Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Becoming Fire

Aurora’s POV

“I want to learn how to fight.”

The words escaped me before I could second-guess them. It had always been my desire to learn how to fight, because at the long run I would need it

Dominique’s back was turned to me, bare and taut as he stood by the floor-to-ceiling window in his quarters, his eyes was filled with shock and Surprise at my words.

The golden dusk spilled across his shoulders like liquid fire, but he didn’t move. He Didn’t speak, he was calm, but beneath his cool was a fire.

“I’m not saying I want to be some assassin or whatever you are,” I added, voice tighter. “But if I ever come face to face with Tiffany again, I want to be ready, I want to be able to defend myself, because I don't want to soely depend on you ,saving me. ”

Still nothing, he was quiet.

Then, quietly, as subtle he could be, “You think I would let her get close to you again?Do you think I would not protect you?huh!!!” I could see the fire in his eyes.

I stepped forward. “And if you’re not there? If she catches me off guard like before? What if ? ”

His jaw clenched. Slowly, he turned. His eyes were cold steel, but there was something else beneath them, pride, maybe. Or fear, but I couldn't put it straight.

“You’re not ready for what real fighting takes,” he said. “It’s not just kicks and punches. You want to win a fight against someone like Tiffany?” He walked toward me, voice like gravel. “You’ll need to become something you’re not. You’ll have to be cruel. Ruthless. Deadly. You need to give your self up to the devil himself. ”

“No matter the consequences, I'm ready and I want you to teach me.”

“No.” He didn’t yell, He didn’t need to, his tone was more than him yelling.

But I squared my shoulders. “I want you, I want only you, Dominique. See beyond your ego, and understand why I need to learn how to fight, atleast I would be able to protect myself. Besides its good to learn from the best, and who's better than the Devil himself ”

His expression cracked for a moment. A flicker of relief and acceptance passed through him like a ghost.

Then, “Fine.”

He turned toward the back room, the one he’d converted into a brutal training space. “You want to be ready? We have to start now. And I would not go easy on you”

\---

It began with footwork, balance, stances. Simple. Boring. I thought I could handle it. I thought I was ready for this.

But I was wrong, it was harder than I thought.

He tried to go soft with me, but when he sawni wanst learning quicker, he dropped the softness and went harder and less gentle.

Dominique wasn’t gentle. His words, his moves, his corrections, they were sharp as blades, peircing through my walls and building up stronger walls.

“Again,” he barked after I failed to land a proper punch on the sandbag. My knuckles were raw, bleeding slightly, fatigue creeping in.

“I’m tired…I cant….”

“Again.”

“I said I’m…..!”

He slammed the punching pad against my shoulder, not enough to break anything, but enough to sting, enough to cause a pangs of pain coursing through my body.

“Do you think Tiffany will give you a break? Do you think she’ll stop when you beg?” he roared, eyes igniting with something savage, something ruthless.

“That woman is ready to end you, that woman is ready to dine with the devil to ensure you're dead, and you want to give up. DoYou want to be stronger? Then stop whining and fight like it, fight with that anger, fight with all that pain that she had caused you.”

Hearing his words different emotions flared up in me anger, pain, shame.

“I’m not you,” I spat. “I don’t kill people. I’m not some cold, ruthless monster, I'm just trying to protect myself..”

He dropped the pad. Stepped close. Too close..

“No, you’re not me,” he said lowly. “You’re better. But you keep running from what’s inside you.” He pressed a hand against my chest, where my heart pounded. “You’ve got fire, You have the Valeryk bloodline running through your veins, Aurora. Stop letting it flicker. Let it burn, let it burn brightly.”

I blinked back angry tears. He was right. I had been holding back, holding back even if was breaking me. Because I was scared of what I might become if I stopped holding back, I was scared of what I would look like, if I embraced my inner demons.

But fear wouldn’t save me anymore, fear wouldn't save me from Tiffany, it wouldn't….

I punched again.

And again.

And this time, it wasn’t just technique.

It was rage.

It was pain.

It was power.

It was me not holding back……

\---

Addam’s POV

The club was the kind of place men like me came to lose themselves, dim lights, dark corners, secrets. I didn’t come here to party.

I came for her, we haven't seen since I found out that I'm Aurora's brother. I know she's aware, so that's why I had to find her

Tiffany.

But She found me first.

Leaning against the bar, legs crossed like she owned the world. Her red dress bled into the velvet seats, and her mouth curled into a knowing smile the second our eyes met.

“Looking for someone?” she purred.

“We need to talk, and I'm not ready for trouble, just a little talk between blood.”

“Blood?...” She scoffed.

“You don’t have to want it Trouble….” she said, swirling her drink. “Trouble finds you when you betray blood.”

I didn’t reply, I choose not to….

She slithered off the seat and walked toward me. Up close, she smelled like poison masked with roses.

“You’ve been spending quite a bit of time with your sweet little half-sister, forgetting all about me who had been with you all these years.” she whispered.

“I wonder… Does she know who you really are?, Does she know you're the one who was stalking her”

“She knows everything, I told her everything.”

“And yet, she hasn't still accepted you, she hasn't still acknowledged you as her brother,” Tiffany said, stepping around me, “And you haven’t warned her, You haven’t told her what’s coming, you haven't told her evil plans I have for her.”

“She knows you're coming for her, and she's ready. But I want you to stop all your plans.”

“Why would I listen to you, brother?.” She smirked. “Ohhhh…you feel a pull to protect her huh, That pull that's pathetic, because for years have spent with you, you haven't had that pull to protect me, so what's different…”

I turned walking away, not wanting to look at her, because her words were true.

“If you stand in my way, Addam, you would regret it…” she hissed.

Despite her words, I kept on moving.

Then she shouted.

“IF YOU STAND AGAINST ME, I WILL BURN YOU TOO.”

The room stilled. Heads turned. But I didn’t flinch.

I turned back to her, slowly, calm and calculated…

“You’d burn me,” I said softly, You know your words are just words but if you dont stop all your plans against Aurora, you’d finally understand why they call me the White Lion.”

Her smile faltered. Just a bit. But it was enough for me to see that she was scared of me.

I leaned closer, voice like ice. “You think Dominique’s your greatest threat? You think Aurora is your only problem? Try going against all what I've told you here, Tiffany. Just try.”

I left before she could reply.

But her glare followed me into the night.