Elara was only now realizing how exhausting it was to pretend she was fine when her own body kept finding new ways to fall apart every day.
One injury hadn’t even healed before the next one showed up to take its place.
Since the incident in the infirmary yesterday, she could at least walk again without clinging to a wall or fighting back nausea every time she stood up too fast.
But her head still felt light, and her body had lost most of its strength.
She was tired all day, every day, even after a full night’s sleep.
Kael noticed.
Of course he did.
He walked beside her a little slower than usual, though his face kept its same bored expression.
Every few steps, his eyes would glance toward Elara, making sure she was still walking on her own two feet.
Elara finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“You can stop looking at me like that.”
Kael turned his face away.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re waiting for me to fall.”
“I am waiting for that,” he said, unbothered.
She scoffed.
“I’m not going to fall.”
“Good.”
The answer came out so flat that she turned to look at him.
“You sound disappointed.”
He finally glanced over.
“If you’re going to fall, at least wait until my hands are empty.” He hefted the stack of books in one arm.
Books the two of them now had to get through in a week, all because they’d missed a class on Ancient History and Civilization.
“How does missing one class turn into this much reading?”
Kael huffed, biting back a laugh.
“You think it was just one?”
“Oh.” She let it drop.
So it had been more than once.
She’d gotten hurt so many times that the two of them had missed class more than once because of it.
She studied him as they walked.
Something had shifted since yesterday.
She couldn’t put her finger on it, but he seemed more alert–watching her more closely, especially when they cut through a crowd of students.
His hand kept twitching toward her whenever she got too close to a staircase or a busy corner, though this time he didn’t just yank her along like he usually did.
Maybe it was because he’d seen exactly what happened when too much of her blood ended up on the floor.
Maybe after yesterday, he’d finally understood that keeping her safe meant more than stopping her from tripping down a flight of stairs.
At first, Elara didn’t even notice Kael at all.
Her mind was busy remembering the dream within a dream she’d had yesterday.
She wanted to make sure the fragments of that dream remained stored in her memory until she could find out the truth for herself.
For now, she couldn’t tell anyone about it–not even the werewolf who’d been guarding her around the clock.
“Kael?
You mentioned a competition between the clans?”
His head snapped toward her.
“You’re still on about that?”
She nodded, resolute.
“You looked pretty worried about it.”
“Why would I worry about something so trivial?” he shot back, refusing to meet her eyes.
He cut down a side path toward their next class.
His stride was long, but not so long that she couldn’t keep up.
She stayed right at the edge of his vision.
“Because you’re behind everyone else.
Aren’t you?”
He let out a short breath.
“You asked.
I just answered honestly.”
“So what happens if you lose?”
His pace slowed.
The question had clearly gotten under his skin.
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
She waited him out, and he kept going.
“It’s not just a tournament.
Every clan’s Alpha candidates compete.
They’re judged on ability, on leadership, on how they hold up under pressure and make calls when it counts.”
“And you’re one of them?”
He gave a single nod.
“So if you lose?” She pressed like a political reporter closing in on a soundbite, giving him no room to breathe.
“I won’t lose the Rhaen name overnight.”
She waited for the rest.
He blew out a breath through his nose.
This girl could be so stubborn–and so careless with her own safety, on top of everything else.
“But people will start wondering if I’m even fit to lead the clan.”
That shut her up.
He kept talking, his voice lighter now, like he was trying to shrug off the weight of his own words.
“I still have a shot.
It’s just that some of them have been training a lot longer than I have, these past few months.”
She knew exactly why.
She thought of Riven in the courtyard the day before, of the conversation between them she hadn’t been able to hear.
She remembered Riven saying Kael had already missed too many sessions.
This wasn’t Kael falling one or two lessons behind.
This was him trying to claw his way back into something that had already started without him–because he’d been too busy keeping her alive.
“You’re sure you can win?” she asked, curious about his confidence given how far behind he’d just admitted to being.
“Of course. Get faster updates on g.com.
As long as Rhyze plays fair,” he said, exactly as she’d expected.
“Who’s that now?” she groaned.
There were too many names she was supposed to know and somehow didn’t.
“We’re about to run into him.
Tracking and hunting class.”
She let a sly smile creep across her face.
“So you have a rival.”
“Everyone has a rival.
Everyone but you, maybe,” he said, in a tone that felt aimed squarely at her.
“You really don’t like him.” It wasn’t a question.
She could tell from the annoyance on his face, the way his brow had pulled tight.
“I don’t like most people.”
She laughed under her breath.
“That sounds exactly like you.”
He stopped answering her after that, even when she kept firing off questions about material from class she still hadn’t understood.
Eventually her voice started to grate on him.
She was too loud for his liking right now.
She watched him ignore her for a while before making a snap decision.
“Fine.
I’ll join whatever classes you need to catch up on.
I’m not getting hurt again.”
He stopped walking.
They were almost at the training grounds for the next class.
She nearly ran into his back.
“What?”
“I already told you–worry about your own two feet.
Stay out of my business.”
She wanted to argue, but he was already walking off without her.
“Can’t we just call this a mutually beneficial arrangement?
I don’t know when I’ll wake up, so what if we just help each other out?
You keep me safe, and in return I make sure you stop missing class.”
The second the words left her mouth, she realized how close she’d come to admitting she wasn’t even from here.
Luckily, Kael was too irritated to bother responding.
Her rambling cut off the moment they reached the next class.
Tracking and hunting was held outside of Ravencrest, far from the combat field she already knew.
This place was wider and wilder, ringed by tall trees that formed a natural border around the training ground.
