Chapter 72 TRAINING BEGINS
Alicia's POV
The training starts before dawn and I already hate it.
"Again." My mother stands across the cavern floor with her arms crossed and no sympathy in her eyes. "You are holding back."
"I am not holding back." Sweat drips down my face and soaks through my shirt. My muscles shake from two hours of pushing against invisible walls my mother keeps putting up. "I am doing exactly what you told me to do."
"You are doing it wrong." She walks closer and the correction feels like a slap. "True Luna power does not come from effort, but will. You need to stop trying so hard and just command it."
"That makes no sense."
"It will when you stop overthinking." She gestures to the stone wall behind me. "Try again."
I turn back to the wall that has not budged an inch despite my best efforts. The surface is rough under my palms. I close my eyes and reach for that power I felt when I brought Monty back.
But nothing happens.
"You are still thinking too much." My mother's voice cuts through my concentration. "Stop analyzing and just feel."
"I do not know what that means." Frustration burns hot in my throat. "You keep telling me to feel it but I do not know what I am supposed to be feeling."
She sighs and I hear footsteps crossing the stone floor. Her hand lands on my shoulder and the touch is gentle despite her harsh words. "When you saved Monty, what were you thinking?"
"I was not thinking anything." The memory came back clear. "I just knew he could not be dead."
"Exactly." Her fingers squeeze my shoulder. "You did not think about how to save him or what power to use. You simply decided he would live and your power obeyed that decision. That is how True Luna magic works. It responds to absolute certainty."
I open my eyes and stare at the wall. "So I should just decide the wall will move?"
"Yes."
"That is insane."
"That is power." She steps back and crosses her arms again. "Most supernaturals are limited by what they believe is possible. They train for years to master specific abilities and never push beyond those boundaries. But True Lunas do not have those limitations. If you believe something should happen with complete certainty, reality reshapes itself to match your will."
The explanation should sound ridiculous. It goes against everything I know about how the world works, but I felt it when Monty died. That absolute refusal to accept his death that forced the universe to bend.
I turn back to the wall and place both palms flat against the cold stone. This time I do not reach for power, instead, I decide with every fiber of my being that the wall will move.
The stone shifts backward three inches.
"Better." My mother sounds almost pleased. "Again."
I push the decision harder. The wall moves another foot and cracks appear in the surface where my hands press against it.
"Good." She walks around me in a slow circle. "Now stop using your hands."
"What?"
"You do not need physical contact. The power is not in your body, but your will." She stops directly behind me. "Step back from the wall and move it with just your mind."
I pull my hands away and the wall immediately stops moving. When I try to push with just my thoughts nothing happens at all.
"I cannot do it."
"Yes you can." Her voice is firm. "You are just afraid to commit fully. Part of you still believes this is impossible so your power stays dormant. You need to kill that doubt."
"How?"
"By remembering what is at stake." She moves to stand beside me and points toward the adjacent chamber where Luna sleeps under the watchful eyes of my mates. "Morrison will come for her soon. When he does you will need to protect her with more than physical strength or pack bonds. You will need to command reality itself to keep her safe."
The thought of Morrison touching Luna fills me with rage.
"Use that." My mother reads my expression easily. "Channel that fury into certainty. Decide that nothing will ever hurt your daughter and let your power enforce that decision."
I stare at the wall and think about Morrison's hands reaching for Luna and his corrupted wolves tearing through our pack. The anger builds hot in my chest until it feels like I might burn from the inside out.
The wall explodes backward.
Stone fragments fly across the cavern and crash into the far wall with enough force to crack the rock there too. Dust fills the air and I hear shouts from the other chambers as pack members rush to see what caused the noise.
My mother smiles. "Now you understand."
Ray appears in the doorway with his claws extended and ready to fight whatever threat caused the explosion. He sees me standing in the middle of the destruction and his posture relaxes slightly. "What happened?"
"Training." My mother says it like blowing up walls is a normal part of the learning process. "Alicia is making progress."
"Progress?" Ray looks at the demolished wall and then back at me. "She destroyed half the cavern."
"Control will come with practice." She waves away his concern. "For now I just need her to access her power consistently. Once she can do that we will work on precision."
Logan enters behind Ray carrying Luna who started crying when the explosion woke her. He passes her to me without a word and I take her gratefully. The baby's presence immediately grounds me.
"This is dangerous." Ray watches me with worry clear on his face. "What if she loses control during an attack? She could bring down the entire cave system."
"Then we would dig ourselves out." My mother dismisses the possibility. "The danger of Alicia not learning to use her power far outweighs the danger of a few training accidents."
She leaves, and Ray immediately moves to my side. His hand finds the small of my back, and the touch is warm and reassuring after hours of my mother's cold efficiency.
"Are you okay?" He searches my face for signs of injury or exhaustion.
"I am fine, just tired."
"Your mother is pushing too hard." Logan joins us and examines my hands for damage. "You have been training for six hours straight without food or water."
"She knows what she is doing." I do not know why I defend her after twenty years of abandonment. Maybe because for the first time since she reappeared again I actually believe she left for a reason beyond simple selfishness. "Morrison could attack any day. We do not have time for gentle training methods."
Monty appears in the doorway moving with that strange grace death gave him. His eyes track Luna with single minded focus and he positions himself between her and the tunnel entrance automatically. The protective instinct survived whatever happened to his soul.
"At least eat something." Ray guides me toward the sleeping chambers. "You cannot train if you collapse from exhaustion."
The resistance members set up a meal area in one of the smaller caverns and the smell of cooking meat makes my stomach growl. I did not realize how hungry I was until food appeared in front of me.
We eat in silence. The pack is still processing everything that happened today.
Luna falls asleep against my chest halfway through the meal. I hold her close and try not to think about Morrison hunting her or The Veritas experiments or the weight of power I barely understand.
"Get some rest." Ray takes Luna from my arms gently. "I will watch her tonight."
I wanted to insist on keeping her close, but exhaustion drags at my limbs and my eyes burn from lack of sleep. I let Ray carry her to the sleeping area and follow on unsteady legs.
I collapse onto the nearest bedroll and sleep takes me instantly.
I dream of silver light and power that responds to nothing but will.
The dream shifts.
Suddenly I am not in my own mind anymore. I am seeing through dozens of eyes scattered across miles of territory.
One connection burns brighter than the others. Then, it shifts to show me a wolf running through darkness. Jake.
I see him meeting with Morrison weeks ago. Accepting payment to betray the pack. Planning how to deliver me and Luna directly into The Veritas hands. The images come fast and brutal with no way to stop them.
Jake knows about the cave system. He has known about it for years and never told anyone. He is leading Morrison here right now with an army of corrupted wolves and human soldiers armed with weapons designed to kill supernaturals.
They will arrive by dawn.