TRAINING AT 5AM

Alba's POV

My alarm went off at 4:45am.

I didn’t set it.

Someone slipped a note under my door at 4:30.

`Training yard. 5am. Don’t be late. -A`

Ares.

Of course it was him.

I sat up in the massive bed and immediately regretted it. Every muscle hurt. The silver burns on my wrists throbbed. The cut on my cheek pulled when I frowned.

Training. Right.

I pulled on the clothes left for me. Black sports bra. Black joggers. Black sneakers. Everything black. Did this man own any other color?

The mansion was silent. The servants were already up, but they didn’t talk to me. I was still the new "pet Luna."

I found the training yard behind the house. It was huge. Sand. Mats. Weapons on racks. And in the middle, standing in the dark with only one light on, was Ares.

He was shirtless.

Okay.

Okay.

Black joggers. Bare feet. Sweat already on his shoulders even though it was 5am and freezing. His hair was damp. There was a scar across his ribs I hadn’t seen yesterday.

He was hitting a punching bag. Hard.

Each hit made a sound like thunder.

I stopped at the edge of the light.

He didn’t stop. Didn’t look at me.

“Took you long enough,” he said between punches.

“It’s 4:58.”

“Early is on time. On time is late.”

He turned then. His silver eyes dragged over me. Took in the joggers. The braid. The fact that I wasn’t wearing the jacket.

His jaw ticked.

“Cold?” he asked.

“No.”

“Liar.” He grabbed a black hoodie from the bench and threw it at me. It hit my chest. It was still warm from his body.

“Put it on.”

I did. It swallowed me. Smelled like him. Cedar and sweat and power.

“Now we start,” he said.

“With what? Yoga?”

His mouth twitched. Almost a smile. “With pain.”

---

For the next hour he ran me.

Sprints. Pushups. Planks. Burpees.

I thought I was in shape. I wasn’t.

“Again,” he said when I collapsed on the sand.

“I can’t.”

“You can.” He crouched in front of me. Up close I could see the sweat dripping down his neck. “In Nightfang they told you that you were weak. So you believed it. Stop believing it.”

He held out his hand.

I stared at it. Yesterday I took it to leave. Today it felt different.

I grabbed it. His hand was calloused. Hot. He pulled me up like I weighed nothing.

“Again,” he said.

We did 20 more burpees.

When he finally said “Break,” I fell to my knees.

He tossed me a water bottle. I drank half of it in one go.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “You could have hired a trainer.”

He sat on the bench across from me. Picked up his own water. “Because I need to see how you break.”

My stomach dropped. “And?”

“You don’t,” he said simply. “You complain. You bleed. But you don’t break.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.

He stood. “Enough cardio. Now weapons.”

My eyes went wide. “Weapons? I’ve never”

“I know.” He walked to the rack and pulled down two daggers. Silver. He tossed one to me. I caught it. Barely.

“First rule,” he said. “Never point it at yourself. Second rule. If someone comes at you, you don’t hesitate. You strike.”

He stepped into my space. Too close. I could feel his heat.

“Show me,” he said. He grabbed my wrist and adjusted my grip. His fingers were firm.

“Like this.”

My heart was pounding. And it wasn’t from the training.

“Got it?” he asked. His voice was low.

“Got it,” I whispered.

He let go. Stepped back. “Good. Now try to stab me.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Come at me.”

I hesitated.

“Alba,” he said. “They won’t hesitate. Veronica won’t. Kieran won’t. So don’t you.”

Something in me snapped.

I lunged.

He caught my wrist in mid-air. Twisted. The dagger fell.

“Too slow,” he said. But he was smiling. A real one this time. Small. Dangerous.

“Again.”

We did it 50 times. By the end my arms were shaking and I’d actually nicked his arm once.

He looked at the cut. Barely a scratch. “Progress.”

The sun was coming up now. Gold light over the sand.

“I’m done,” I said. My voice shook.

“No you’re not,” Ares said. “Now the hard part.”

He walked to the center of the yard. Drew a circle in the sand with his boot.

“Stand in there.”

I did.

“Close your eyes.”

“Ares”

“Close them.”

I did.

