Five

KAMARI POV

I kept my hand pressed against the cool glass long after Father and Zena disappeared from sight.

Home vanished behind the winding mountain road.

The carriage didn’t stop. Neither did my thoughts.

I reached into my pocket and wrapped my fingers around Mother’s pendant. The cool silver dug into my palm, grounding me.

You’re not weak, Kamari.

Father’s words echoed in my head.

I wished I believed them.

The road climbed steadily into the mountains, leaving Glendale behind. Dense forests gave way to jagged cliffs that seemed to scrape the sky. Waterfalls spilled down dark rock faces, disappearing into valleys blanketed with towering pines.

I’d never traveled this far from home. The world suddenly felt enormous.

Hours passed.

The coachman spoke only when we stopped to water the horses beside a crystal-clear stream.

“You should eat.”

He handed me a small parcel wrapped in cloth through the carriage door.

I thanked him quietly before unwrapping it.

There was bread, cheese, dried  venison. And, tucked into one corner…A honey cake.

I smiled despite myself.

Zena.

She must have slipped it into my bag before we left.

My chest tightened. “I miss you already,” I whispered to no one.

By late afternoon, the mountain pass grew steeper.

The air turned colder.

Then I saw.

At first, I thought they were part of the mountains.

Massive stone towers rose above the cliffs, connected by enormous bridges that stretched across impossible distances. Silver banners snapped in the wind, each bearing the same crest… a winged wolf beneath a full moon.

My breath caught.

Wolfstone.

It was bigger than every story I’d ever heard. It looked stronger and older.

The city had been carved into the mountains themselves, its walls blending seamlessly with the gray stone. Buildings climbed the cliffs in layers, while enormous beasts circled high above the peaks, their silhouettes cutting across the afternoon sky.

I leaned closer to the window.

They weren’t birds. They were far too large to be birds.  One folded its broad wings before diving toward the cliffs, disappearing beyond the walls.

Another glided effortlessly through the clouds, a rider visible on its back.

My heart skipped.

So the stories were true.

The beasts were real, only those worthy of the moon's blessing get blessed with a beast.

The carriage rolled beneath an enormous stone archway.Engraved across it were four words:

ONLY THE WORTHY ENDURE.

A shiver ran down my spine, The gates groaned open. There was no turning back now.

The Academy’s registration hall was unlike anything I’d ever seen.

Rows upon rows of new arrivals stood in orderly lines beneath towering stone arches. Banners bearing the crest of Wolfstone hung from the ceiling, while instructors barked orders from every direction.

No one smiled. No one spoke above a whisper.

One by one, names were called. Each recruit stepped forward, handed over their summons, and disappeared through the doors beyond.

The line inched forward.ck My palms grew damp.

Breathe, Kamari.

You’re just another student No one knows what you are

“Next.”

I stepped forward.

The official didn’t bother looking up. “ Name.”

“Kamari Walder.”

His quill stopped everywhere suddenly felt quiet

“…Walder?. He asked shocked

“Yes.”I responded, confused why he was asking again.  His eyes narrowed before drifting over my shoulder.

“My Lord…”

Confused, I followed his gaze and forgot how to breathe.

A man stood several feet behind the registration table, watching the line with unnerving stillness. He was impossibly tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed entirely in black.

Dark hair, tousled by the mountain wind, fell carelessly across his forehead. A faint scar split one eyebrow before trailing toward the top of his cheek, somehow making him even more striking.

Every feature of his face was impossibly precise the sharp line of his jaw, the straight bridge of his nose, the sculpted planes of his cheekbones. He looked less like a man and more like a god carved from marble, every flaw somehow adding to a beauty that felt almost unreal.

Then our eyes met.

His cold..  Cold enough to make every instinct inside me scream. Those piercing blue eyes held mine for only a heartbeat.

Long enough to make my pulse stumble. Long enough to make me feel completely seen.

His expression never changed. “ Move.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks.

“I—” words barely left my mouth

“Move.”

My feet finally obeyed, carrying me past the table before I embarrassed myself any further.

Behind me, someone leaned in and whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

“You should’ve moved faster.”

I glanced over my shoulder. A girl about my age gave me a sympathetic look.

“You don’t want to end up on Alpha Silas’s bad side.”

My steps faltered.

Alpha… Silas.

Silas Alindor.

The name hit me like a physical blow. Zena’s warning echoed through my mind.

stay the hell away from Silas Alindor.

I swallowed hard.

Too late. I’d already met him.

Commander Silas Alindor.

The name settled heavily in my mind.

So that was the man Zena had warned me about.

If a single look from him could leave my heart racing…

I couldn’t imagine what standing in his path would feel like.

One thing was certain.

For the sake of my survival, I’d do everything in my power to stay as far away from Commander Silas Alindor as possible.