The training grounds behind the Shadowfang den looked deceptively peaceful in the early morning light. Mist clung to the earth, and the sky was painted in soft hues of silver and lavender. Birds called faintly from the treetops, but their song was distant—muted by the tension humming beneath the surface.
Elara stood at the edge of the field, her cloak wrapped tight around her shoulders. Across from her stood a tall woman with tightly braided hair and sharp gray eyes—Commander Myra, the head warrior of Kael's pack.
"Lesson one," Myra said, her voice clipped and strong, "fear doesn't save you. It only slows your blade."
Elara swallowed. "I don't have a blade."
Myra tossed her a wooden training dagger. "You do now."
Kael watched from a distance, arms crossed. He had argued to train her himself, but the council insisted that if she was to become more than a mate—if she was to fulfill prophecy—she had to prove herself without his shadow.
Elara fumbled the dagger but caught it just before it hit the ground. She held it awkwardly, fingers too tight around the hilt.
"Again," Myra snapped.
They went through the same move five times—then ten. Elara's muscles ached, and sweat beaded along her forehead. Her body was untrained, but her instincts? They were starting to stir.
By the thirtieth repetition, she moved faster. Not gracefully, not yet—but with more precision. The bond with Kael pulsed in her chest like a second heartbeat, as if drawing strength from him even across the distance.
When she slipped and fell for the fourth time, Myra offered no hand, only a command.
"Up. Or stay down and die."
Elara grit her teeth and rose again, mud streaking her knees. Her eyes met Myra's, and something flickered there—determination born not from power, but choice.
Later, when the sun had risen higher, Kael approached her as she sat on the edge of the field, catching her breath.
"You didn't quit," he said.
"I wanted to," she admitted.
He knelt in front of her. "That's what makes you strong. Not your mark. Not your blood. You."
She smiled faintly, exhaustion in her eyes. "I think I'm going to need a lot more lessons."
"And I'll be here for every one of them," he promised.