“Now find her,” he whispered.

“What?”

“Your wolf. She’s in there. Buried under silver and fear and 23 years of people telling you she doesn’t exist. Find her.”

I stood there. Breathing. Listening to the wind.

Nothing.

Just silence.

“I can’t”

“Yes you can.” His voice was right behind me now. I could feel him, but he wasn’t touching me. “Stop listening to them. Listen to you.”

I tried. I thought of the girl in Nightfang. The one who hid in the closet. The one who ran. The one who signed the contract.

And deep, deep down. I felt something.

A flicker. Like a candle in a dark room.

Heat.

My eyes flew open.

Ares was watching me. Intense.

“Did you feel that?” he asked.

“I... maybe.”

He nodded. “Good. That’s day one.”

---

We went inside to shower. Separately. Thank god.

I was in my room when there was a knock.

Ares. Still in his training clothes. Hair wet.

“Meeting in 30,” he said. “Royal council. You’re coming.”

“Me? Why?”

“Because contract says you attend all public events,” he said. “And because I want Kieran to see you there.”

My stomach twisted.

He noticed. “You don’t have to talk,” he said. “Just stand next to me. Look like mine.”

Look like mine.

Three words that shouldn’t have done anything to me.

“Okay,” I said.

He nodded and left.

---

The council room was terrifying.

Long table. 12 alphas. All men. All old. All staring at me like I was dirt.

And at the end of the table, Kieran.

He looked up when we walked in. And froze.

His eyes went to my hand. Because Ares was holding it.

Not romantic. Just... there. Like I belonged there.

“Alpha King,” Kieran said. His voice was tight. “And... her.”

“Her name is Alba,” Ares said. He pulled out a chair for me. Held it. “My Luna.”

The room went silent.

I sat. Kept my back straight. Didn’t look at Kieran.

The meeting was boring. Trade routes. Border disputes.

Until one alpha spoke up. “About the missing girls. We still think it’s a rumor.”

“It’s not,” Ares said. His voice cut through the room. “And I have someone on the inside now.”

All eyes went to me.

I felt sick.

“Alba was in Nightfang for 23 years,” Ares continued. “She knows things. She’ll be helping the investigation.”

Kieran slammed his hand on the table. “She’s a traitor!”

“She’s under royal protection,” Ares said. Quiet. Deadly. “Say one more word about her and you’ll answer to me.”

No one spoke.

Kieran’s face was red. Veronica, sitting behind him, looked like she wanted to murder me.

Good.

The meeting ended. As we left, Kieran caught up to us in the hall.

“Alpha Ares,” he said. “Can I speak to her. Alone.”

“No,” Ares said immediately.

“It’s pack business”

“She’s not in your pack anymore,” Ares cut him off. He stepped between us. “And if you touch her, I’ll end you.”

Kieran looked at me. “Alba, please. Just 5 minutes.”

I looked at Ares. He didn’t tell me what to do. He let me choose.

I chose.

“No,” I said. “I have nothing to say to you.”

Kieran’s face broke. Just for a second. Then he turned and walked away.

My chest hurt.

Ares didn’t say anything. He just offered me his arm.

I took it.

---

Back in the office that night, I was shaking.

From anger. From fear. From everything.

Ares poured me whiskey without asking.

“You did good today,” he said.

“I almost cried.”

“I know.” He sat across from me. “That’s why it was good. Because you didn’t.”

We sat in silence.

“Ares?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you really think my wolf is in there?”

He looked at me. Really looked.

“I know she is,” he said. “I can smell her. Under everything else. She’s strong. And she’s pissed.”

I laughed. I didn’t mean to.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing. It’s just... no one’s ever said I was strong before.”

His expression softened. Barely. “Then they were blind.”

We drank.

At 11pm he stood. “Go to bed. Training at 5am.”

“Again?”

“Every day until you can beat me.”

I snorted. “I’ll never beat you.”

He walked me to the door. Stopped.

“Maybe not,” he said. “But you’ll try. And that’s what matters.”

He closed the door.

I leaned against it.

My body hurt. My heart hurt. But for the first time in 23 years... I felt something else.

Hope.

And it was terrifying.