Born From The Ash

CHAPTER 4

ARIA'S POV

I stood at the edge of the clearing as frost laced over the tree limbs, the chill of dawn brushing against my skin like a warning. The cold barely registered anymore, not when fire roared inside me.

My breath came steady, but every inhale felt like swallowing shards of ice. I couldn't shake the echo of Kaiden's voice from my head.

The way he said my name. The way he rejected me like I was nothing. Like I hadn't haunted his past as much as he haunted mine.

My arms were folded tight across my chest, fingers digging into the rough wool of my cloak as I tried to steal the fury writhing beneath my skin. My wolf prowled inside me, wounded and confused. She hadn't expected the rejection. I hadn't either.

Not from him.

"Wake up everyone!" I told David, who'd appeared without making any sound, like he always does. "We're training today. Hard."

He nodded once, his gaze lingering on my face. He didn't speak. He didn't need to.

By midmorning, the camp came alive with the grunts and growls of sparring. I walked the perimeter, correcting stances, shouting orders, watching bodies collide in the dirt with brutal rhythm. My voice cut through the air like a whip.

"Again, Cera! Put your weight behind it. Your enemy won't wait for you to commit." I shouted, looking at her incorrect posture.

She rolled her eyes, sweat beading on her brow. "I'm going to hit you in a second." She says in confidence and I scoff at her response.

I smirked, looking at her. "You can try, Sweety!" Provoking is not the best choice but it will help her in training.

I turned sharply when Jax stumbled, missing a defensive block. I was on him in a second. "Like this." I said, wrenching the blade from his hand and demonstrating with precision. "In and out. Quick. No hesitation."

He nodded quickly, his face pale. I didn't let up, pressing on him hard and leaving no place of mercy for them.

They needed to be ready. If Blackridge sent another wave of hunters... if he came- No! I couldn't let that thought take root.

"You're way too strong, Sis!" Alex growls when I give him a punch- not too hard, and tackle him to the ground.

"I'm not strong, your moves are just a little slow." I replied, leaving him behind and moving to another person to train.

By midday, everyone collapsed by the fire pit. Mira passed around the water, pressing a small vial into my hand. "You're pushing too hard."

"I'm not pushing hard enough." I said, shaking her off, and taking a sip of water.

I stood off to the side, watching my pack breathe steam into the air like wounded animals. They were tired. But they were alive. And they were mine.

"We won't run next time!" I said, looking at all of them. "We will fight. I don't care who it is. We fight and we win." I announce and see their faces change their colour.

David's voice was low. "You mean if he comes." He cocks his eyebrows at me, desperately seeking out on my already wounded heart.

I met his eyes, my spine stiff. "I said what I meant." I said firmly, looking at him.

But inside, the words stung.

Because David is right. It was him I feared. Not for what he could do to my body, but what he already did to my mind.

I left them in the clearing and wandered to the stream at the camp's edge. The water ran clear and cold over the stone. I knelt and dipped my hands in, hoping the shock would clear my head.

Mira joined me some moments later. "You haven't shifted since the ceremony." She says, sitting next to me and dips her hands too.

"I don't want to." I muttered, feeling low and not willing to do anything except letting out the anger and frustration.

"Because of the bond?" She again asks, clawing at my wound, which I'm trying to hide.

I didn't answer her, and this gives her a new point to fire at me.

"You're afraid?" She said and I looked up at her with a frown.

"Afraid of what?" I ask, cocking my eyebrows at her.

"Of what he makes you feel." Mira not only knows about herbs to heal a wound, she clearly knows how to hit critical wounds too.

I laughed bitterly and shook my head. "He makes me feel like destroying everything. Even me."

Mira sighs, pressing a hand on my shoulder. "Anger is still a feeling. It means you care."

"I don't care." I retort, squinting my eyes at her.

"You do." She scoffs, smugly looking at me and gets up to leave. "Calm yourself down and come back, strong and independent, like always."

The moon had begun to rise by the time I left the stream. Pale silver light spilled over the camp, making the tents glow. I sat outside mine, watching the trees shift like shadows with secrets.

I pressed my fingers to the bond mark on my collarbone. It still pulsed faintly beneath the surface, like a warning I couldn't escape.

"I hate him." I whisper, don't know if I'm trying to convince myself or stating a fact.

But hate wasn't the same as indifference.

The sound of howling shattered the stillness, low and close. My heart leapt into my throat. I stood, drawing my dagger in my hand.

"Stay alert!" I called out.

Cera and Jax emerged, weapons in hand. David and Alex were already by the perimeter.

But the howling faded.

False alarm.

Still, my skin crawled.

That night, I couldn't sleep. I lay curled in my blankets, staring at the ceiling of my tent, every breath heavy. When I did drift off, my dreams were filled with fire. Smoke. My father's voice. And Kaiden's eyes, dark and full of something I don't understand.

Not rage. No pity.

It's like....Grief?

I woke up startled in the middle of the night, my heart racing against my ribcage, as I rubbed my collarbone to calm down.

The bond still burned. Low. Steady. Undeniable. The Moon had tied me to my enemy.

And I didn't know whether I wanted to kill him... or scream his name.

But I did know one thing. I would never let him be the one to break me.

Never.