The Alpha’s Training

The forest bit at her skin.

Frost clung to Lena’s lashes, her breath spilling out in ragged white clouds as she stumbled through knee-deep snow. Her body ached from the trial, every bruise screaming, but Kade didn’t care.

He was behind her, his presence heavy as iron, his voice sharp enough to cut the cold. “Again.”

Her legs burned. She shoved forward, boots slipping on ice. A fallen branch snagged her cloak, dragging her back. She cursed, ripping free, chest heaving.

Kade’s shadow fell over her. “Too slow.”

She spun on him, fury sparking through exhaustion. “I’m human, remember? I don’t run like you.”

Golden eyes narrowed. “Then stop running like prey.”

The words struck harder than a slap. She bit them back, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing how they sank. But he already knew. His mouth curved, sharp and cruel.

“Again.”

Lena shoved past him, snow stinging her face. She hated him. She hated the fire curling low in her belly when his voice cracked through the air, hated the bond that made her body move even when her mind screamed stop.

By the time they reached the clearing, her lungs felt carved raw. Wolves already waited, their eyes gleaming in the gray dawn. Some leaned against trees, smirking. Others crouched low, muscles coiled, eager to watch her fail.

Mara was there, a scarred shadow at the edge. Her smile promised Lena’s blood in the snow.

Kade strode past her, dominance rolling off him in waves. He stripped off his cloak, leaving his bare chest marked with scars and fresh stitches from the rogues. The pack hushed, waiting.

“Three nights,” he growled, voice carrying like thunder through the trees. “Three nights until the bond trial. She survives, she’s pack. She fails—” His gaze cut to Lena, molten and merciless. “—I end her myself.”

A ripple of anticipation shivered through the wolves.

Kade turned back to her. “Come here.”

Every instinct screamed not to move, but her body betrayed her, dragging her forward until she stood before him, her heart battering against her ribs.

He circled her slowly, predator around prey, his hand brushing her shoulder, her hip, her wrist. Each touch burned, searing ownership into her skin.

“You fight like a human,” he murmured against her ear. “Wild. Desperate. Sloppy.”

Her jaw clenched. “Sorry I don’t meet your standards.”

He smirked. “Not yet.” His fingers closed around her wrist, twisting it hard enough to make her gasp. He spun her, slamming her into the snow. The impact stole her breath.

The pack howled their approval.

Kade crouched over her, his weight pinning her down, his lips curving in a snarl. “Rule one. Never let them take you to the ground.”

Her fury snapped. She bucked hard, shoving at his chest. He didn’t move. His grip tightened, his body unyielding. The bond flared, heat racing through her veins, blurring pain with something else.

She spat up at him, voice raw. “Get off me.”

His mouth brushed her ear, low and lethal. “Make me.”

Rage roared through her, white-hot. She twisted, raking her nails down his arm, rolling her hips to throw him off balance. For a heartbeat, shock flickered in his eyes—and then she shoved, hard. He toppled sideways, snow scattering.

The pack gasped.

Lena scrambled up, chest heaving, fists clenched. Her pulse thundered, her throat burning with fire. She’d done it. She’d thrown him off.

But Kade only laughed. Low. Dark. Hungry.

“Better,” he growled, rising to his feet, snow clinging to his scarred skin. “Again.”

And so it began.

He came at her in bursts—sweeps of claws, fists sharp as steel, moves that blurred faster than her eyes could follow. Each time she hit the ground, he yanked her back up. Each time she staggered, he pushed harder. He never let her rest, never gave her room to breathe.

“Faster.”

“Stronger.”

“Again.”

Her body screamed, muscles shredding, but something inside her refused to stop. Not with the pack watching. Not with Kade’s golden eyes daring her to break.

At one point he caught her from behind, one arm crushing her chest, his breath hot on her throat. The mark pulsed, fire curling through her belly.

“Feel it,” he snarled against her skin. “The bond. The strength I gave you. Use it.”

Her vision swam. She dug her heel into his shin, elbowed his ribs, twisted free. He staggered, just slightly, but enough for her to lunge. Her fist connected with his jaw.

The crack echoed through the clearing.

Kade’s head snapped to the side, his lip splitting, blood bright against his teeth. The pack fell into stunned silence.

Lena froze, breath ragged, her fist still raised. She’d hit him. She’d actually hit him.

Slowly, Kade turned back to her. His tongue swept over the blood, his smile feral.

“Good.”

The pack erupted into howls.

Heat flushed her body, sweat and fire and something darker curling low inside. She hated the way his praise slid under her skin, hated that her body trembled not with fear, but with something hotter.

