The courtyard was covered in long, dappled shadows as the morning sun hardly made it through the dense pine canopy. Despite the warmth, I shivered because I could feel the restless energy buzzing beneath my skin. I couldn't get rid of the impression that the forest outside the estate walls was alive, watching, and waiting, even after Thorn warned me.
Thorn's voice broke through my thoughts, "Stay close." He came out of the fog with his forearms corded with strength, his sleeves rolled up, and a black shirt clinging to his chest. He moved deliberately, silently, and with an impossible weight, as if the earth were obeying him.
I tried to hide the tension in my voice as I said, "I can handle myself." With each breath, my heart raced, betraying me.
Cold and calculating, his eyes darted to mine. "You believe that this has to do with taking care of yourself?" His eyes darted to the eastern tree line and he stopped suddenly. "Control is the key. What you can do, and what will happen if you can't."
I forced myself not to ask him what he meant and swallowed hard. The table, the rogue, and the frozen moment from last night were all still fresh in my mind. It was alive and waiting, pulsing beneath my skin.
Kalen, one of his lieutenants, came forward. "Alpha, tracks. They're going farther into the woods."
Thorn crouched and studied the mud's crescent-shaped prints. "Not wolves," he whispered. He clenched his jaw. "Moonborn." The word, laden with fear and history, escaped his lips like a warning.
With my heart pounding, I stepped back. "Me?"
"Yes," he replied bluntly.
Shadows twisted strangely along the ground as the forest seemed to lean closer. An unseen thread pulled me forward, and I felt it in my chest. There was a living, thinking thing in the woods that was observing. Even though I had no idea what it was, my fingers ached to call for it.
Thorn's hand touched my shoulder lightly, firmly enough to keep me in place but not enough to feel the tremor of fear that was rattling through my body. "Do not —" He lowered his voice to a dangerously low level. "Do not test it uncontrolled."
I wanted to argue and insist that he tell me who I was and what I was capable of. But I was stopped by the weight in his eyes. I couldn't ignore the warning in his piercing, impossible-to-ignore gray eyes.
"All right," I said in a barely audible whisper.
After giving one nod, he gestured in the direction of the estate. "We go back inside. You will learn to control it through training. Otherwise, you'll be a weapon that burns everyone it comes into contact with."
Unspoken tension weighed heavily on the silent walk back. The pack members we passed didn't look at me, but I could feel their eyes measuring and judging me from behind. Some with open animosity, some with fear, and some with curiosity.
Although the tension persisted like smoke, the estate was quieter inside than it had been the previous night. Thorn took me to a training room that was completely empty save for a few weapons strewn about and a tiny, sand-lined pit in the middle.
"This is where you begin," he said quietly. "Your strength is force, not instinct. It needs to be contained and trained. If not, it will ruin you."
Fear and frustration fought inside me as I stared at him. "How can I train something I don't understand? Something I don't even know how to control?"
"You pay attention. You sense it. "You learn," he said plainly. His piercing eyes narrowed. "You have no other option."
My nails dug into my palms as I balled my fists. "I never asked for this ."
He whispered, "None of us ask for the roles we are born into." "But whether you believe it or not, you were picked."
Simple exercises like movement, focus, and grounding kicked off the first lesson. Thorn made me focus on a dull iron sword in the room and feel its presence and weight. He then instructed me to gradually broaden my awareness so that I could feel the energy surrounding me, the allure of the shadows, and the faint buzz of activity in the space.
It was draining. A low, vibrating hum settled in my chest, my muscles burned, and my head spun. The whisper that called me Moonborn, the voice from my dreams, reverberated softly at the edge of my awareness.
"Pay attention," Thorn ordered, taking a step forward. The room was filled with his overwhelming, nearly suffocating presence. "Yes, you sense it? That pull? That tug? Activate it. Don't resist it. Give it direction."
I let out a shaky breath, trying to focus. The shadows surrounding the sword moved slowly, barely perceptibly at first, curling toward me as though they were alive. My heart pounded. The sword shuddered and lifted a little from the sand when I blinked.
Thorn noticed as his eyes widened slightly. "All right," he whispered. "Remain steady. Manage it. Bend it now."
I shuddered at the command. I wished the sword would come. The blade was encased in a smoky cocoon of black shadow that arced from the floor. My muscles strained as my body trembled. Thorn's eyes never left me, as though he could measure every pulse and every movement of my fingers.
Then there was a pop. The sword hit the sand with a clanking sound. My knees gave way. My chest heaved as I gasped.
"You're not prepared," he muttered. "Not just yet."
I wanted to scream, cry, and make the whole room go crazy. However, I kept myself together by bringing my shaking hands to my sides.
With a softer, almost patient tone, he continued, "You will be." "If you survive ."
Those words weighed heavily on my chest like iron. "If I survive?" I echoed, voice barely above a whisper.
"Yes," he replied, taking a step closer until I could feel the heat emanating from him. "Because you won't hesitate in the face of what is approaching you." Nor will they."
With a dry throat, I swallowed hard. The forest rustled outside the window. I knew without looking that the silver eyes were out there as shadows moved low along the tree line. observing. Awaiting.
Thorn's hand touched my arm, just enough to raise the hairs on my skin without actually touching it. "You possess power," he declared. A rare and dangerous kind. And, I won't allow it to end up in the wrong hands. Understand?"
Despite my internal turmoil, I nodded. I recognized the risk. I knew what was expected of me. However, I was still unaware of the power within me that had stopped time itself in order to save Thorn.
And I didn't know why I was pulled to the whispering shadows, the silver-glinting eyes, and the pull in the forest. and just me.
The rest of the day was spent in a fog of instruction, scrutiny, and hushed cautions. Around us, the pack moved like a living thing—vigilant, wary, and sensitive to every change in the wind. I sensed their fear, curiosity, and judgment. Thorn's gaze remained fixed on me throughout it all.
Even though I was tired by nightfall, it wasn't enough to stop the awareness that was pulsing through my body. There was an impending event. The howl from outside the estate, the whisper in the wind, and the shadows curling along the walls all gave me a sense of it.
The Moonborn was me. I didn't comprehend it yet. I was unaware of the boundaries. The enemy was unknown to me. However, the silver-eyed watchers, the pack, and the forest had already made it abundantly evident that I had no control over my fate.
They owned it.
It was also frightful.