at it.

“That’s it?”

“Then run back.”

Luca nodded.

He took off.

His feet moved faster than he expected. The tree seemed to rush toward him, and before he could slow down, he almost crashed into it.

He stopped himself at the last second.

“Again,” Elias called.

Luca turned.

“Already?”

“Again.”

He ran back.

Then forward.

Then back again.

After several rounds, Luca’s breathing became heavy.

His legs burned.

He bent over, placing his hands on his knees.

“I thought Moonbloods were supposed to be powerful.”

Elias stood several feet away.

“They are.”

“Then why am I exhausted?”

“Because power without discipline is useless.”

Luca straightened.

“You really like saying things that make me feel stupid.”

“I don’t need to make you feel stupid. You’re doing that yourself.”

Luca stared at him.

Elias’s mouth twitched.

For the first time, Luca realized the older man was teasing him.

He shook his head.

“You’re impossible.”

“Run.”

Luca groaned and started again.

The days began to follow the same pattern.

Every morning, Elias made him run through the forest.

He made Luca climb steep rocks, cross streams without stopping, and move silently through the trees.

When Luca complained, Elias ignored him.

When Luca fell, Elias waited for him to stand.

When Luca wanted to stop, Elias simply said the same word.

“Again.”

At first, Luca hated it.

His body ached every night.

His hands were covered with small cuts from climbing rocks and pushing through thick branches. His legs often shook when he returned to the sanctuary.

But something slowly changed.

He became faster.

His breathing became stronger.

He learned how to land without making a sound.

He learned to listen to the forest instead of simply walking through it.

One afternoon, Elias stood at the edge of the clearing with his arms folded.

“Come at me.”

Luca stared at him.

“What?”

“Attack me.”

Luca laughed nervously.

“You’re serious?”

“Yes.”

Luca moved into position.

Elias didn’t move.

“Go.”

Luca rushed forward.

He threw a punch.

Elias stepped aside.

Luca stumbled past him.

Before he could turn, Elias tapped the back of his shoulder.

“You’re dead.”

Luca frowned.

“Again.”

Luca attacked faster.

Elias blocked him.

Luca tried a kick.

Elias caught his leg and pushed him away.

Luca landed hard on the ground.

He rolled onto his back.

“That wasn’t fair.”

Elias looked down at him.

“Neither is the world.”

Luca got up.

His face became serious.

“Again.”

This time, he moved differently.

He watched Elias’s shoulders.

He watched his feet.

He waited.

When Elias shifted his weight, Luca moved.

He slipped past the first strike and caught Elias’s arm.

For half a second, Luca thought he had him.

Then Elias twisted free and sent him into the grass.

Luca groaned.

But Elias nodded.

“Better.”

Luca sat up.

“You could have just said that.”

“I did.”

“You said one word.”

“It was enough.”

Luca laughed despite himself.

The laughter surprised him.

It had been a long time since he had laughed.

For a moment, the memory of Silver Moon didn’t hurt.

Then night came.

Luca sat outside the sanctuary beside a small fire.

The flames moved gently in the darkness, casting warm light across his face.

He held his mother’s pendant between his fingers.

Elias sat across from him.

“You miss her.”

Luca looked at the pendant.

“Every day.”

“What do you remember?”

Luca was quiet for a while.

“Not enough.”

He rubbed his thumb across the silver surface.

“I remember her voice more than her face.”

His eyes became wet.

“I remember that she used to sing when she cooked. I remember sleeping beside her when I was afraid of storms.”

He smiled sadly.

“She always told me that I was stronger than I thought.”

Elias watched him.

“She was right.”

Luca looked up.

“You knew her well?”

Elias hesitated.

“Well enough.”

“Tell me about her.”

Elias looked into the fire.

“She was strong.”

“That’s all?”

“She was stubborn.”

Luca smiled.

“That sounds familiar.”

Elias looked at him.

“It is.”

For a moment, they sat in silence.

Then Luca’s smile faded.

“Did she know what would happen to me?”

Elias didn’t answer immediately.

“She knew your blood would awaken one day.”

“When?”

“I don’t know.”

Luca lowered his eyes.

“And she knew people were looking for Moonbloods?”

“Yes.”

Luca’s fingers tightened around the pendant.

“Was she afraid?”

Elias looked at him.

“Your mother was afraid many times.”

Luca swallowed.

“But she never allowed fear to make her weak.”

The words stayed with Luca.

The next morning, his training became harder.

Elias took him to the highest part of the forest, where the ground dropped sharply into a rocky valley below.

“Today, you will control your wolf while you’re under pressure.”

Luca looked over the edge.

“How?”

“You’ll find out.”

Elias suddenly pushed him.

Luca’s eyes widened.

He fell.

Wind rushed past his face.

He reached for the rocks, but they slipped beneath his fingers.

“Elias!”

His body dropped toward the valley.

Fear exploded through him.

His wolf roared.

Luca’s eyes flashed silver.

His hand caught a branch.

The sudden stop almost pulled his shoulder from its socket.

He hung there, breathing wildly.

Elias looked down from above.

“Don’t panic.”

Luca stared at him.

“You pushed me off a cliff!”

“And you’re still alive.”

“I hate your lessons!”

“Climb.”

Luca looked down.

The valley seemed endless beneath him.

His arms were shaking.

But he began climbing.

Slowly.

One hand at a time.

When he finally reached the top, he collapsed onto the ground.

Elias stood over him.

“You were afraid.”

“Yes.”

“But you survived.”

Luca looked up.

Elias continued.

“Being powerful doesn’t mean you never feel fear.”

He extended a hand.

“It means fear doesn’t decide what you do next.”

Luca stared at the hand.

Then he took it.

Elias pulled him to his feet.

From that day forward, Luca stopped asking when the training would end.

He stopped looking for shortcuts.

He stopped expecting power to come easily.

Weeks turned into months.

His body changed.

His shoulders became broader.

His movements became quicker.

His eyes became sharper.

But the greatest change happened inside him.

The anger was still there.

The pain was still there.

But they no longer controlled every decision he made.

One evening, Luca stood alone in the clearing.

He closed his eyes.

He breathed slowly.

His wolf stirred.

I am here.

Luca smiled.

“I know.”

This time, the silver light appeared beneath his skin without pain.

It moved through him calmly.

He opened his eyes.

The world seemed clearer.

He could hear the leaves moving in the distance.

He could feel the wind against his skin.

He could sense Elias watching him from the trees.

Luca turned toward him.

“I did it.”

Elias stepped into the clearing.

“Yes.”

Luca smiled.

A real smile.

For the first time, he wasn’t the rejected omega from Silver Moon.

He wasn’t the boy his father had called weak.

He was becoming something else.

Something stronger.

Elias looked at him carefully.

“This is only the beginning.”

Luca’s smile disappeared.

“Then I’m ready.”

Elias nodded.

“Good.”

He turned toward the forest.

“Because tomorrow, your real training begins.”

Luca looked toward the dark trees ahead.

He didn’t know what Elias had planned.

He didn’t know how powerful he could become.

But he knew one thing.

He would never again allow anyone to decide his worth for him.

And somewhere beneath the anger, beneath the pain, beneath the memories of the pack that had rejected him, something new was taking shape.

A man.

A leader.

A king who had not yet learned his own name.