Chapter 30 Ambush
POV: LUNA
The old training grounds looked different at midnight. Darker. More dangerous. Exactly what we needed.
Luna arrived first. She'd left her dorm twenty minutes early, making sure no one saw her leave. Nova was supposed to come separately. Marcus too. Everyone staggered so it wouldn't look suspicious.
The grounds were on the east side of campus. Abandoned after some war Luna didn't know the details of. Cracked stone. Overgrown grass. Equipment rusted and broken.
Perfect for secret training without faculty interference.
Ryder emerged from the shadows. He looked different out of his usual training gear. Dark clothes. Hair messy. Less mentor, more partner.
"You're early."
"Couldn't sleep. Figured I'd get here and scout the area."
"Find anything?"
"Just memories. I used to train here when I was a student. Before they shut it down."
"Why'd they close it?"
Ryder's expression darkened. "Students died. Training accident. At least, that's what they called it."
"And what was it really?"
"Something got through the wards. Attacked during night exercises. By the time faculty arrived, three students were dead. Two more died from injuries later."
Luna's mark pulsed. Warning. "Maybe we should train somewhere else."
"Everywhere's dangerous. At least here, we can see threats coming. Open space. Clear sightlines."
The others arrived. Nova and Marcus together. Then Aria and Cole from the meeting. Darius showed up last, looking annoyed about being awake.
"Everyone's here," Ryder said. "Good. Tonight we start basics. Combat formations. Pack coordination. Trust exercises."
"Trust exercises?" Darius scoffed. "What are we, summer camp?"
"You need to trust the people fighting beside you. Otherwise, you're all just individuals waiting to die. Now pair up."
Luna ended up with Nova. They practiced defensive positions. How to cover each other's blind spots. How to signal danger without speaking.
After an hour, Ryder split them into smaller groups. "Luna, you're on scent tracking. Solo exercise. There are markers hidden around the perimeter. Find them. Report back."
"Alone?"
"You need to be comfortable tracking by yourself. If we get separated during a real fight, you can't freeze up."
Luna wanted to argue but nodded instead. She needed this. Needed to prove she could handle herself.
She headed into the trees surrounding the old grounds. Let her wolf senses rise. Not shifting. Just enhancing. Smell. Hearing. Night vision sharpening.
The first marker was easy. Tied to a low branch. Cedar and mint. She touched it and moved on.
The second marker took longer to find. The scent was faint. Buried under layers of natural forest smell. Luna closed her eyes. Filtered out the noise. Focused.
There. Northeast. Maybe fifty yards.
She ran. Her body remembering the endurance exercise from before. Muscles warming up. Wolf instincts guiding her steps.
The marker was hidden inside a hollowed tree stump. Lavender and smoke. Strange combination. Luna reached for it.
That's when she heard the rustling.
Not wind. Not small animals. Something bigger. Deliberate.
Luna froze. Her hand still on the marker. Her wolf senses screaming danger.
The rustling came from two directions. Flanking her. Surrounding.
She pulled her hand back slowly. Turned. Scanned the darkness.
Two shapes moved through the trees. Low to the ground. Predatory. Wolf-like but wrong. Too thin. Too jerky. Eyes reflecting red instead of normal wolf gold.
Rogues.
Luna's heart hammered. She backed away slowly. Didn't run. Running triggered chase instincts.
The creatures emerged from the shadows. Definitely rogues. Young. Starving. Desperate. Their fur patchy. Ribs showing. Mouths foaming slightly.
"Easy," Luna whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you."
The first rogue snarled. Low. Threatening. The second circled to Luna's left. Cutting off escape routes.
This wasn't random. They were coordinating. Working together. That wasn't normal for rogues. Especially young ones. They usually fought each other for territory. For food.
Luna's wolf pushed to the surface. Ready to shift. Ready to fight.
"I don't want to fight you."
The rogues didn't care. The first one charged. Fast. Vicious.
Luna's partial shift happened instinctively. Her senses sharpened. Her reflexes quickened. She dodged left. The rogue's teeth snapped where her throat had been seconds before.
The second rogue attacked from behind. Luna spun. Caught it mid-leap. Threw it against a tree. The impact made a sickening crunch.
The first rogue recovered. Lunged again. Luna met it head-on. Her partially shifted claws slashing. Drawing blood. The rogue yelped but didn't retreat.
These weren't normal rogues. Normal rogues fled when injured. These kept attacking. Like they had no choice. Like something was driving them forward.
