Three weeks into my new life at Hollow Fang, I stood in the training yard watching Darius's wolves spar. They moved with a brutal efficiency that Blackmoor's fighters had never possessed—less focused on form and technique, more on ending conflicts quickly and permanently.
"Impressed?" Vera asked, joining me at the observation platform.
"Concerned," I replied honestly. "These aren't soldiers. They're killers."
"Is there a difference?"
I considered that. "Soldiers fight for causes. Killers fight for pleasure."
"And which do you think we need to destroy Kael?"
Both, I thought, but kept it to myself.
Darius appeared at my elbow, sweat still gleaming on his skin from his own training session. "Ready for your first real test?"
"What kind of test?"
"The kind where we see if you're truly