There was a footpath that cut through a small forest, some large moss-covered rocks, and thick bushes where a person could disappear after taking just a few steps inside.
She slowed when she saw a cluster of students already waiting.
Unlike the combat class, this place felt almost peaceful.
No bodies slamming into each other, no teacher barking corrections.
Most of the students stood in small groups, listening.
Kael stood beside her, arms crossed over his chest.
His expression shifted the moment he caught the teacher’s opening words.
“Tracking and hunting isn’t just about following footprints,” the teacher said.
“You’ll learn to read shifts in scent, to hear movement from a distance, and to trust your instincts in unfamiliar territory.”
She glanced at Kael.
“Did you skip this one too?”
He gave a short nod.
“Doesn’t look too hard for you,” she guessed.
Before he could answer, the teacher kept going.
“For today’s exercise, some of you will run a search simulation using your wolf instincts.”
One of the students at the front started pulling off his jacket.
She watched with growing curiosity.
Kael, meanwhile, took a step back.
“We’re not doing this.
Let’s go.” He was already reaching for her hand when a voice cut across the field.
“Still babysitting, Rhaen?”
Kael’s stare went ice-cold.
“Still can’t shut up?”
She leaned closer and whispered, “Who’s that?”
“The one we were just talking about.
The one who won’t play fair.
Lucan Rhyze.” He bent down to murmur it against her ear.
She nodded, understanding immediately.
He is the rival.
The teacher kept explaining to the small groups of students, but the rival from the Rhyze clan clearly wasn’t listening.
He was too busy baiting Kael.
“If I don’t remind you, who will?
The competition’s only a few weeks out.”
Kael didn’t take the bait.
He answered with a mocking smile instead.
“How could I forget the day I put my claw through your throat?”
Lucan Rhyze just shrugged and turned back to his group.
She glanced at Kael.
“Now I get why you don’t like him.”
“Told you.”
She almost laughed, but the teacher’s voice cut back in.
“Riven.
Xera.
Over here.”
Riven and Xera crossed toward the teacher, who was already walking toward Kael.
“You three are the furthest behind in this class, thanks to your group’s training schedule getting derailed.”
Kael didn’t argue.
Riven and Xera nodded.
“You can’t afford to skip this session too.
I’ve already given you enough slack.
You know what today’s exercise is, don’t you?”
Only Riven and Xera nodded.
Kael stayed silent.
Finally, he spoke.
“I’m out.
Cut me from the group, let Riven and Xera keep going without me.”
“Fine.
Then I’ll cut your name from the competition instead.”
Kael’s jaw tightened.
He didn’t argue back, but his silence this time carried a different weight–heavier than his usual quiet.
Unlike Ma’am Verg, this teacher was a lot more frightening.
Elara caught Kael’s hand just as he moved to pull her away from the field.
The teacher noticed that small motion.
A thin smile curved at the corner of his mouth.
“I’ve got an idea for that missing fourth in your group.
Riven, you’ll track.
Xera will be the target.
And you–” He pointed at Kael, still smiling.
“You’ll track.
And you, human–you’ll be the target.”
“No.” The word came too fast out of Kael’s mouth.
“Why not?
She’s on the class list, and since she doesn’t belong to any specific clan, I’m free to place her wherever I want.” His attention shifted to Elara.
“You don’t mind, do you?”
She hesitated.
Kael’s hand was already signaling for them to leave.
But she didn’t move.
“You’re putting me in the middle of the forest, and Kael hunts me down?” she asked, wanting to be sure.
However hard she tried, she couldn’t picture herself as prey.
The teacher nodded.
“It’s just a simulation.
No one’s actually hunting you.
You just need to get far enough into the trees,” he gestured toward the forest behind him, “and wait for Kael to find you.”
“No.
She won’t be safe out there.
She’s barely safe standing here.
I’m sitting this class out.
Do what you want.” Kael wasn’t backing down.
He’d already turned, pulling her along, when she finally spoke up.
“I’ll do it.”
Every head in the clearing turned toward her.
“You are not letting her go in there.” Kael’s voice dropped low.
The teacher’s smile finally faded.
He let out a breath.
“Kael, you’ve missed enough classes.
You can’t keep hiding behind your duty to dodge training.”
“I’m not hiding behind anything,” Kael snapped back.
“I’ll do it.
I mean it.” She said it again, meeting the teacher’s eyes.
“See?
Even she’s fine with it.
You’re overthinking this.”
“Don’t use the fact that she doesn’t know any better to hand me a win.
That competition is your ambition, and the clan’s–not mine.
You know exactly how dangerous it is out there for someone like her.”
She couldn’t follow the current argument anymore.
Right as she tried to piece it together, she caught Xera’s eye.
Xera gave her a small, clear signal: stay quiet, don’t push back against either of them.
The teacher studied Kael for a long moment, weighing something.
“Fine.
If you’re the one refusing.”
She felt the tension go out of Kael–the breath he let go, the way his grip on her hand finally loosened.
The teacher wasn’t finished.
“In your place–Lucan!
You’re hunting Elara.”
The relief Kael had just let out seemed to get sucked right back in.
His grip clamped down on her hand again, harder than before.
Across the clearing, Lucan smiled.
It did nothing to make Elara feel any better.
This story has been living in my head for a while, and I’m so excited to finally share it with you.
If you’re enjoying it, please drop a comment, hit that vote button, and leave a review.
It truly keeps me motivated to write more.
Even a simple “hi” makes me smile.
Also, if you’d like to spoil me a little, a gift is always deeply appreciated.
See you in the comments!