Chapter 16 Chapter 16
The infirmary walls were starting to feel like a cage. Every hour that passed, every gentle hand that urged me to rest, scraped against my bones like rusted iron. My side still ached when I moved too fast, but it wasn't enough to stop me, not anymore. I had fought and bled. I had saved a life and yet... I wasn't allowed to stand? Or move about?
Not when the others were out there sharpening themselves on the battlefield? No. I wouldn't be left behind.
So when dawn stretched pale fingers across the sky, I slipped out of bed, pulled on my training gear, and left. The cold morning air bit into my skin. Every step jarred my wound, but I clenched my teeth and pushed through it. The warriors' barracks loomed in the distance, and with them, the training fields. I heard the clashing of blades and the bark of commands.
It was like coming home to a place that had never truly wanted me but I was claiming it anyway. I didn't sneak in. Didn't hide in the back like before. I walked straight onto the field, head high, ignoring the startled looks cast my way. I turned and I saw Lina in the field. What was she doing here?
Lina's eyes widened as I approached her.
"You shouldn't be here. The healer said—"
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine..." she tried to argue but I cut her off.
"I will be," I said, voice firmer this time. "I need this, Lina. I can't stay cooped up in that place any longer. I feel like I'm going crazy" Lina hesitated, then gave a small nod.
"Then I'll cover for you when Maeva comes looking." She said with a grin.
Grateful, I gripped Lina's hand briefly before stepping toward the sparring circle. The other warriors stilled when they noticed me. Whispers started. Glances flicked my way. A few muttered things I couldn't hear and didn't care to. Let them talk. Let them watch.
I picked up a training dagger and stepped into the ring. I was looking for someone free so I could spar with the person. At first, it seemed like everyone had their partner. Until Dahlia stepped forward. I grunted inwardly. Why did it have to be her?
'I hope you're not planning on training with this woman?' My wolf inquired.
'It seems like I don't have a choice. She's the only one that's free
'Of course, you have a choice. To go back and lie down in your bed and wait until you are fully healed before trying to train'
Dahlia wore her usual smirk, blades gleaming at her sides like extensions of her cruelty. Her eyes swept over my bandaged torso, the barely healed skin. She looked ready to kill me with just a stroke to my sides.
"Well, well. Look who's too stupid to stay dead." She taunted but I merely ignored her.
"What do you want Dahlia? Don't you have an army to command" Dahlia circled me, predator-smooth. I knew some of her moved now.
"I'm doing just that, I'm going to be your partner today. You should've stayed in bed, rogue. Now I get to finish what the other one started." Still, I said nothing.
I raised my blade, stance steady despite the tremor in my side. The first strike came fast, Dahlia always liked to test early. I deflected it, barely. My arm throbbed with the force. Dahlia's grin widened.
"Still sloppy. I thought you would have learned a thing or two. Don't tell me you used this sloppy skill to save yourself and the pup" I ignored her still. I was trying to concentrate, I knew she was trying to distract me with her words.
We danced like fire and ice across the ring. Dahlia was swift and cruel, her style sharp with elegance while I was low and gritty, relying on grit and instinct. I stumbled once. Twice but I kept going. I was bleeding yet I was still standing. My side hurt like hell and I knew I was going to receive a backlash from Maeva and Lina.
And every time I blocked one of Dahlia's flourishes, I saw the cracks forming behind that smirk.
"You don't belong here," she spat between blows. I parried and hissed,
"Then knock me out." I dared her, surprised by my voice.
Her next strike was wild, born of frustration, and I twisted under it, landing a shallow cut to her side. Gasps rippled through the crowd. She cursed and backed off, nostrils flaring.
"I see," she said through clenched teeth. "You think saving one brat makes you one of us?" I straightened, panting.
"No. I think bleeding for this pack does." I returned her smirk now. I knew she wasn't expecting my move but I had trained so hard before my injury.
Silence. Then a low voice from behind the ring
"That's enough."
Lucian. My heart thundered in my chest awaiting the scolding I was sure to get. I had defied the alpha's orders.
The crowd parted for him, his presence like a wave of pressure crashing over them. I turned, my chest rising and falling, and our eyes met. His expression was thundercloud dark.
"You are supposed to be resting," he said coldly. The warmth from my fight drained instantly. He was showing care in front of all these people.
"I'm fine," I whispered but enough got him to hear.
"You disobeyed direct orders."
"I needed to get back." He stepped closer, his power rippling across the field. Electricity shooting up my spine.
"At the cost of reopening your wound?" He asked gruffly.
"I'm not a child," I snapped. "I made a choice."
"And when that choice gets you killed, what am I supposed to tell the people you saved? That your pride mattered more than your life?"
His words hit harder than any blow Dahlia had landed. The other warriors watched in silence, some uncomfortable, some intrigued. Dahlia looked smug. I looked at him and forced myself to stand straighter, even as her side screamed in protest.
"I won't be weak," I said, voice low but firm. "Not for you. Not for anyone." He stared at me for a long moment, something unreadable shifting behind his eyes. Then he turned his back.
"You're done for the day. Anyone who lets her back on this field before the healer clears her answers to me." Heads bowed and no one dared to speak.
I wanted to argue. But one look from Lina pleading, worried made me stop. I let the blade fall from my hand and left the field, head held high, refusing to limp even as blood seeped through the edge of my bandages. I may have lost the fight but not the war. Not yet.
I walked back to my room in anger and I wanted to break something but I couldn't let my anger get the best of me. It would only show how much the alpha affected me and I didn't want anyone to find out about the bond or we were mates. I hoped he had not given out today in the field.
How dare he tell me what to do? I'm not a child and I do not need pampering from him of all people. I'm a warrior, it's normal for me to get injured. Right? Why did he have to come and pretend like he cared for me? In front of all the warriors, I wonder what they thought now. I didn't want to be the center of gossip. I had managed to leave their mouths for some time and I didn't want it to start again. I paced around my room deep in thoughts.
'You have to calm down. This is a sign that he cares for us' my wolf said
'Damn it!!! I don't want him to care. We don't need his care' I thundered.
'It's natural for him to care. He's our...'
'He's nothing to us. We don't have any mate' She wanted to say something but then the door opened and Lina walked inside. Fear is evident on her face.
"Did something happen?" I asked with concern.
"Nothing. I told you, you couldn't train today. It was not advisable and Maeva hadn't given you a go ahead"
"I told you I was fine" A sharp pain jabbed my side and I let out a whimper. Lina ran to my side.
"Are you sure you are fine? Let me see" I wanted to stop her but she had already opened my gear and she saw it was bleeding. She shrieked.
"I told you, it wasn't advisable to train yet, and now look. The wound has opened. What would we do now?"
"Calm down Lina. It's a little blood" I saw her panic and I was trying to calm her but she wasn't having it.
"We need to get you back to the infirmary. So you don't lose any more blood" I couldn't protest as she led me back to the infirmary.