Vireya cracked her knuckles and stared down the wolf in front of her.
He was massive—shoulders like stone, arms layered with muscle and combat scars. One of Kael's elite. A warrior trained to fight in wars she hadn't even been alive for.
He swung.
She ducked.
And then drove her elbow into his gut with enough force to drop a lesser wolf to his knees.
He didn't drop.
But he stumbled.
And that was enough for her.
She spun low, kicked his legs out, and pressed the blunt edge of her sparring blade against his throat before he could recover.
"Yield," she said calmly.
The warrior grinned up at her from the dirt. "Damn. You're quick."
She offered her hand.
"You're slow."
It had taken nearly an hour of arguing with Kael to get here.
He hadn't wanted to let her out of the castle walls—not after the flare, not after the council's visit, and definitely not after everything Iska's scrolls had revealed.
But Vireya had made one thing very clear:
"If you keep me locked up any longer, I'll burn a hole through the wall and walk out barefoot."
So he gave in.
Half the guard wasn't thrilled, and the warriors in the yard had no idea what to make of her—some bowed, some stared, most kept a cautious distance.
But when the training began?
They learned.
Quickly.
Vireya didn't fight like she was new to violence. She fought like someone who had survived it. Who had studied it. Who knew how to turn her own pain into precision.
She trained for hours.
Sweat dripped down her spine. Her shirt clung to her ribs. Her hair had half-fallen out of its braid and now hung in damp, fiery waves over her shoulder.
And still—she didn't stop.
Not when the sun dipped lower.
Not when her arms ached.
Not even when one of the wolves landed a hit that sent her skidding in the dirt.
She laughed, wiped the blood from her lip, and got right back up.
The warriors began to respect her after that.
Even the ones who had doubted.
Especially the ones who had feared.
Ashira's voice had stayed quiet through most of it.
But near the third hour, just as Vireya landed a particularly vicious disarm on one of the twins from the southern pack—
The voice in her head stirred again.
You're finally moving like you remember who we are.
Vireya exhaled, breath ragged. You could've told me this before I ate dirt.
Pain is a better teacher than I am.
Noted.
A faint warmth curled low in her stomach. Not desire.
Readiness.
Ashira was watching. Waiting.
And something about that felt right.
Until it didn't.
Because just as she turned to face her next opponent, the hairs on the back of her neck rose.
The air changed.
The courtyard—loud and full of shouting minutes ago—fell quiet.
Her fingers twitched.
And Ashira went still.
Something's wrong.
Vireya's eyes swept the yard.
Kael hadn't returned yet. He'd said he'd be back before sunset—but the sun had already kissed the tree line. The guards by the wall had shifted their stances.
No one had said anything.
But something was off.
And then—
"DOWN!"
Ashira's roar in her head came an instant before the first arrow hit.
Vireya dropped flat, rolled, and came up in a crouch just as an arrow thunked into the post where her head had been.
The second one flew faster.
Lit with a faint green glow.
It wasn't just an attack.
It was enchanted.
Chaos erupted.
One of the warriors lunged for her, trying to pull her behind a wall—but she shoved him away and sprinted low across the yard, grabbing a real blade this time from the weapons rack. Not a sparring one.
A live one.
Three hooded figures stepped from the far corner of the courtyard.
Not from the gates.
From inside.
Ashira snarled.
They were waiting. Hidden. This was planned.
Vireya didn't hesitate.
She ran straight into the fight.
The first attacker lunged.
She caught his blade mid-swing, twisted, and stabbed through his ribs.
The second went for her legs. She dropped, rolled, slashed up—
And caught his thigh.
Blood sprayed. He went down.
The third was faster.
And stronger.
He tackled her, blade aimed for her chest. She barely rolled aside in time, the metal slicing her shoulder instead.
She screamed.
Across the castle, Kael's body locked.
In the middle of a council report, he stopped moving.
Drekken's voice exploded in his head.
NOW. She's in danger. She's bleeding. There's magic. MOVE.
Kael didn't hesitate.
Didn't speak.
Just shifted mid-stride and tore through the east wall of the castle at full speed.
Back in the yard, Vireya fought like something feral.
Not because she had technique.
Because she had nothing left to lose.
Her shirt was torn. Her arm bled. Her legs ached from dodging enchanted blades.
And the enchantment was working—the air felt thick, her power dull, her wolf caged.
Ashira?!
They're using suppressors. Blood-warped runes and iron mist. It's dampening the shift. I'm fighting it.
Fight faster!
Another blade grazed her side.
Then a punch to the ribs.
She hit the dirt hard, breath knocked out of her lungs.
And in that moment, as one of the attackers raised his blade to finish her—
The sky tore open.
Drekken hit the ground like a comet.
All teeth. All power. All rage.
The attacker didn't even scream.
There was no time.
One second he was standing the next, he was airborne.
And then there was nothing but bone and blood.
Vireya gasped.
Her instincts flared.
The magic holding her wolf back cracked.
And then Ashira broke free.
Her skin shimmered, then split—flame pulsing through her veins.
Her bones shifted. Her body burned.
And when she rose?
She wasn't a girl anymore.
She was a wolf.
A queen.
A creature made of rage and prophecy, covered in auburn fur that shimmered like the sun bleeding into fire.
Ashira's green eyes blazed.
She lunged for the nearest shadowbound and tore out his throat.
Drekken met her mid-charge.
Not to stop her.
To fight beside her.
Two wolves.
Mates.
Soulbound.
They didn't just kill.
They annihilated.
When it was done, blood stained the stone. Magic hung in the air like smoke. The guards had arrived, but none had interfered.
Because they knew this wasn't their fight. It was hers.
Vireya shifted back slowly, body trembling, chest heaving. Kael did too—barely under control, eyes wild.
Ashira's voice hummed in her head.
We're awake now. And the world? It just realized we're not sleeping anymore.