Chapter 253 253
Sabine POV
Three weeks later.
“Again!” Damien bellowed at me again.
Again. Again. Again. I was dangerously close to telling him to shove his again somewhere deeply unpleasant.
How was this even fair?
I’d been thrown into an afternoon training session with full-grown warriors, with only Dominique and me labelled as the trainees. And Dominique was four.
Four.
A child.
A child who infuriatingly was doing better than I was.
“I need to breathe,” I groaned, planting my hands on my thighs as I bent forward, fighting the urge to vomit up my lunch.
“Dead, Sabine,” Damien snapped. “You’re dead in battle because you paused. You don’t get breaks. You don’t get time to recuperate. You keep moving.”
“Recuperate?” I sneered back, lifting my head just enough to glare at him. “I’m just giving my lungs a chance to take in the oxygen they’re clearly begging for.”
We’d been at Aurélie’s lake house for three weeks now. It was stunning open, peaceful, surrounded by nature, and perfect for training.
But I was supposed to have left three weeks ago.
How was I still here?
Every time I tried to do anything, Maurice was on me. Even Beta Lucas. I never had a moment alone. Always watched. Always monitored.
“You’re behind,” Damien continued coldly. “You need to work harder if you want to catch up. My four-year-old son is outperforming you.”
“Dominique has known about werewolves his entire life!” I shot back. “I’ve barely been in this world a month. Cut me some slack!”
My legs finally gave out. I collapsed onto my back, staring up at the sky as clouds drifted lazily overhead while I struggled to calm my wheezing lungs.
“Sabine!” Damien growled, furious that I hadn’t followed his orders.
That was one small mercy the only person who could truly override him was Maurice. Apparently, a mate bond trumped a pack bond. Or something like that. No wolf, no pack… unless Maurice marked me.
“Go… away!” I yelled, fists clenching as the urge to hit something pulsed through me.
“Come on, Auntie Sab,” Dominique said gently, slipping his small hand into mine. “Just a few more goes, then we can go swimming.”
I looked at him and sighed.
He was a sweet boy. He’d warmed up to me since we arrived at the lake house. Truly kind, encouraging, endlessly patient.
But sometimes… sometimes he switched.
In those moments, it was as if someone else looked out through his eyes. Someone older. Sharper. Not him.
And every time it happened, my blood ran cold.
I’d kept my distance from everyone as much as possible. I think they believed it was because I felt uncomfortable here.
It wasn’t.
What made me uncomfortable was what I’d done.
I didn’t know if he’d escaped. I didn’t know if it had worked. But I did know that if they realised what I’d done, all hell would break loose. Everyone had been so focused on getting us ready to leave, so preoccupied with securing the pack borders, that I’d seized my moment.
Just to give him a fighting chance.
He might not have even noticed.
Hopefully he hadn’t noticed.
It didn’t matter now anyway. He was back with the Bloodnight pack, and we were here.
“Sabine! I’m losing my patience,” Damien roared, yanking me back to the present.
I took Dominique’s hand, letting him help pull me to my feet.
The exercise was simple in theory avoid being touched by the warriors. We didn’t have to fight back. They weren’t allowed to hurt us. Just touch us.
Like a game of tag I used to play as a child.
Except this was nothing like that.
“How’s she doing?” Maurice’s voice reached me as he approached Damien while the game restarted.
My hearing had improved noticeably. There was a faint buzz when I focused, and if I concentrated hard enough, I could slow my perception watching dragonfly wings beat in exquisite detail as they hovered over the lake.
“She’s slow,” Damien sighed.
My chest tightened painfully.
I wasn’t slow. I was just slow compared to supernatural beings. They forgot I still carried traces of being human.
“She’ll get there,” Maurice replied calmly. “You’re too hard on her.”
“I’m not,” Damien shot back. “You’re too soft. That’s why she needs to stay with me. You’ll protect her. You’ll go easy on her. She needs to learn how to survive how to fight.”
“Damien,” Maurice said firmly, “I’m fully aware of what my mate needs. And she needs love and support too. She’s been alone for a long time. Even with everything that happened with Gaston, you had a pack behind you. She didn’t. She had four walls and an apartment that kept her hidden away. With trust and patience… she’ll flourish.”
His words wrapped around me, warm and grounding.
And with that warmth came guilt.
Maybe I should tell him.
But he’d be disappointed. And once that trust broke, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get it back.