Chapter 7 : The Training Pact
The word Luna hung in the air like a death sentence.
Kael didn’t move from the doorway, his silhouette sharp and predatory against the dim hall light.
“Luna?” I whispered. My voice cracked. “I’m a human ward. I’m a nobody. You’re insane.”
“I’m many things, Lyra,” Kael said calmly, stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind him with a soft, deliberate click, “but insane isn’t one of them.”
He turned the lock.
“You’ve spent your entire life believing you’re a low-scent fluke,” he continued. “You’re not. You’re the Sealed Luna of the Silver Territory. Your scent isn’t missing—it’s being crushed under a blood-lock my father placed on you when you were a child.”
My stomach dropped. “A blood-lock? Why?”
“Because you’re a battery,” Kael snapped, his eyes flashing with cold precision. “Why do you think the purge is happening? You saw the list. Do you think he’s just cleaning house?”
He stepped closer.
“No. The purge is a ritual. He’s gathering every remaining Silver bloodline to drain them. Their essence is needed to complete the siphoning of your territory’s power. And you, Lyra, are the final piece.”
The room tilted.
“Once he drains you,” Kael went on, relentless, “the Silver Territory ceases to exist. Absorbed into the Thorne domain forever.”
“He’s going to kill me,” I whispered.
“He’s going to erase you,” Kael corrected. “But I have a different plan. One where you live—and our father finally pays for everything he’s done.”
I searched his face. “You want to overthrow him.”
“I want to lead,” Kael said quietly, dangerously. “And I can’t do that while a madman burns the future for a ritual that belongs in the dark ages.”
He stopped in front of me.
“I’m offering you a pact. I break the seal. I help you reclaim your scent, your power. In return, you help me dismantle my father’s rule. We end him—together.”
“And what makes you better than him?” I shot back. “You’re a Thorne. You’ve treated me like trash since I arrived.”
Kael let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “That’s called survival. But you can stay here and wait for the executioner… or you can take my hand and learn how to bite back.”
My fingers dug into the mattress. “What do I have to do?”
“We start now,” Kael said. “Training.”
I stiffened. “I don’t know how to fight.”
“You don’t need to,” he replied. “You need to know how to hide. If you can’t control your scent, the moment that seal cracks, Rune and Caspian will track you on instinct alone. You’ll be a beacon of raw mate-energy in a house full of starving wolves.”
“How do I control something I can’t even feel?”
“By feeling me,” Kael said.
He stopped inches from me. Too close.
“Stand up.”
I did. My legs felt heavy.
“Close your eyes.”
I obeyed.
“The fevers you’ve been having?” Kael said quietly. “That isn’t sickness. It’s your wolf screaming through a gag. Every time you’re near us, she recognizes Alpha potential. She’s trying to bond. The seal is crushing it. That conflict is what’s burning you alive.”
“It hurts,” I whispered.
“Then use it.”
His hand closed around my wrist. Not rough. Precise.
“Focus on my touch. Don’t pull away. Suppress the panic. If you can’t hide your fear from me, you’ll never hide it from Father.”
“This feels wrong,” I muttered. “You’re my step-brother.”
“Only on paper,” he said softly near my ear. “In this room, we’re prisoners in a pact. Now breathe. Push the heat down. Build a wall between your heart and your skin.”
His fingers slid to my neck, thumb resting over my pulse.
“Your heart is loud,” he murmured. “Quiet it. If I can feel this, Caspian can smell it from across the hall.”
“I’m trying.”
“Try harder. Think of anger. Not fear. You’re a Luna—act like one.”
I thought of the wine dripping down my face. Lord Thorne striking Rune. Cold rage sharpened in my chest. The heat didn’t vanish—it condensed.
“Better,” Kael said.
For the next hour, he circled me, whispering provocations, testing for cracks. He talked about my mother. About my father. About being disposable.
“Do you think Rune actually cares?” he asked softly. “He protects property.”
“Shut up,” I hissed.
“And Caspian? He sees you as a stain.”
“I said shut up.”
“Make me.”
I opened my eyes.
Kael studied me, impressed. “You held the wall.”
“That’s the training?” I snapped.
“It’s the foundation,” he replied. “You need to stand beside us without breaking.”
I saw the exhaustion beneath his composure.
“You hate him,” I said. “Your father.”
Kael’s mask slipped for half a second. “He’s killing everything we are. And you’re the only door out.”
“We’re both trapped,” I murmured.
“Then let’s break the lock.”
He lifted his hand toward my face
The door exploded inward.
Wood splintered.
Caspian stood there, chest heaving, eyes glowing feral gold.
“What are you doing?” he growled.
“Training,” Kael said, stepping in front of me. “Strategy.”
“I can smell you on her,” Caspian snarled. “Get out.”
“No.”
Caspian moved.
One second Kael was standing. The next, Caspian had him slammed against the wall by the throat.
“Get your scent off what is ours,” Caspian hissed. “She’s not yours.”
“It’s for the pact—”
“The pact is mine to manage!”
He turned to me, gold eyes burning.
“She’s the Luna. My wolf has known it since the foyer.”
Kael laughed hoarsely. “You finally admit it.”
“Get out,” Caspian said. “Before I forget you’re my brother.”
He shoved Kael toward the door. Kael staggered, rubbing his throat, met my gaze once—warning blazing—then left.
Caspian didn’t turn around immediately.
When he did, the Alpha was no longer hidden.
“I don’t care what Kael was doing,” he said, brushing hair from my face. “I can smell him on you. It makes my wolf violent.”
He leaned closer.
“The seal is cracking,” he whispered. “And I don’t think I can give you to Father.”
His hand closed at my waist.
“You’re not a ward anymore.”
The alarm screamed.
“The purge,” Caspian said instantly. “He moved it up.”
He pressed a silver-hilted dagger into my hand.
“Stay behind me, Luna.”
The lights died.
Chanting rose below.
A thud hit the door.
The hunt had begun.