The next morning, training ground.
The sun blazed overhead, merciless, as the warriors sparred. I stood at the edge, empty-handed, empty-stomached, every muscle aching with hunger. Luna Maya's punishment had begun.
And, of course, Nadia made it her personal mission to enforce it.
"Well, look who's playing statue today," Nadia drawled loudly, strutting toward me with her little pack of shadows trailing behind. She had her hair tied back tight, her armor gleaming as though she were about to lead an army instead of spar against her friends. "Don't tell me standing around is the only thing you're good at?"
I clenched my fists, kept my mouth shut.
"Or maybe…" she leaned close, her perfume sharp and suffocating, "…Luna finally figured out what you really are. Dead weight."
Her friends laughed on cue.
"She's not even allowed to touch a sword," one of them sneered. "What's the point of having her here?"
Nadia tilted her head, her voice sweet as poison. "Discipline. That's the point. We all need reminders of what happens to strays who don't know their place."
The words stung more than the hunger, but I didn't react. I couldn't.
Not when Luna Maya was watching from the sidelines.
I caught her cold gaze fixed on me, her arms folded, lips curved in the faintest smile. This was her game. Nadia was just the weapon.
"Cat got your tongue, Lyca?" Nadia mocked, circling me like she'd seen her mother do. "Or are you afraid if you open your mouth, we'll hear the beast inside you?"
A low growl threatened to rise in my throat, but I bit it back until I tasted blood.
Her smirk widened. She wanted me to snap. She wanted me to break.
And for a split second, I almost did. My vision tinged silver, instincts clawing at my skin. But then I caught sight of Lance across the field, watching me intently, his jaw tight, his hand twitching like he was ready to intervene.
I forced myself to breathe. Slow. Steady. Contained.
Nadia's smile faltered when I stayed silent. She hated that. Hated not getting the reaction she wanted.
"You're pathetic," she spat finally, shoving past me, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "A waste of space. You'll never be one of us."
I stayed still, rooted like stone, even as my heart pounded and my hunger roared.
Because I knew the moment I moved—the moment I fought back—Luna Maya would win.
Training ended in a blur of sweat and bruises I didn't earn. My stomach twisted in knots from hunger, but worse was the burn under my skin from holding back—again.
I lingered at the far edge of the field, away from Nadia's smug laughter and the warriors sparring in pairs. Everyone else drifted toward the pack house, leaving the air quieter, cooler.
"You're terrible at pretending."
I turned, already knowing the voice. Lance leaned against a tree, arms crossed, his usual lazy grin gone. His brown eyes studied me like I was some puzzle he'd been trying to solve for years.
"I don't know what you mean," I muttered, looking anywhere but at him.
"Yes, you do," he said easily, pushing off the tree to come closer. His voice dropped low so no one else could hear. "You wanted to tear Nadia's throat out back there. I saw it in your eyes."
I froze, heat creeping up my neck. "You saw nothing."
"Lyca…" He sighed, tilting his head so our gazes locked. "You don't always have to hold it in. Not with me."
The words caught me off guard, softening something in my chest I didn't want softened. I scoffed instead, trying to mask it. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one Luna would hang for breathing wrong."
His jaw clenched, and for once, the playfulness dropped from his face completely. "If she pushes you too far, if they push you too far… you will fight back. And when that happens, I'll be standing with you."
I swallowed hard, searching his face. He wasn't joking. Not even a little.
"…Don't make promises you can't keep," I whispered, afraid of how much I wanted to believe him.
He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel his warmth even in the cool breeze. His voice was low, steady, unshakable.
"I don't make promises. I make truths. Remember that."
For a moment, the world fell quiet—no Luna, no Nadia, no pack watching me like a threat. Just Lance, and the truth I wasn't ready to face.
But then_____