Kade stepped closer, towering, golden eyes burning through her. His voice dropped, low and rough. “Rule two. Never hold back from your Alpha.”

Before she could answer, he lunged again.

And the training continued, brutal and endless, until the snow was stained with sweat, blood, and fire.

By the time Kade called for a pause, Lena’s body felt like it had been beaten with iron rods. Her hands were raw, her knuckles bleeding where they had struck his chest, his jaw, the frozen earth. Sweat mingled with snow on her skin, soaking her clothes until she shivered, but she refused to collapse.

She stood there, shoulders shaking, chest rising and falling like she’d swallowed fire, eyes locked on his.

The wolves around them muttered. Some smirked cruelly, betting silently on how long she’d last. Others looked at her differently now—warier, sharper, as though maybe the fragile human wasn’t so breakable after all.

Mara’s gaze cut through them, cold as steel. Her lips twisted into a sneer. “She’s not pack. She’s a toy. She’ll never last.”

Lena’s hands curled into fists. Before she could snap back, Kade turned, slow and deliberate.

His voice was lethal calm. “Do you question me?”

The clearing stilled.

Mara bared her teeth but didn’t bow her head. “You think one strike makes her worthy? She bleeds like prey. She fights like prey. And when the bond breaks her—” She smirked at Lena. “—I’ll be waiting to finish what you started.”

The pack murmured, some agreeing, some flinching at her boldness.

Lena’s pulse hammered. Fear slid icy fingers down her spine, but rage was hotter. She wanted to lunge at Mara, to prove her wrong, but her body was shaking too hard, exhaustion dragging her down.

Kade didn’t move for a long, suffocating moment. Then, he stepped forward, his shadow swallowing Mara whole.

“Touch her,” he said softly, so soft the words coiled like venom, “and I’ll rip out your throat.”

Mara’s smirk faltered.

Kade’s gaze cut across the clearing, sweeping the others. “She is mine. My bite. My bloodmark. You want to test her, you go through me first.” His teeth flashed, sharp and dangerous. “And you won’t win.”

The silence broke with a ripple of submission—wolves dropping their eyes, bowing their heads.

But not Mara. She held his gaze a heartbeat too long before finally stepping back, bitterness rolling off her in waves.

Kade turned back to Lena, golden eyes burning. “Again.”

Her legs nearly buckled. “I—Kade, I can’t—”

He was on her in a blur, one hand gripping the back of her neck, forcing her to look at him. His breath scorched her lips, his voice low enough for only her. “Yes, you can. Because I won’t let you be weak. Weak dies. Strong survives. And you—” his thumb brushed her bloodied mouth, rough, intimate, brutal all at once “—will survive.”

The bond pulsed between them, molten, searing, a brand pressed deep into her soul. She hated him. She wanted him. She wanted to tear free, and she wanted to sink into him. The contradictions burned until she thought they might consume her whole.

He shoved her back, barking, “Shift her stance.”

The pack ringed them tighter now, watching as he drilled her over and over. Each time she faltered, he was there—correcting with a touch too rough, dragging her back up when she fell, forcing her body past its limits.

At one point his hand caught her waist, his chest pressed against her back, his mouth at her ear. “Lower,” he growled, forcing her knees to bend. “Feel the ground under you. Root yourself. You’re not fragile, Lena. You’re mine. Fight like it.”

The words shot through her like lightning. She tried again, this time meeting his attack head-on. Her fists connected, her body twisting with a strength she didn’t know she had. For a heartbeat, the pack actually cheered.

But she wasn’t fast enough. Kade swept her legs, slammed her onto the snow, and pinned her with one knee between her thighs, his hand crushing her wrists to the earth.

His golden eyes glowed down at her, fire and hunger and possession all tangled into one. “Rule three,” he rasped, his voice ragged. “Never forget who owns you.”

Her breath stuttered, her body arching beneath him. The pack watched, hungry for blood, hungry for weakness. She should have shoved him off, should have spat in his face. Instead, her pulse betrayed her, racing wild, her skin burning where he held her down.

She hated the sound that left her throat—half fury, half something she couldn’t name.

Kade’s smile was sharp as a blade. He leaned closer, his lips brushing the bond mark on her neck. The pack howled, the sound rolling like thunder through the trees.

And then he pushed off her, standing tall, leaving her gasping in the snow.

“Enough for today.” His voice carried, final and cruel. “She’ll be ready. Or she’ll die trying.”

The pack scattered, some glancing at her with new wariness, others with hunger, others with scorn. Mara lingered, her smile venomous, before disappearing into the trees.

Lena staggered to her feet, her body screaming, her pride burning hotter.

Kade’s gaze caught her again, molten, relentless. “Rest. Tomorrow, we start with blood.”