KIRA'S PRICE
Selene POV
The training yard smelled of sweat and spring rain.
I arrived early, as Kira had ordered, finding her already there with the equipment laid out in patterns that suggested pain. Heavy bags, weighted blades, obstacle course elements I didn't recognize, their purpose clearly designed to expose weakness rather than build strength.
"No warm-up,"
she said, not looking up from her adjustments.
"Not today. Today, we find where you break."
I nodded, understanding. The gentle progression of weeks past was over. The investigation had intensified, the second traitor discovered, the pressure of waiting without acting become unbearable.
Kira felt it too—the need to push, to prepare, to be ready when patience finally ended.
"Why?"
I asked, the question emerging from my own exhaustion.
"Why do you train this hard? This relentlessly?"
