Kai's words landed in my chest like ice.
He is scheduled to visit you.
I started to chuckle. In order to call his bluff. To let him know Sebastian had decided—and I wasn't it. But something in Kai's silver eyes indicated he knew more than he was expressing.
Keeping a blank face, I crossed my arms. So what? He turned me away. kicked me. Why would he travel here now?
Kai slanted back in his chair, a smile on his lips. "Because men like him only realise what they have lost when it's no more theirs."
At the truth in his words, a piercing hurt shot through me, but I tried not to show.
I said squarely, "I don't care." "He does not now control my life."
Kai examined me for a protracted period. Then he stood slowly and deliberately without warning.
"Good," he said in a straightforward manner. "Then it's time for your next class."
I scumbled. "Lesson"?
Kai pointed to the open training yard just outside the window. "You came out of your first fight intact. It's time now to see whether you can go beyond just survival.
My gut turned over with a twirl of discomfort. Kai was not only referring to battle. He was putting me through testing. Motivating me. Also for what?
I followed him outdoors and gasped sharply.
The early air smelled of fresh pine and moist ground, pungent and clean. Warriors were already crowded in the training yard, but as Kai and I walked onto the field, silence descended upon the gathering.
Their eyes were fixed on something. Still waiting.
Kai turned to face me, his glistening silver eyes Every wolf has a limit, he added. "We discovered yours today."
I raised my shoulders in a straight line. "I don't have restrictions."
Kai started to smile more deeply. "We'll check about that."
He moved without thinking about it.
He lunged, one fluid move spreading my legs out from beneath me faster than I could follow. I ground hard, my air escaping in a quick gulp.
Kai was on top of me, one hand wrapped around my throat—not tight enough to harm, but firm enough to tell me exactly who was in control—before I could respond.
My wolf shrieked within of me.
I scowled up at him, not turning away.
Kai's smile changed to something more sinister. "Rebate."
I hesitated no at all.
I turned abruptly, kicked hard using his own weight against him, He moved precisely on schedule, but I sensed the influence of land.
Ignoring the rib aching, I got to my feet. Kai tipped his head, his silver eyes sparkling with laughter.
"Not bad," he acknowledged. "Again."
The second attack came sharper and more forcefully. This was testing, not only instruction.
One test I turned down would fail.
I sensed it the instant I entered onto Shadow Moon's territory.
The mate relationship was weak, much below what it ought to have been.
I had reminded myself I was not visiting her. This related to defending my pack. That if Zaia had sought cover here, then I had to find out why.
Actually, though, the truth was simpler. darker.
I was supposed to see her.
I wanted to know whether she was actually gone.
Kieran whispered next to me, "Alpha," his voice wary. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"
Not exactly.
Still, I nodded anyhow.
As we neared the main compound, the vegetation grew thinner. Shadow Moon was a puzzle, a group that lived in silence.
And there in middle was an Alpha equally merciless as I was.
kai.
Although I had never met him, his reputation suffete enough. He was hazardous, erratic, and computationally driven.
And Zaia was with him as well.
The idea made my wolf bluster.
I hadn't come for conflict here. But should that come to pass?
To transport her back, I would burn this place till the ground.
I ground hard, my vision blurring for a short second before I forced myself back.
Kai had been unrelenting, driving me past my limit.
I no longer kept track of my falling count.
But every single time I had got up.
The hushes of the other fighters had changed.
Once there had been uncertainty, now respect prevailed.
Kai watched with those keen silver eyes as she circled me. "You're stronger than you think," he said quietly.
I started to tighten my hands. "I already knew that."
He laughs. then why do you still fight like you're proving something?
froze.
for he was correct.
I was still battling to show that I wasn't damaged even now, years later after everything.
I turned at the edge of the field out of abrupt disturbance.
Warriors stood tight and alert, at attention.
Then I came upon him.
Sebastian here.
Perched at the pack land edge, his golden eyes fixed upon me.
Time seemed to stop.
My heart staggered, the link between us dimming like a dying light.
I suddenly experienced nothing.
The link that had kept us afloat disappeared.
sliced.
I had thought I would feel pain when it happened.
But all I felt was free.
Kai stepped beside me, his voice low and amused. "Looks like your past finally caught up with you."
Sebastian took a step forward, his eyes flashing with something I couldn't place.
Regret.
Rage.
Possession.
"Zaia," he breathed.
But I didn't move.
Because for the first time since he had rejected me, I felt nothing at all.