The training chamber at the top of the Obsidian Spire was silent, save for the rhythmic hiss of my breathing and the occasional crackle of frost forming on the stone floor. For the past three days, Valerius had pushed me beyond the limits of human—and even werewolf—endurance. He didn't treat me like a guest anymore. He treated me like a weapon that needed to be tempered in the hottest fire and the coldest ice.
"Your balance is off, Skaya," Valerius's voice drifted from the shadows.
He was standing by the glass wall, silhouetted against the dark mountain range. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and the moonlight played over the ridges of his back, highlighting the scars of old battles. He looked less like a man and more like a primordial force.
"I'm tired, Valerius," I snapped, wiping sweat and silver-tinted frost from my forehead. "My muscles feel like they're made of lead."
"The enemy won't care if you're tired," he countered, turning to face me. His violet eyes were glowing, reflecting the restless energy of the moon. "Kaelen Vancour is a traditionalist. He fights with brute strength and the arrogance of a fated Alpha. To defeat him, you cannot just be strong. You must be untouchable."
He moved toward me, his steps silent and predatory. He didn't stop until he was within my personal space, his scent of ozone and cedarwood swirling around me, clouding my focus. He reached out, his hand hovering near my waist but not quite touching.
"Again. Strike me."
I growled—a sound that was becoming more animalistic by the day—dan lunged. I didn't use a weapon; my fingers had already elongated into obsidian-black claws. I moved with a speed that would have been impossible a week ago, a blur of silver light and dark leather.
I aimed a strike at his chest, but Valerius caught my wrist mid-air. The contact sent a jolt of electricity through my body, a spark of the "Chosen Bond" that was beginning to weave itself between us.
"Too slow," he whispered, his face inches from mine. "You're thinking like a victim, waiting for the blow to land. Think like a predator. The Silver Fenrir doesn't react; she dictates."
He twisted my arm gently, forcing me to spin until my back was pressed against his chest. His other hand came up, splaying across my stomach, holding me firmly against the heat of his skin. The contrast between my cold, frost-tipped aura and his burning heat was intoxicating.
"Feel the core of your power," Valerius murmured against my ear, his breath hitching slightly. "It's not in your muscles. It's in the void where the bond was broken. Fill that hole with your silver flame."
I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against his shoulder. I stopped fighting the exhaustion and instead reached deep into the cold darkness inside me. I found the spark—the ancient, silver beast that had been dormant for a thousand years. I fed it my anger, my shame, and the memory of the altar.
Suddenly, the room went bone-chillingly cold.
A pulse of silver energy radiated from me, so powerful it forced Valerius to release his grip. I spun around, my eyes glowing like twin moons. I didn't just strike this time; I channeled the frost. As my hand moved, a wave of jagged ice shards erupted from the air, crystalline and lethal, freezing the very ground between us.
Valerius dodged the ice with the grace of a shadow, but a small silver trail of frost remained on his forearm—the first time I had ever managed to touch him in combat.
He looked down at the frost on his skin, a slow, dangerous smirk spreading across his lips. "Impressive. You're beginning to master the Lunar Frost."
"It feels... hungry," I said, my voice sounding distant even to my own ears. "Like it wants to freeze the whole world until everything is silent."
Valerius walked back to me, his gaze dropping to my lips. The air between us was thick with a tension that had nothing to do with training. "That is the price of your bloodline, Skaya. The Fenrir was the wolf that sought to devour the moon. It is a lonely power. A cold power."
He reached out, his thumb brushing over my cheek, his touch surprisingly tender. "But you don't have to carry it alone."
"Why are you doing this, Valerius?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "You're an Alpha. You don't need a 'Null' with a freak bloodline. You could have any Luna in the North."
"I don't want a Luna," he said, his voice dropping to a gravelly tone. He stepped closer, his hand sliding into my hair, tilting my head back. "I want a Queen who can stand beside me in the darkness. I want the only woman who doesn't look at me with fear, but with fire."
He leaned in, his lips ghosting over mine. For a second, the world stopped. The revenge, the pack, the rejection—it all vanished, replaced by the overwhelming presence of the man before me.
But just as his lips were about to claim mine, the heavy doors of the sanctum creaked open.
"Alpha! The High Priestess has arrived for the ritual preparations!"
The voice belonged to a servant, who immediately froze upon seeing the intimate position we were in. I pulled away, my heart hammering against my ribs, the silver glow in my eyes flickering out.
Valerius didn't look flustered. He straightened his posture, his violet eyes returning to their cold, obsidian-like state, though I could see the lingering hunger in the way he looked at me one last time.
"Go, Skaya," he said, his voice formal once again. "The High Priestess will help you stabilize your aura for the Convergence. You must be able to hide your power until the moment is right. We cannot let Kaelen know what you are before he arrives."
I nodded, clutching the silver coin at my neck. "And when he does arrive?"
Valerius turned back to the glass wall, looking out at the distant borders where the Silver Moon pack was undoubtedly gathering.
"When he arrives," Valerius said, a lethal edge returning to his voice, "we will let him think he's coming to rescue a girl. And then, we will let him realize he's walked into the den of a Goddess who has forgotten how to forgive."
I walked toward the door, but stopped at the threshold. "Valerius?"
He looked back.
"The frost on your arm," I pointed to the faint silver mark I had left. "It doesn't melt, does it?"
Valerius looked at the mark, a dark, possessive glint in his eyes. "No, Skaya. It doesn't. And I have a feeling that once you've touched something... it belongs to the winter forever."
I left the room, the heat of his words burning in my mind even as the cold of my power hummed in my blood. The Lunar Convergence was only days away. The stage was set for a massacre, and for the first time in my life, I wasn't the lamb. I was the knife.