Kai noticed it the moment Luna and Jax pulled themselves over the wall together.
Her chest heaving, her hands torn raw, her face smeared with dirt—yet she was still alive. Not only alive, but standing beside Jax like an equal.
Something twisted in Kai's stomach.
He had clawed his way through this place with blood and rage, refusing to be broken. The House of Shadows respected strength—and for weeks, he had been their favorite example. But now? Now their eyes weren't on him. They were on her. The girl who shouldn't have lasted a week.
Vale's gaze lingered on Luna longer than it should have. The other recruits whispered when she passed. And Jax—Jax, of all people—was suddenly glued to her side.
Kai ground his teeth.
She was dangerous. Not because she was stronger—she wasn't. Not yet. But because she made people notice her. Trust her. Believe in her.
And in a place like this, that kind of power was more dangerous than a blade.
---
That night, the recruits were given a rare hour of rest. Some sprawled on the floor of the barracks, nursing wounds. Others muttered about who had fallen, their faces pale at the memory of the spikes.
Luna sat in the corner, wrapping her bleeding palms with strips of cloth. She didn't flinch, even when the fabric burned against her torn flesh.
Kai watched her from across the room, silent, his jaw tight.
"Careful," a boy beside him whispered. "That girl's different."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "Different how?"
The boy shrugged. "She doesn't break. And she doesn't care what they do to her. People like that… they're the ones who survive."
The words lodged in Kai's chest like a thorn. For weeks, that description had belonged to him. He was the one who didn't break. He was the survivor. And now, the spotlight had shifted.
No. He wouldn't allow it.
---
Later, when the barracks had gone quiet and the others drifted into restless sleep, Kai moved. His footsteps were silent, his shadow stretching across the dimly lit floor.
Luna sensed him before she saw him. Her body stiffened, her hand instinctively moving toward the small knife hidden under her blanket.
Kai smirked. "Relax. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't wake up to see it."
Her eyes narrowed. "Then what do you want?"
He crouched in front of her, his gaze sharp, unreadable. "To understand you. Everyone here has a weakness. A crack. Something that'll make them fold." His lips curved into a cold smile. "So what's yours, Luna?"
She held his stare, refusing to flinch. Inside, her chest tightened. Trust was poison. She would never hand her weakness to him—not to anyone.
"You'll have to find out the hard way," she said evenly.
For a long moment, silence stretched between them.
Then Kai's smile sharpened. "Good. I like a challenge."
He stood and walked away, leaving Luna staring after him. Her pulse was racing, though her face betrayed nothing.
She didn't know what scared her more—Kai's hunger to break her, or the fact that, deep down, she wasn't entirely sure he could.