The training grounds were nothing like I expected.
They weren't some polished arena or modern facility. Just a hollowed-out glade surrounded by jagged rocks and towering pines, the earth scorched from battles past. Ancient symbols were etched into the ground in ash and blood, humming faintly with energy. This place had seen power. And pain.
Lucian stood across from me, bare-chested again, arms crossed. His presence was commanding even when he wasn't trying. There was a storm in him—one he kept barely leashed. Today, he didn't intend to hold it back.
"You've carved your name," he said, his voice cutting through the cold air. "Now it's time to see if you can wear it."
I rolled my shoulders, nerves crackling like dry leaves inside me. "So... what? You're going to fight me?"
He gave a wolfish grin. "No. I'm going to hunt you."
Before I could respond, he vanished.
Literally vanished.
One second, he was in front of me. The next, just wind and rustling leaves.
"Great," I muttered. "We're doing the whole cryptic predator-prey lesson."
Then the ground trembled.
I spun, just in time to see a blur of motion slam toward me. I dodged on instinct, hitting the dirt hard and rolling to my feet. Lucian emerged from the trees like a beast made of shadows—faster than any human should be. His claws were out, his eyes glowing like twin moons.
"You need to stop thinking like a girl from the suburbs," he growled. "This isn't about fighting fair. It's about surviving."
I ducked as he lunged again, then lashed out with my foot, catching him in the ribs. He barely flinched. I stumbled back, panting, the mark on my shoulder burning.
"You've got power in you, Ravyn," he said. "But it's sleeping. Wake it up."
"How?" I snapped. "It's not like there's a manual for—"
Then it hit me.
A spark. Buried deep in my chest. A pulse of something ancient.
Not rage. Not fear.
Instinct.
I closed my eyes and let it rise.
The forest sounds fell away. I could hear Lucian's breathing. Feel the shift in the air as he moved. The rhythm of his heartbeat.
When I opened my eyes, the world had changed.
The trees were clearer. The wind more alive. I saw trails of heat curling from the earth, and Lucian's body glowing with the energy of his motion.
I didn't wait for him to strike.
I lunged first.
Claws burst from my fingertips as I leapt forward, catching him off-guard. Our bodies collided, and for a moment, I saw surprise flicker in his expression. I slashed toward his shoulder—he blocked it, grabbed my wrist, spun me, and threw me into a tree.
Pain flared, but I didn't stop.
I couldn't.
The fire was rising now—spreading through my limbs, through my bones, through every heartbeat. It wasn't pain anymore.
It was power.
I shot forward again, ducking low, sweeping his legs. He hit the ground, rolled, and came up grinning.
"There she is," he said.
"Don't smile at me like that," I panted. "You're still losing."
We clashed again—strike for strike, claw to claw. He was faster, stronger, more experienced. But I was unpredictable. Untamed. I fought like someone with nothing left to fear.
And then it happened.
His fist came at me—fast, brutal. I caught it in my hand.
My eyes met his.
And I roared.
The sound ripped through the glade, sending birds scattering from the treetops. It wasn't human. It wasn't even fully wolf.
It was something in-between.
Something new.
Lucian backed off, nodding slowly. "You're waking up."
I dropped to my knees, trembling, every inch of me buzzing like lightning had passed through my skin.
"What the hell was that?" I gasped.
He crouched beside me. "The fire in your veins. The birthright you've been suppressing. That was the first time you stopped resisting what you are."
"I felt like I was burning alive."
"You were. That's what it means to become. It tears you apart before it puts you back together."
I looked at my hands. They were shaking. Bloody. But no longer weak.
"Will it always feel like this?" I asked.
He gave me a long look. "No. Eventually, it'll feel like breathing."
I exhaled.
For the first time since the bite, I didn't feel like a victim.
I felt like a predator learning how to hunt.
And the world was about to find out just how dangerous I could be.