Dawn arrived too early.
I woke to Lyra shaking my shoulder, Her face looked a little sorry and a little amused.
"Maya's waiting," she said. "And trust me, you don't want to keep her waiting."
My body protested as I sat up. Yesterday's training with Kael had left me sore in places I didn't know could hurt. And that had been the gentle introduction.
"Here." Lyra handed me a cup of the bitter medicine. "Drink. You'll need it."
I downed it without arguing, wincing at the taste.
"How bad is she?" I asked as I pulled on the clothes Lyra had found for me—worn pants, a simple shirt, boots that were slightly too big.
"Maya?" Lyra thought for a second. "She's intense. Fair, though. She won't push you beyond what you can handle. She'll push you right to the edge and keep going until you get better."
"That's supposed to be reassuring?"
"No. That's supposed to be honest." She handed me a piece of bread and dried meat. "Eat while you walk. And Selene?"
I paused at the entrance to the shelter.
"Don't give up. Even when you want to. Especially when you want to."
Maya was waiting at the training area, a cleared space at the edge of camp where people practiced all the time. She stood with her arms crossed, watching me as I approach.
"You're late," she said.
I glanced up. The sun was barely over the trees. "I thought dawn meant—"
"Dawn means when I say it means." She pointed to the center of the clearing. "Come here."
My stomach knotted, but I went. Up close she was even more intimidating, lean and strong, every movement tight and controlled. The scar on her cheek was only one of many; her arms were covered in marks like a map of old fights.
"First rule," she said, circling me slowly. "Out here, there are no fair fights. There are only fights you win and fights you lose. Understand?"
"Yes."
"Second rule, your wolf doesn't make you invincible. It makes you a target. Every wolf here can shift. What matters is what you do with that power, how you use it."
She stopped in front of me, her dark eyes boring into mine.
"Third rule, I'm going to hurt you. Not because I want to. Because if you can't handle pain in training, you'll die in a real fight. So if you're going to cry or quit, do it now and save us both time."
Anger flared in my chest. "I'm not going to quit."
"We'll see." She stepped back. "Show me your stance. The one Kael taught you yesterday."
I tried to remember. I planted my feet the way I'd been shown, shoulder-width, knees bent, hands up.
Maya paced around me, watching.
"Your feet are too close together. You'll lose balance." She tapped my right knee with her boot, not hard, but enough to prove her point. I stumbled. "See? Fix it. Widen your stance."
I widened my stance.
"Better. Now your hands, you're holding them like you're afraid to get hit. Newsflash: you're going to get hit. The question is whether you protect your face or your ribs when it happens."
She moved so fast I barely saw it.
Her fist came at my face, and instinct made me throw my hands up. Her other fist slammed into my ribs.
Pain exploded through my side. I gasped, stumbling backward, my hands flying to the injury.
"Face or ribs," Maya repeated calmly. "Choose."
"That's not—you didn't—"
"In a real fight, your enemy won't warn you. Won't give you time to think. They'll find your weakness and exploit it." She reset her stance. "Again. This time, don't just block. Move."
She came at me again.
I tried to move, tried to dodge like Kael had shown me. But my body was slow, clumsy, still processing the pain in my ribs.
Maya's fist connected with my shoulder. Not as hard as she could have hit, but hard enough that I went down on one knee.
"Get up."
I pushed myself up, my shoulder throbbing.
"Again."
This time, I saw her coming. My body shifted left, her punch missing by inches. Pride surged through me
Her foot swept my legs out from under me.
I hit the ground hard, the air driven from my lungs.
"Never celebrate a dodge until the fight is over," Maya said, standing over me. "Get up."
We went on like this for what felt like hours.
Maya attacking. Me failing to defend. Her corrections sharp and immediate and never cruel, but never gentle either.
By the time she finally called a break, I was covered in dirt and sweat, my body screaming with pain. Blood trickled from my split lip where I'd bitten it on one fall.
"Water." Maya tossed me a skin, and I caught it clumsily.
I drank deeply, trying to catch my breath.
"You're thinking too much," Maya said, sitting down across from me. "Every time I attack you, I can see you trying to remember what Kael taught you. What I taught you. You're treating this like a lesson instead of a fight."
"It is a lesson."
"No. It's survival practice." She leaned forward. "In a real fight, you won't have time to think. Your body just reacts. That's what instinct is, muscle memory. Your wolf should guide you."Your wolf."
"My wolf hasn't exactly been helpful."
"That's because you're fighting her." Maya's expression softened slightly. "I can feel it. Every time you move, there's this... resistance. Like you're trying to do everything on your own instead of letting her help."
"I don't know how to let her help without losing control."
"Then learn." She stood. "Shift."
My heart nearly stopped. "What?"
"You heard me. Shift. Right now."
"I—I can't. I've only done it once, and that was because I was terrified and—"
"Then get terrified," Maya said, eyes narrowing. "Or I can help make that happen."
