I woke to the sound of claws against stone.
Not scraping.
Sharpening.
Ryker was crouched by the edge of the mountain ridge, wolf-form shedding into half-shift. Clawed hands, glowing eyes, but still human enough to speak.
"Training starts now," he growled.
"Morning to you too," I muttered, still wrapped in my blanket and the lingering scent of Ruvan on my skin.
Ryker tossed a curved blade into the snow beside me.
"You'll need this. And teeth."
I blinked at the weapon. "Is that obsidian?"
"Obsidian laced with heartroot. Cuts through illusions and burns corrupted wolf hide."
"And you want me to practice on who exactly?"
"On me, of course."
Oh good. Nothing says team bonding like stabbing your terrifying mentor before breakfast.
-
Bloodline Games
Ryker led us down the ravine to a clearing surrounded by frostbitten trees. The snow here didn't stick—it melted into the earth, revealing blackened roots and ancient stone.
"This is a binding ground," he said. "Where old packs pledged themselves to moon and madness."
"Sounds cozy," Ruvan muttered.
Talia stepped beside me, arms crossed. "So what's the plan? We let Eira hallucinate until something explodes?"
Ryker smirked.
"Not hallucinate. Shift—but not like before. We're unlocking hybrid instinct. You've got both alpha and feral blood. We train your wolf to speak with your heart and fight with your reason."
"Is there a safety word?" I asked.
"Yes," Ryker said. "Run."
-
The training began brutally.
First, with sensory overload. Ryker exposed me to false scent trails—illusions layered over real danger. I had to learn to sniff out the lie.
Then came the speed trials.
He released Talia on me. Literally.
She shifted mid-air and tackled me into a tree.
"Tag, bitch," she cackled, tail flicking.
"You're enjoying this too much."
"You once replaced my shampoo with wolfsbane oil. This is karma."
But what cracked me most wasn't the claw marks or bruises.
It was the mirror test.
Ryker carved a sigil into the frozen soil. Old magic. Blood-based.
Then he handed me a silver shard.
"Look in it. Shift. Speak to your wolf."
I stared at my reflection as the mark on my shoulder began to glow.
The forced mark.
Then—beneath it—my own.
Ruvan's.
But in the shard, they didn't look like marks.
They looked like runes. Opposing sigils. Warring magic.
And for the first time… I felt the tug.
"Let go," Ryker whispered. "Let her rise."
I didn't mean to scream. But I did.
And the earth responded.
My bones snapped—but didn't fully shift. My eyes changed, but not to gold.
To silver.
Moonlight laced my vision. I wasn't just Eira.
I was something else.
A surge of heat pulsed through my limbs. Runes burned beneath my skin like branding irons.
Talia swore and backed away.
Ruvan reached for me—hesitated.
Ryker didn't move.
"Good," he said darkly. "Now fight it."
I did.
And when the power finally broke like a fever—
I collapsed in Ruvan's arms.
-
Midnight Walks and Jealous Wolves
Later that night, I sat with Ruvan by a broken stone altar.
He wrapped his coat around my shoulders. I didn't tell him I could still feel his heartbeat through the fabric.
"You scared me," he admitted.
"You've seen me covered in blood and nearly naked. Now you're scared?"
"Yes. Because this time it wasn't you bleeding. It was something inside you that... felt too big."
I glanced at him.
"You're not scared of me?"
"Never."
Then, quietly:
"But I'm scared for you."
And just like that, the knot in my chest tightened.
We didn't kiss.
We just sat there, warmth against a cold world.
Until we weren't alone.
I smelled him before I heard him.
Sable.
"Training the rogue pet, I see," Sable said from the trees, arms folded, cloak fluttering in the wind.
"You shouldn't be here," Ruvan said tightly.
"I'm not here for you. I'm here for her."
I stood, unwilling to flinch.
"Don't you have a mate to obsess over?"
"I had one. You ruined that."
"Oh, cry me a silver river."
His eyes flicked to Ruvan.
"She tastes like revenge. I hope you enjoy what's left when her guilt starts chewing through her ribcage."
"Try me again," I said, stepping forward, "and I won't just mark the other brother—I'll kill the first one."
Ruvan's hand brushed my wrist.
"He's baiting you."
"And I'm in the mood to bite."
Sable's smirk cracked.
"You've changed."
"No," I whispered. "I've just woken up."
Then Ryker emerged from the shadows.
"You've got three seconds to leave, little prince."
"This isn't over," Sable snapped.
"No," Ryker said. "It's just beginning."
And just like that, the shadows swallowed him whole.
-
The Letter Rewritten
Ryker handed me a scroll before dawn.
"This was found by your wolf run. Someone left it under the warding stones."
I unrolled it, breath catching.
It was written in the same slanted ink as the stolen letter.
But this time, it didn't threaten.
It begged.
"Return what was taken. Before the moon wanes. Or another heart will stop."
—V
"Who's V?" Ruvan asked.
"I don't know," I lied.
But I had a feeling.
It wasn't a threat.
It was a warning.
From Valen.
My half-brother.
My family's secret still breathing in the dark.