Chapterr 2: The First Lesson

The room they’d given me was small and spartan, but it was a sanctuary. I slumped against the heavy wooden door, my heart still pounding a frantic rhythm against my ribs. The ghost of Adrian’s touch lingered on my skin, a phantom brand that set my nerves alight. Mate.The word echoed in the silence, a sacred, terrifying truth.

My wolf, whom I’d decided to call Luna—a private, defiant nod to the power I now felt flickering within her—was anything but quiet. She paced restlessly in my mind, a shimmering silver presence filled with a confusing mix of elation and frustration.

He is ours. Why did we pull away?she whined, her voice a blend of instinct and newfound strength.

“You know why,” I whispered into the empty room, hugging my arms around myself. “Anastasia. The alliance. The… everything.” Logic was a feeble shield against the primal call of the bond, but it was all I had.

The following day dawned with a grim finality. There was no escaping my new reality. A stern-faced Gamma arrived at my door precisely at seven, informing me that Alpha Adrian awaited me in the training grounds for my first lesson. The formality in his tone made it clear this was not a request.

The training grounds were a vast, sandy arena encircled by ancient oaks. The morning mist still clung to the grass, and the air was sharp with the scent of pine and damp earth. Adrian stood in the center, his back to me. He wore simple training gear that did nothing to diminish his imposing presence. Even from a distance, the bond was a live wire, humming with tension. My traitorous body reacted instantly—a flush of heat, a quickening pulse. Luna pushed against my control, eager to be near him.

He turned as I approached, his stormy gaze sweeping over me. The air crackled. I saw the same war reflected in his eyes—the Alpha’s cold control battling the male wolf’s raw recognition. The memory of yesterday’s public revelation hung between us, thick and uncomfortable.

“Elara,” he said, his voice clipped, all business. “The first lesson for any wolf, regardless of rank, is control. Control over your strength, your shifts, and your… instincts.”

The pause was deliberate. He meant the mate bond. This was to be a lesson in denial.

“We’ll start with basic defensive stances,” he continued, moving toward me. Every step he took felt like a tremor through the bond. “I will demonstrate the correct posture. You will mirror it.”

He stopped a few feet away, a seemingly safe distance. But the space between us felt charged, like the moment before a lightning strike.

“First, the grounded stance.” He shifted his weight, feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, arms raised. It was a simple, powerful pose. “Your turn.”

I mimicked his posture, feeling clumsy. My body was acutely aware of his proximity. The faint, clean scent of him—frost and forest and something uniquely Alpha—wrapped around me, making it hard to think.

“Your center of gravity is too high,” he critiqued, his voice low. He circled me, a predator assessing his prey. “And your arms are weak. An opponent would break through your guard in a second.”

He moved behind me. I stiffened, every sense screaming. Luna was practically purring in anticipation.

“Relax,” he commanded, though his own voice was strained. “Tension makes you slow.”

Easier said than done. His presence at my back was a brand.

“This needs correction,” he said, and I felt the air shift as he raised his hands.

The moment his fingers made contact with my upper arms to adjust my stance, it happened again. The jolt. A surge of electricity, far more intense than the handshake, shot through me. It wasn’t painful; it was exhilarating, terrifying, addictive. A soft gasp escaped my lips. My skin burned where he touched me, even through the fabric of my tunic.

Adrian froze. His grip tightened infinitesimally. I heard his sharp intake of breath, felt the tremor that ran through his own hands. The bond roared to life, a symphony of longing and recognition. For a heartbeat, maybe two, we were locked in that touch, prisoners of a force greater than both of us. My body leaned back into his solid warmth of its own accord, a silent surrender.

Yes,Luna sighed in contentment. This is where we belong.

But the thought was a splash of cold water. Anastasia.

I jerked away from him as if scalded, stumbling forward a step. The loss of contact was a physical ache, a sudden coldness. “Don’t touch me!” The words came out sharper, more desperate than I intended, a plea disguised as a command.

A muscle ticked in Adrian’s jaw. The storm in his eyes had darkened, swirling with frustration and a flicker of something that looked like hurt. He took a deliberate step back, putting a careful distance between us. The air, once charged, now felt brittle.

“It is necessary for training,” he replied, but his voice was hoarse, betraying the same turmoil I felt. The impeccable Alpha control was cracking. “If you cannot handle basic correction, you will learn nothing.”

The reprimand stung, but it was a welcome pain. It was safer than the dizzying pleasure of his touch.

“I can handle it,” I lied, straightening my shoulders, forcing a mask of cold indifference onto my face. “Please, continue. Alpha.”

The formal title was a weapon, a reminder of the chasm between us. His eyes narrowed slightly.

We spent the next hour in a torturous dance. He would demonstrate a move. I would mimic it, poorly. He would approach to correct me, his movements stiff with caution. The air would grow thick each time he came near. Sometimes, his fingers would brush against my wrist as he adjusted my arm, or his chest would almost graze my back as he showed me a pivot. Each accidental contact was a fresh jolt, a spark that set the bond humming. We became experts at flinching away, at creating inches of space that felt like miles. It was a constant push and pull—the bond pulling us together, our grim determination and the ghost of my sister pushing us apart.

I was sweating, not from exertion, but from the sheer effort of resisting the magnetic pull toward him. He, too, seemed on edge, his instructions growing terser, his patience wearing thin.

Finally, he called a halt. “Enough.” The word was a dismissal. We stood panting slightly, the unsaid tension hanging heavy between us.

“Well, isn’t this a charming picture of dedication?”

The voice, sweet as poisoned honey, sliced through the morning air.

Anastasia stood at the edge of the training grounds, a vision in a delicate morning dress, a silver tray holding two glasses of water in her hands. Her smile was back in place, brilliant and utterly false. How long had she been watching?

“I thought you might both need refreshment after such a… vigorous… session,” she said, gliding toward us. Her eyes, however, were not on the water. They were scanning the space between Adrian and me, missing nothing—the heightened color in my cheeks, the tense set of Adrian’s shoulders, the electric charge that still lingered in the air.

She handed a glass to Adrian, her touch lingering on his arm in a proprietary way that made my stomach clench. Luna growled softly in my mind. Then Anastasia turned to me, offering the second glass. Her smile didn’t reach her cold, calculating eyes.

“I do hope my sister isn’t proving too much of a challenge for you, my love,” she said to Adrian, her voice dripping with false concern. “She’s always been a bit… uncoordinated.”

The insult was subtle, delivered with a smile. I took the glass, my fingers trembling slightly.

Adrian’s expression had shut down completely, the brief vulnerability I’d witnessed now locked away behind an impenetrable wall. “She requires discipline,” he said flatly, not looking at me. “Like any new recruit.”

The words were a dismissal of me, of whatever momentary connection we had shared. He was choosing his side. Retreating behind his duty to her, to the alliance.

Anastasia’s smile widened, triumphant. “I’m sure you’ll whip her into shape, darling.” She looped her arm through his. “Now, come. Your father wishes to discuss the preparations for the full moon ceremony.”

She led him away, casting one last, glacial look over her shoulder at me. It was a clear warning.

I stood alone in the center of the training grounds, the untouched glass of water cold in my hand. The first lesson was over. I had learned nothing about defensive stances. But I had learned everything I needed to know. This wasn’t just training. It was a battlefield. And the first skirmish had just ended, leaving me feeling more alone and more treacherous than ever.

The bond ached, a dull throb in my chest, a constant reminder of the man I could never have. And the memory of Anastasia’s victorious smile promised that the war was far from over.