The witch and the warrior

I didn’t know how I got back to my room.

My feet moved on instinct, but my mind was miles away, burning in a past I didn’t remember, haunted by a future I didn’t understand.

I stood in front of the mirror, back turned, trying to glimpse the mark Kael saw. All I could see was smooth skin. But I felt it. Like it was carved beneath the surface. Like it was… waiting.

Was I really her? A witch who died screaming in flames? A killer? A mate?

I touched the glass, half expecting it to shatter.

That’s when the knock came.

Not sharp. Not urgent. A slow, deliberate rhythm.

I opened the door, expecting Kael.

It wasn’t.

It was the Beta. Dax.

“Come with me,” he said, his face unreadable.

I hesitated. “Why?”

“Because you need to learn how to defend yourself. Alpha’s orders.”

I blinked. “You want to train me? You don’t even trust me.”

“I don’t. But Kael does. And you’re bonded now. That makes you our liability.”

I bit back a retort and followed him down the stairs.

The training ground was half empty, but the air still hummed with energy. Warriors sparred in pairs while others watched from the shade. As soon as I stepped onto the dirt, heads turned.

Whispers followed me like shadows.

“That’s her.”  

“The witch girl.”  

“She doesn’t even shift.”

I tried to tune it out.

Dax tossed a wooden staff at my feet. “Pick it up.”

I did.

“Now try to hit me.”

I raised a brow. “You serious?”

He smirked. “Come on, reincarnated witch. Show me what’s hiding in there.”

I swung.

He blocked it easily, pivoted, and knocked my staff aside.

“Too slow.”

I lunged again. Another miss.

And again. Blocked.

My heart pounded. I didn’t care about the crowd anymore, I wanted to win.

I moved faster, more desperate, but Dax was always one step ahead. He fought like a shadow fluid, deadly, unpredictable.

“You’re holding back,” he said, circling me.

“I don’t know what I’m doing!”

“No. You  don’t trust what you’re doing.”

He struck fast, aiming low. I blocked it by instinct, but the force pushed me back.

“You’re still thinking like an omega,” he said. “Timid. Small. Controlled.”

I growled, swinging again. He blocked, but I didn’t stop. I let the anger rise. The frustration. The fire.

“Better,” he muttered.

And then it happened.

The air around me shifted.

Heat pulsed from my chest, down my arms, into the staff.

And when I swung next, it glowed.

Bright orange light raced along the wood, and when it hit Dax’s staff, it snapped it in half with a crack like lightning.

Everyone froze.

Dax stumbled back, eyes wide.

The staff in my hands still pulsed with faint warmth, even as the glow faded.

“What was that?” I whispered.

He stared at me. “Magic.”

No one spoke.

Then Kael stepped onto the field.

The crowd parted for him like water.

“Dismissed,” he said, eyes on me.

Everyone scattered, fast.

Kael approached slowly, gaze dropping to the broken weapon at my feet.

“It’s starting,” he murmured.

“What is?”

“Your magic is waking up.”

I stepped back. “You knew this would happen?”

“I hoped it wouldn’t. Not yet.”

“What does it mean?”

Kael looked… tired. “It means the Council will sense you soon. And they don’t forget threats.”

I shivered. “Why do they hate witches so much?”

“Because witches don’t bow to alphas. They answer only to the old gods and the moon.”

I swallowed. “And me?”

“You,” he said, voice low, “were the most powerful of them all. And now, you're reborn in a wolf’s world. They’ll see you as a crack in the system. A weapon no one controls.”

I dropped my eyes. “So what do I do?”

Kael stepped closer, gently tilting my chin up. “You learn. You get stronger. And when the time comes… you choose who you want to be.”

My breath hitched.

Because I didn’t know who that was.

Not yet.

But deep inside, beneath the fear and the fire, a voice whispered:

“Burn them before they burn you.”