Chapter 12

Chapter 12


Training in the Shadows 

Pain became my best friend.

Every time Kade's fist touched my ribs, every swing, every strike I tasted blood, and I was happy to have it. since it indicated that I was still alive. Still evolving.

Around me, the trees merged into a tornado of darker branches and more distinct shadows. Even though my body hurt, I didn't plead for help. No more.

Something was changing within me. Something old. Something is hungry.

Around me, the air beat like a heartbeat that wasn't mine. When I moved, fell, and got back up, it sprang to life. Kade gave no compliments. He didn't say anything. He did nothing except observe. constantly observed.

I was learning more than just how to fight. I was becoming something the pack would never be able to control.

I was completely unaware of it the first time it occurred.

I slammed into the floor as he swept my legs, and the voice grew louder and colder.

They'll bow down.

The woodland froze.

I pressed my fingertips into the ground. Slower this time, I got up. And his face was different when I looked up.

Don't be afraid.

Recognition.

Something primordial split the air that night. Like a live storm, power coiled in my veins. It didn't consume, but it burned.

Not quite yet.

Kade stepped back. He didn't have to talk, but he didn't. His eyes told me the truth. He was well aware of my transformation.

It also frightened him.

He made the workout more difficult the following day.

No sleep. No water. No reprieve.

Punishment followed every failure. Silence followed every victory.

I didn't stop, though.

Not when I broke my knuckles.

Not with my wolf claws digging into my flesh.

Not even when I passed out under the moonlight and threw up blood.

Because something more profound had woken up.

Jake didn't reject the girl. Not the girl who Selena made fun of.

No, this was a whole different person. A rot and fire-born version of myself.

The jungle started to identify me.

The animals ceased their running.

The trees bent toward each other.

And my name was spoken by the shadows.

Lily was not mentioned. Something older was said. A name I had not yet figured out.

It began as I practiced in the dark.

I was blindfolded, shoved into the middle of the forest, and abandoned by Kade.

"Find your way out," he said in a voice that came out of nowhere.

Yes, I did.

However, I wasn't alone when I returned.

I was followed by something. Something icy and angry.

When I walked, the shadows shifted. Even in the summertime, my breath was hazy. And I saw her my other selfn while I slept. Her eyes gleamed like dying stars, but she wore my face.

She didn't say anything.

She didn't have to.

I was her. I buried that bit after being rejected. when I was stripped naked by the pack.

after I had lost everything.

She was now trying to get back.

And she drew nearer each time I closed my eyes.

I was covered in sweat and something else, ash, when I woke up screaming one night. I was surrounded by trees that had burned in a perfect circle. However, there was no fire. No smoking odor. Only the sound of wind curving like laughter and burnt bark.

Kade stopped asking questions.

All he did was observe.

He also gave me more training.

This time, he hurled blades. Quick. Sharp. unforgiving.

I avoided all of them.

Until I didn't.

Everything inside of me broke when the steel touched my side.

Although blood was poured, it did not fall.

It was afloat. raised Sang.

The shadows surrounding me swept like stormwater, and I remained motionless.

Kade winced.

The blade swung back.

directly into his chest.

I had remained stationary.

I hadn't done anything at all.

Without a word, he carefully withdrew it while maintaining eye contact with me.

However, I didn't sleep that night.

because she had never been closer.

And she muttered this time:

You're nearly prepared.

What are you prepared for?

I didn't inquire.

I didn't wish to find out. Not quite yet.

I concentrated on the instruction.

The days were hazy.

My body became hard.

The pain turned into numbness. The numbness gave way to strength. Beneath my skin, my wolf growled, pleading with me to end, to rip, to run.

However, I kept her in a cage.

When something darker was waiting to sneak through with her, I couldn't let her go.

I wasn't a moron.

Now I sensed it.

This was not only another opportunity.

It was a change.

And there were costs associated with changes.

Kade made one attempt to warn me.

He had blood on his hands and bruising around his ribs as he stood by the riverbank.

"You’re changing too fast."

I didn't answer.

Not because I didn't agree.

However, he was correct.

I also didn't give a damn.

Now everything made sense: the strength, the pain, and the rage.

Jake was no longer the exclusive focus of this.

It was more than just retaliation.

It had to do with evolution.

I wasn't a wolf.

I was different.

Something spawned by treachery.

composed of shadow.

driven by retaliation.

The sky split one night.

The earth was clawed by lightning.

The trees trembled with thunder.

And I stood in the middle of the clearing, head tipped back, arms extended, while power rushed through me like a scream.

I was not able to hear Kade's call to me.

All I could hear was her.

Show them who you've grown into.

The earth parted.

The trees stooped.

And my body rose, floating in the tempest.

Coils of smoke, dark and serpentine, coiled about my limbs.

Then I went down.

The jungle then became quiet.

I was no longer in the clearing when I opened my eyes.

I was standing right in the middle of the Shadowfang Pack property.

Not visible. Not touched.

I also observed them. Jake Selena. The elders.

I'm laughing. Having a party.

preparing a sound I couldn't hear.

But I could see that Selena was wearing my necklace. The one I was left by my mother. That night, I lost that one.

Anger erupted.

I moved forward and disappeared.

In the wilderness, I woke up with a gasp.

With fear in his eyes, Kade huddled next to me.

"You vanished," he murmured, his voice piercing with terror. "You didn't breathe."

I remained silent.

since I had been there.

Been there, really.

And I understood how to return now.

How to walk between.

Ways to attack without being seen.

It wasn't a dream.

It served as a warning.

I was on my way.

And they wouldn't live through me this time.

A aroma that I hadn't smelled in weeks was brought by the wind.

Carry blood.

There was a spectator.

Close.

Too near.

Slowly, I turned.

And my throat tightened with breath.

Jake was standing there, just past the trees.

By themselves.

Wide-eyed.

Frozen.

Looking me in the eye.

But his eyes were not filled with terror.

It was terrible.

Recognition.

He uttered a single syllable.

Not  Lily

Not mate.

From the darkness, he called my name.

The one I kept a secret from everyone.

The one I got from the darkness.

And I understood...

He had witnessed my transformation.

He was aware.

He was already terrified.