Luna fought desperately. Her partial shift giving her an edge. But barely. She was exhausted from the endurance exercise. From lack of sleep. From emotional stress.
The second rogue rejoined the fight. Both creatures attacking in tandem. Precise. Calculated.
Luna's wolf wanted to fully shift. To end this quickly. But she fought to keep control. Full shifts were unpredictable. Dangerous. She might hurt them worse than necessary.
She managed to pin the first rogue. Forced it to submit. It whimpered. Stopped struggling.
The second rogue backed away. Watching. Calculating.
Then it did something strange. It looked past Luna. Like it was waiting for a signal. For permission.
Luna followed its gaze. Saw nothing. But she felt it. A presence. Hidden in the deeper shadows. Watching. Controlling.
The rogue received whatever signal it was waiting for. It turned and ran. Disappearing into the forest. The pinned rogue squirmed free and followed.
Luna let them go. She was shaking. Bleeding from scratches on her arms. Her partial shift reverting slowly.
She looked at where the presence had been. Nothing visible. But the wrongness lingered. The sense of being watched. Being tested.
Footsteps crashed through the undergrowth. Ryder appeared. Marcus right behind him.
"We heard fighting," Ryder said. He took in Luna's appearance. The blood. The torn clothes. "What happened?"
"Rogues. Two of them. Young. But coordinated."
"Coordinated?" Marcus looked skeptical. "Young rogues don't coordinate."
"These did. They flanked me. Attacked together. And they were waiting for signals from something else. Something watching from the shadows."
Ryder's expression hardened. "Show me where."
Luna led them to the spot. Where she'd felt the presence. The watching eyes.
Ryder crouched. Examined the ground. "Tracks. Too big for a normal wolf. Too deliberate for a rogue."
"The creature from the campus attack," Marcus said quietly.
"Maybe. Or something else. Something that can control rogues. Direct them."
Luna's mark burned. Hot. Urgent. "Someone is orchestrating this. The rogue attacks. The campus assault. All of it. They're testing us. Learning our weaknesses."
"Who?" Marcus asked.
"I don't know. But they're getting bolder. First, they sent rogues to test the wards. Then that massive creature attacked directly. Now they're targeting students during training. They're escalating."
Ryder stood. "We need to tell the others. Everyone needs to know solo exercises are off the table until we figure this out."
They headed back to the old training grounds. The rest of the group was still there. Practicing formations.
Ryder called everyone together. Explained what happened. The coordinated rogue attack. The presence directing them.
"Someone is controlling the rogues," he said. "Using them as scouts. As weapons. We need to assume any rogue we encounter is being directed. Which means we're never alone. Ever."
Darius looked at Luna. "You fought them off?"
"Barely. If there had been three, I wouldn't have made it."
"But you did make it. That's what matters."
Nova hugged Luna tightly. "Don't ever go alone again. Promise me."
"I promise."
Aria stepped forward. "We need to identify who's controlling them. Find the source. Cut off the head."
"Easier said than done," Cole replied. "Whatever's out there is powerful. Ancient. It took down campus wards like they were nothing."
"Then we get stronger," Luna said. "We train harder. We prepare for the worst. Because it's coming. And we need to be ready."
The group nodded. United. Determined.
They trained for another hour. Defensive formations. Emergency signals. How to fight coordinated enemies.
By the time they finished, Luna could barely stand. Her body screaming. Her mind exhausted.
Ryder walked her back toward the dorms. "You did good tonight. Fighting off two rogues alone. That's not easy."
"Didn't feel good. Felt terrifying."
"Fear is healthy. Keeps you sharp. Just don't let it paralyze you."
They reached the dorm building. Luna started to go inside. Then stopped.
"Ryder. That presence. The thing directing the rogues. I think it's connected to my mark. To whatever marked Miguel. It's all part of the same threat."
"Probably. Which means you're the target. Everything else is just trying to get to you."
"That's a horrible thought."
"But it's the truth. And you need to accept it. Because denial gets people killed."
Luna nodded. She understood. Didn't like it. But understood.
She went inside. Climbed the stairs to her floor. Every muscle protesting.
Nova was already in their room. She looked up when Luna entered. "You okay?"
"No. But I will be."
Luna collapsed on her bed. She should shower. Should treat her scratches. Should do a hundred things.
But exhaustion won. She closed her eyes. Let darkness pull her under.
Her last thought before sleep claimed her was simple. Terrifying.
The rogues had been a test. And she'd passed.
Which meant the next test would be harder. Deadlier.
And she had no idea if she'd survive it.