Chapter 10 Training Begins
Lana’s POV
The training arena was massive; stone floors etched with magical circles, walls reinforced with crystal, and an open ceiling that exposed the sky above. It looked like a place where people went to either master their power or die trying.
"Show me what you can do," Kian said, standing across from me with his arms crossed.
I'd been living in the castle for five days. Five days of learning that I was part of a world I never knew existed. Five days of Kian treating me like something fragile that might break, despite the fact that I was apparently powerful enough to terrify the Council.
"I don't know what I can do," I said. "I shifted once. I ran. That's the extent of my Eclipse Wolf experience."
"You did more than that." He moved to the circle's edge, marking out a space with his boot. "The night you shifted, your power created a shock wave that knocked Lyanna back thirty feet. You didn't even mean to do it."
"That was an accident."
"Show me an accident, then."
I took a breath, trying to call on the power I could feel lurking beneath my skin. It was always there now, a constant hum like electricity running through my veins.
The first time I'd tried to access it intentionally, I'd nearly blown out all the windows in my room. Since then, I'd been afraid to push too hard, afraid of what might happen if I lost control again.
I focused on the stone in front of me, trying to imagine what control would feel like. The power surged upward, responding eagerly to my attention, and I released it with careful intention, expecting a small tremor.
The entire arena shattered.
Stone exploded outward like shrapnel, flying in all directions with enough force to embed itself in the crystal walls. The crystal reinforcements cracked with a sound like breaking glass, a sound that seemed to echo forever in the sudden silence. Dust filled the air so thick I could barely see Kian standing across from me, completely untouched and looking maddeningly calm.
"That," I breathed, looking at the destruction, "was supposed to be a small demonstration."
I couldn't help it; I started laughing. Not because it was funny, but because I was losing my mind. I'd just destroyed an entire training arena without even trying, and Kian was acting like I'd stubbed my toe. The absurdity of it hit me all at once; the shattered arena, the dust still settling, his completely serene expression.
"You're insane," I said through my laughter. "You have to be. No sane person would just stand there while someone destroys everything around them."
"Your power responds to your emotions," he said, stepping over rubble toward me with the careful movements of someone approaching a wild animal. "When you're afraid, it lashes out. When you're angry, it destroys. When you're uncertain, it amplifies whatever you're feeling and multiplies it a hundredfold. The training isn't about making you less powerful; it's about teaching you to channel that power instead of just letting it explode."
"How?" I was near hysterical now, my laughter fading into something more desperate. "How am I supposed to control this? I don't have any training. I didn't even know what I was five days ago. How can you possibly expect me to…"
He reached me and pulled me into his arms, and I realized he'd been using his voice the whole time; a weapon almost as deadly as my power. He was calm because he understood, and his calm was anchoring me. I could feel it flowing through our bond, steady and certain, pulling me back from the edge of panic.
"You have an anchor," he said, and I understood he meant himself. His heartbeat was steady against my ear, his arms solid around me. "Once we finalize the mate bond, you'll be able to channel your power through me. I can hold it, shape it, give you the control you're looking for."
"We haven't finalized the bond?" I pulled back just enough to look up at him, confusion mixing with the anxiety still coursing through my veins.
"No. I won't do that without your consent, and you've been unconscious or terrified for most of the past five days." He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, and I saw something ancient and hungry looking out at me from behind his silver gaze. "When you're ready, we'll complete it. And when we do, everything changes."
I wanted to ask what he meant, but the question died in my throat as I became hyperaware of how close we were. His hands on my waist, his chest against mine, the way his silver eyes were looking at me like I was the most important thing in the world. Like he would move mountains just to keep me safe.
"Kian..." I started, but he pulled away before I could finish whatever I'd been about to say.
"Not yet," he said quietly. "You're still afraid of me."
"I'm not…"
"You are. And that's okay. Fear is smart when you're dealing with someone like me." He stepped back, creating distance between us despite the way our bond seemed to pull at both of us.
"But I need you to trust me first, without the mate bond compelling you. I need it to be a choice you make, not just instinct. Not just the bond forcing you into my arms. I need you to choose me."
Before I could respond, a sound interrupted us; wings, massive and powerful, cutting through the air like blades.
A shadow fell across the training arena.
We both looked up to see a woman descending, her form shifting between human and something else entirely. She had violet eyes that seemed to look straight through me, past my skin and bone and into whatever I was at my core
She moved like she existed partially outside of normal reality, her body obeying different rules of physics than the rest of us.
As she landed, I caught glimpses of feathers, of scales, of something that couldn't quite be pinned down as any single creature. Her appearance was fluid, constantly changing, like reality couldn't quite decide what she was.
"Well," she said, landing with impossible grace that defied her obvious size and weight, "the Eclipse Wolf awakens. How absolutely delightful."
"Nyx," Kian said, and there was something like relief in his voice, as if he'd been waiting for her arrival. "I wasn't sure if you'd come."
"Did you think I'd miss this?" The woman; Nyx, apparently, turned those unsettling violet eyes to me, and I felt completely exposed under her gaze. "Hello, little Eclipse. I'm Nyx. I've been waiting a very long time for your kind to walk the earth again."
"What are you?" I asked before I could stop myself, my voice smaller than I would have liked.
"Old," she said simply, moving closer. "Very, very old. I've watched empires rise and fall. I've seen magic transformed and twisted and rewritten so many times that I've lost count. And I know things about Eclipse Wolves that will either save your life or doom you. Depending on how well you listen."
Kian's hand found mine, squeezing gently. Through the contact, I felt his certainty: whatever came next, we'd face it together. But underneath that certainty, I could feel something else. Something darker.
He was afraid of something. Deeply, profoundly afraid.
And for the first time, I realized that Kian was afraid of losing me. Not in the way a possessive mate feared losing his property, but the way someone feared losing the most important thing in their world.