"You want me to shift because I'm scared of you?"
"I want you to shift because you need to understand what your wolf can do. And the only way to do that is practice." She took a step closer. "Now shift, or I'll give you something to be scared of."
She wasn't bluffing.
She meant it. I could see it in her eyes. She would hurt me if that's what it took.
"Let me out," my wolf growled eagerly. "Finally."
"I don't know if I can control you."
"Then don't control me. Just... trust me."
I closed my eyes and reached for that place inside me where my wolf waited.
It hurt less this time.
The pain still came, bones breaking and reforming, skin stretching, muscles tearing and rebuilding but it was faster. More natural. Like my body was starting to remember how to do this.
When I opened my eyes, everything was sharper. The air, the sounds, the colors. I stood on four legs, my black fur rippling with shadows that moved like they were alive.
Maya stood in front of me, her expression approving.
"Good. Now show me what you've got."
She shifted in a fluid motion, a grey wolf with battle-scarred fur and cold, calculating eyes.
Then she lunged.
Fighting in wolf form was nothing like fighting as a human.
It was wild and faster, more real. Every instinct screamed at me to dodge, to bite, to dominate.
Maya was merciless. She attacked again and again, her claws cutting deep. I tried to defend, to fight back, but she was faster, stronger.
She grabbed my scruff and threw me hard. I hit a tree, pain exploding through my ribs.
Get up, my wolf growled. We're not done.
I scrambled to my feet and charged.
Maya dodged, biting my hind leg. Pain shot through me, and I yelped. Then something inside me snapped.
The shadows erupted.
They poured from my fur in a violent wave, slamming into Maya and forcing her to let go. She stumbled back, surprised, and I pressed the advantage.
I moved without thinking, my wolf's instincts taking over completely. Dodge left. Fake right. Go for the throat
Then Maya's teeth caught my ear, and the sharp pain brought me back to myself.
We broke apart, both panting, both bleeding from minor wounds.
Then Maya shifted back to human.
"That," she said, breathing hard, "was better. Much better."
I shifted back too, my body aching all over. I was naked and bleeding and exhausted, but I was also... alive. More alive than I'd felt in years.
"The shadows," Maya said. "They came when you stopped thinking. That's when you were dangerous."
"I didn't mean to—"
"Yes, you did. Maybe not with your mind, but your wolf knew what she needed. She used the power available to her." Maya's expression was almost proud. "That's what I need you to understand, Selene. Your power isn't something separate from you. It's not something to be afraid of. It's part of you, a weapon. You just need to learn how to use it."
I looked down at my trembling hands
"How do I do that?"
"Practice. Again and again until using your shadows feels as natural as breathing." She tossed me my clothes. "Get dressed. We go again in ten minutes."
"Again?" I groaned.
"You didn't think we were done. did you?" She smiled, sharp and dangerous. "We're just getting started."
By the time Maya finally dismissed me, the sun was high in the sky.
I limped back toward camp, every inch of my body screaming. My clothes were torn and bloodied. My face was bruised. And I was pretty sure I'd cracked a rib.
But I'd survived.
And more than that I'd learned.
The shadows had come when I needed them. My wolf had fought beside me, not against me. And for brief moments, I'd felt... powerful.
"Goddess above, Maya really pushed you hard."
I looked up and saw Kael standing near Lyra's tent, his face showing a mix of surprise and worry.
"She said—" I had to stop and catch my breath. "She said she was going easy on me."
"That was her going easy." He offered me his arm. "Come on. Let's get you to Lyra before you pass out."
I took his arm gratefully, leaning on him more than I wanted to.
"Did you train with Maya?" I asked.
"Once," he said, smiling a little. "About six months ago. I couldn't move for three
"That's not reassuring."
"It's not supposed to be," he replied. "It's just the truth."
We walked quietly for a while, the air cool against my sweaty skin.
"Selene," Kael said quietly. "What you did back there that was amazing. Scary, but amazing."
"I don't even know how I did it."
"That's the point. Your body knows. Your wolf knows. You just have to learn to trust them." He glanced at me. "You're stronger than you think."
"Everyone keeps saying that." I muttered.
"Because it's true." He stopped walking, turning to face me fully. "I know you're scared. I know you think you're dangerous. But what I saw today wasn't a monster. It was a survivor learning to fight back."
Something tightened in my chest. His words hit deeper than I expected.
"Thank you," I whispered.
He gave a small smile. "Don't thank me. Just keep going." He squeezed my shoulder. "We need you, Selene. Whether you realize it or not."
Before I could ask what he meant, noise burst out from the center of camp, shouting, then a scream.
Kael's expression went hard. "Stay here."
Then he ran toward the sound, shifting into his wolf form before he even got there.
And even though I was tired, hurt, and every part of me wanted to rest.
I followed.