*Nathaniel*
Pain was easy.
It didn’t ask questions. It didn’t demand explanations. It didn’t stare back at me with wide eyes full of fear and faith and ask, Can you really protect me?
Pain just came.
And right now, I welcomed it.
My fist connected with the padded target again, and again, and again, the sharp crack echoing through the training dome like a metronome set to rage. The instructor standing across from me was seasoned–old scars down his jaw, knuckles that had long stopped bleeding–but even he looked winded. I didn’t stop.
“Again, I barked.
“You need to slow down,” he grunted. “You’re running too hot.”
“I said again.”
This time, he complied.
I wasn’t fighting for discipline. I wasn’t even fighting to improve. I was fighting to feel something that didn’t include the image of Jiselle whispering those three words–Then let them come–and knowing exactly what they’d unleash.
Every council meeting. Every whisper in the halls. Every time Bastain went too quiet, or Carrow shifted just slightly before answering my questions. They all knew something. Something they weren’t telling us. And no matter how closely I held her, I couldn’t shield her from it.
Not yet.
I struck harder. My bones rattled. My muscles screamed. Good.
That was when I remembered it.
The first time I ever felt it–that odd, magnetic pull in my chest at eleven, when Jiselle had laughed at something I said while leaning over a combat mat. I remembered thinking, this is dangerous. Because even then, I’d known. Ethan’s twin sister. The girl I wasn’t supposed to touch. And yet, that laugh? That spark? It had undone me.
And I’d made the promise.
One that nearly cost her everything.
By the time I left the dome, the sky was bleeding with dusk. I didn’t want to go back inside. Not yet.
So I found Bastain instead.
He stood alone on the observation deck, arms folded, his eyes on the horizon like he could see the future and hated what it held.
“What happens if she manifests too much?” I asked.
He didn’t look at me. “We pray she doesn’t.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have right now.”
I clenched my fists. “If you’re asking me to keep her contained-”
“I’m asking you to keep her alive.”
His words were quiet. But they hit harder than any punch I’d taken all day.
“Nathaniel, you’re a veilborn wolf–one of two in your generation. You’re extremely dangerous and feared. There’s only one veilborn on the council and she’s… unique. My point is, use it. You’re not feared for nothing.”
Then, he turned, and left.
When I returned to the dorms, Jiselle was in my bed, curled on her side in one of my shirts–legs tangled in sheets, her hair a wild halo of soft brown chaos. I watched her for a long moment. Just breathing. Just being. Something tightened in my
chest.
I couldn’t believe after all my crap, after all the 1.
Successfully unlocked!
was now… mine.
I knew I still need to gain her trust, and I knew she still had her reservations. Worst of all, I knew she still loved Laker. But for now, I would take the tiny part of her that I have with gladness and gratitude. Moon goddess knows I didn’t deserve it She stirred and blinked up at me.
Chapter 67
“You look like hell,” she mumbled with the cutest yawn that made me want to devour her right this minute.
I snorted. “You should see the other guy.”
Her lips twitched. “There was another guy?”
“Barely.” I sat at the edge of the bed. “He tapped out after five minutes.”
“Poor man.”
I brushed her hair from her forehead. “I need you to get up.”
She groaned. “You can’t just wake me up with vague threats and cryptic declarations. I require coffee and at least a light threat of pastries.”
I smiled. “You’ll like where we’re going.”
She stretched, then sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. “If this turns into a rooftop murder or some intense survival training, I will end you.”
“You wound me.”
“I’d rather wound Max.”
That sobered me a bit.
I kissed the crown of her head. “You ready?”
She shrugged on a jacket, then followed me down through the west stairwell, out into the woods. The air was crisp, scented with pine and the distant promise of frost. The clearing waited just ahead–wide open under the stars, the grass silver with dew. Where we had had multiple training sessions before.
She looked around. “Okay. So you brought me into the woods. Alone. At night. To train.”
“I brought you under the stars,” I corrected. “Very romantic.”
“You are the worst mate,” she muttered, and I caught the teasing glint in her eyes.
“You’re admitting that we’re mates?” I asked, pretending to be shocked. “I thought we were still in our enemies–to–lovers era.” She shoved me lightly, laughing. “We are very much in the ‘don’t make me cry before Solstice‘ phase.”
That sobered me. Again.
I had a lot of triggers, it seemed, when it came to my mate.
I drew a breath, then gestured toward the center of the clearing. “Let me see what you can do.”
“I don’t know what I can do,” she muttered.
“Doesn’t matter. Try anyway.”
She exhaled, closed her eyes, and centered herself.
And we began fighting.
She was a bit sloppy on footwork due to days of not training, but she was as great as I trained her to be.
I was so freaking proud.
We circled each other slowly, falling into rhythm. I threw a feint–she dodged. She lunged–fast, clean, practiced. I grabbed her wrist, twisted, and she flipped out of it like second nature.
When we crashed into each other, it wasn’t with violence. It was with connection. Like two pieces slotting back together. We rolled, landed in the grass, breathless.
“Do you still want to stab me?” I asked.
“Ask again after Solstice.”
She smiled, but I saw the flicker of fear behind it.
“That’s why you’re doing this, aren’t you?” she asked softly. “You want to ensure I can defend myself.”
She knew the answer before I even answered. Yet, I nodded with a sigh.
“Jiselle, all I can think about is that people are going to come after you… You, Jiselle. I can’t stand the thought of you being helpless.” She smiled then, and heavens help me, that smile undid me.
“I can defend myself, Nate. I was trained by the best.”
I chuckled. “Me.”
“Well….” She clicked her tongue. “I meant Eva, but you’re good too.” That did it, I threw my head back in a laugh–one that she mimicked. I forgot how cute and hilarious she was.
After catching her breath, she wandered towards a puddle of malted
2/2
Chapter 67
was settling in… Solstice was settling in.
She looked down, and her reflection shimmered.
And for a second-
Just one second-
Her eyes were white.
Not glowing. Not flickering.
Blinding. Unbroken. Whole.
“Jiselle,” I said, standing fast.
She blinked, and her eyes cleared.
But the image was seared into both our memories now.
I remembered when my wolf first tapped into shadows. It was like going on cloud nine.
And now Jiselle…
It was surreal… witnessing this. Just a few years ago, we were climbing trees and swimming in freezing lakes. Now, she was manifesting her gifts.
We stood side by side in silence.
And I knew-
We were running out of time.
