They woke me before dawn.
I hadn't been asleep,at least, not the kind of sleep I remembered from before. My mind drifted in and out of something heavy and restless, filled with fractured images and half-formed sensations. Running. Heat under my skin. A pulse that wasn't quite my own.
The door opened, and I was on my feet before I realized I'd moved.
The woman from before stood in the doorway, arms crossed, eyes sharp with displeasure.
"Up," she said. "You're late."
"I didn't know there was a schedule," I replied hoarsely.
"There is now."
She turned and walked away without waiting to see if I followed. I grabbed my coat and stumbled after her, boots thudding against the stone floor as we moved through winding tunnels that sloped upward toward the surface.
The forest greeted us with cold air and pale, gray light. Mist clung to the ground, curling around tree trunks like something alive. Several figures were already waiting in a clearing smaller than the main one, pack members standing in loose formation, watching me with open curiosity.
The alpha was there.
He stood apart from the others, posture relaxed but alert, hands clasped behind his back. When his eyes met mine, I felt that familiar pressure again, subtle but undeniable.
"Today we see what you can do," he said.
"I don't know how to do anything," I said, my voice barely steady.
"That's the point."
The woman, my handler, apparently, stepped forward. "Name's Rhea," she said curtly. "I'll be overseeing you."
I nodded. "I'm—"
"I don't care," she cut in. "Not yet."
Heat flushed my cheeks, but I bit down on whatever retort threatened to spill out.
Rhea circled me slowly, gaze sharp and assessing. "You're thin. Slow. Your posture's wrong. Your breathing's worse."
"I've been cursed for less than forty-eight hours," I snapped before I could stop myself.
A few of the onlookers chuckled.
Rhea's eyes flicked up to mine. "And already developing attitude. Interesting."
The alpha lifted a hand, silencing the murmurs. "Begin."
Rhea stepped back and gestured to the ground. "Show me how you stand."
I blinked. "What?"
"When you feel threatened," she clarified.
"How do you hold yourself?"
My heart pounded. Every eye was on me now. I swallowed and closed my hands into fists, drawing my shoulders in instinctively. My weight shifted backward, knees locked, bracing for a blow that hadn't come yet.
Rhea snorted. "Prey stance."
The word stung more than it should have.
Before I could respond, she lunged.
I shrieked and stumbled backward, barely avoiding her grasp. The movement was clumsy, panicked, my feet tangling as I scrambled away.
"Stop running!" Rhea barked. "Face me!"
"I don't want to fight you!" I gasped.
"Doesn't matter."
She advanced again, faster this time. I raised my arms reflexively, bracing for impact.
And something snapped.
Not pain. Not fear.
Focus.
The world sharpened, edges cutting clean and clear. I could see her weight shift before she moved, could smell the tension in her muscles, hear the change in her breathing. My body reacted before my mind caught up.
I twisted aside.
Rhea's hand brushed my sleeve instead of my throat. She overextended by a fraction and I shoved her shoulder with both hands.
She stumbled.
The clearing went silent.
Rhea straightened slowly, staring at me like I'd grown another head.
"That," the alpha said quietly, "was new."
My heart thundered in my ears. "I didn't… I don't know how I did that."
Rhea's lips pressed into a thin line.
"Again.
She came at me harder this time, no warning, no mercy. I dodged once, twice, my movements still awkward but no longer blind. Each near-miss sent a strange thrill through me, not pleasure, but clarity.
I wasn't strong.
But I wasn't helpless either.
Rhea swept my legs, and I hit the ground hard, the air knocked from my lungs.
Before I could recover, she was on me, knee pressing into my chest, fingers curled dangerously close to my throat.
"This is where you die," she said softly.
Panic surged..
And then the ache stirred.
Not wild. Not loud.
Steady.
Patient.
I focused on it the way I had in the room the night before, breathing through the pressure on my chest. The fear dulled, edges smoothing as something cold and sharp slid into place behind my thoughts.
I pushed.
Rhea's eyes widened as she was thrown off me, skidding backward across the damp ground. She caught herself quickly, but the damage was done.
Murmurs rippled through the pack.
The alpha stepped forward, eyes locked on me. "Enough."
Rhea rose slowly, brushing dirt from her clothes. Her expression had changed—not mocking now, but wary.
"You didn't overpower me," she said. "You redirected."
"I don't know how," I said, shaking.
"You will."
The alpha turned to the pack. "This is what adaptation looks like."
His gaze returned to me. "You don't burn hot. You don't explode."
He took a step closer. "You endure."
Something in his tone sent a shiver down my spine.
"Training continues," he said. "Twice daily."
A groan rose from somewhere in the crowd.
I sagged as the adrenaline drained out of me, legs trembling. Rhea approached and caught my arm before I could fall.
"Don't get proud," she muttered. "You're still fragile."
"I know," I whispered.
She paused, then added, quieter, "But you're learning faster than you should."
As they led me back toward the lower quarters, the clearing buzzed with low voices. I kept my head down, but I could feel it, the shift.
They weren't just watching me anymore.
They were measuring me.
And deep inside, beneath the exhaustion and fear, the quiet presence stirred again.
Not hungry.
Not raging.
Waiting...