The First Lesson

Kael wakes me before dawn. Two wooden swords rest in his hands.

“Up. Rogues will be back by nightfall. You need to learn to fight.”

My body aches from yesterday’s flight, but I rise. My wolf stirs lazily, still learning to share space with me. I can feel her power coiled beneath my skin, but using her is another matter.

He leads me to a clearing behind the waterfall. Morning mist clings to the grass. He tosses me a sword. I catch it clumsily.

“Show me your stance.”

I spread my feet and lift the blade the way I have seen pack warriors do. My arms tremble.

Kael circles behind me and presses his palm against my lower back. “Too rigid. You are fighting yourself.”

His touch sends warmth through me. My wolf perks up.

“Breathe. Let her guide you.”

I close my eyes and reach for my wolf. She is waiting. When I open my eyes, the sword feels lighter.

“Better. Attack.”

I lunge. He sidesteps and taps my wrist with the flat of his blade. Sting blooms across my skin.

“Again.”

I swing. He blocks, spins, and sweeps my legs out. I hit the ground hard.

“Again.”

By midday, I have bruises on every limb. I have landed exactly one hit on his shoulder. It made him smile.

We rest by the cave. Kael tends to my wounds with a salve that smells of pine. His fingers brush my bare arm, and our silver marks flare in unison. He pulls back quickly.

“Does the collar hurt you?” I ask.

He touches the black iron at his throat. “Only when I defy her commands. Or when I get too close to you.”

“The usurper fears what we could become together,” I say.

He nods. “A true mated pair from the Silvermoon line could break her hold on the throne.”

I look at the collar, the red runes pulsing. I want to tear it off with my bare hands.

“How do we break it?”

“The rite. If you defeat me, the magic shatters.”

“And if I cannot defeat you?”

His silver eyes hold mine. “Then you die, and I remain her weapon forever.”

I stand, pushing through the pain. “Teach me again.”

We train until sunset. I fall a hundred times. I rise a hundred and one. By the time stars appear, I can block three strikes before he disarms me.

That night I dream of fire and silver light. A woman with my face stands on a battlefield, a crown of moonlight on her brow. She smiles.

Take back what was stolen.

I wake with the words on my lips. My mark blazes like a star.

Kael stands at the cave entrance, tense. “They found us.”

Howls echo in the distance. Organized. A hunting party.

“Thorne’s trackers,” he says. “Twenty at least. We cannot outrun them.”

I grab the steel blade he used in training. It is heavier than wood, but my wolf steadies my grip.

“Then we fight.”

He shifts into his massive black wolf and moves to the cave entrance. I stand behind him, sword raised.

The first wolf bursts through the trees. Kael meets him. Bone snaps. Silence.

But more come. They pour from the forest. Kael tears through them, but three slip past, heading straight for me.

My wolf howls. Fight.

The first lunges. I swing and catch his snout. He veers away. The second comes from my left. I pivot, blade biting into his shoulder. He falls.

The third slams into me. We crash to the ground, his jaws snapping at my throat. I hold him back with one arm, my sword pinned beneath me.

Use me, my wolf snarls.

Power floods my limbs. My eyes burn silver. The wolf above me freezes, terror in his eyes. I shove him off and rise.

My mark blazes, casting light across the clearing. The attacking wolves pull back, whimpering, tails tucked. They are looking at my mark. The mark of the Silvermoon Queen.

One shifts into human form, face pale. “The lost princess… it is true.”

Kael shifts beside me, chest heaving. “Tell Thorne she has awakened. Tell him the Silvermoon heir is coming for her throne.”

The warrior scrambles back. “He will kill us.”

“Then do not return.” Kael takes my hand. “Run. Tell your packs the true queen has risen. Those who bow will be shown mercy.”

The warrior stares at me one last time, then shifts and flees into the forest. The others follow. Their howls fade.

I stand in the clearing, sword dripping blood, mark still glowing. My hands shake.

Kael kneels. “My queen.”

This time, I do not correct him.

“We need to go. They will return with more.”

“They will.” He rises, taking my hand again. “But tonight you showed them who you are. Word will spread. The loyal packs will know their princess has returned.”

I look at the blood on my hands. I am not the same girl who left Shadowfang with nothing but shame.

I am becoming something else.

“Then let us not keep them waiting.”

Kael smiles. He shifts into his wolf. I climb onto his back, gripping his fur as he leaps forward, carrying me toward a kingdom I have never seen, toward a throne I never knew was mine.

Behind us, the forest falls silent.

Ahead, the first light of dawn breaks over the mountains.

The hunt has only begun.