His False Mate, Her True Rise

CHAPTER 8

“Your form is wrong.”

Elena flinched at the sound of Kael’s voice and turned quickly. She had been so focused on not dropping the sword again that she had not heard him approach. “Your Highness,” she said, bowing her head slightly as she tried to steady her breathing.

Kael’s gaze moved over her stance, then to the sword trembling faintly in her hands. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes missed nothing. “If you continue like that,” he said calmly, “you’ll tear a muscle before you improve.”

He stepped closer before she could answer. Elena stiffened at once, unsure whether to move or remain still. “Move your front foot forward,” he said.

She obeyed immediately, nearly stumbling in her haste. Kael glanced down once, then back at her shoulders. “Other leg back,” he said. “Lower your shoulder.”

Elena tried to adjust on her own, but the sword tipped awkwardly in her grip. Kael gave a quiet sigh and reached for her arm without asking. His hand wrapped lightly around her wrist, guiding the blade into proper alignment.

The other hand settled briefly against her shoulder, turning her body by inches rather than force. Every movement was precise and controlled. He handled her like a problem to be corrected, yet Elena could not ignore the warmth of his touch.

His scent, warm wood and clean steel, surrounded her before she could think. Elena stared straight ahead, afraid that if she turned even slightly, she would become too aware of how close he was. Her pulse had already betrayed her.

“There,” Kael said near her ear as he stepped back. “Hold that.”

The soft brush of his voice against her skin sent heat rushing into her face. Elena tightened her grip on the sword and prayed he would not notice. Of course, he noticed at once.

“Are you unwell?” he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. “You’re flushed.”

“Your Highness,” Elena said quickly, taking two steps away. “If you are being kind to me because of Elaine, then it is wasted effort. I appreciate your help, but I do not need pity.”

Kael studied her in silence. He still could not catch any clear scent from her, yet his wolf stirred each time she looked away from him. It was beginning to irritate him more than he cared to admit.

“You are a student in my academy,” he said at last. “If you fail publicly, it reflects on those teaching you. My interest in your sister is a separate matter.”

Then he pointed toward the dummy with quiet authority.

“Now strike.”

Elena swallowed, tightened her grip, and copied the stance he had given her. She planted her feet, lowered her shoulder, and brought the sword down with all the strength left in her arms.

This time the blade bit deep enough to leave a clean mark without slipping free. The impact jolted through her arms, but the sword stayed in her hands. For a moment, she simply stared.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “I did it,” she whispered.

Kael’s mouth curved faintly, the smallest trace of approval.

“You did.”

Kael walked back toward his dormitory with his thoughts refusing to settle. His mind kept returning to Elena Hayes, and his wolf was no better behaved. It had been restless since he left the training grounds, stirring at the memory of her in a way he could not understand.

No matter how he tried to focus on lessons, rankings, or the coming Red Moon, his thoughts circled back to the same girl. The same flushed face. The same stubborn determination. It was becoming increasingly inconvenient.

Kael could not understand. He found himself irritated by how easily she had followed him into his thoughts.

He had noticed the difference between the sisters from the beginning. Elaine was bright, polished, impossible to ignore. When he first saw her, his wolf had leapt toward her with clean, blinding certainty. Elena, by contrast, seemed dimmed, buried beneath years of being overlooked. Yet around her, certainty was the last thing he felt.

What she brought was restlessness. Not the peace of finding a destined mate, but the raw, unnerving sense of standing before a locked door while something on the other side whispered his name. His wolf did not surge toward her the way it had with Elaine. It paced.

The goddess had chosen, he reminded himself. His path was clear: win the crown, take the Luna everyone expected, protect the kingdom. Duty was simple. It always had been.

So why did every step he took toward that future feel a fraction wrong?

Elaine walked through the courtyard with her new clique at her side. Celeste and Mira matched her pace easily, both wolves from noble families who had attached themselves to her within days. Just like back home, Elaine had become the center of attention without effort. Beauty had a way of making people forget everyone here was born privileged.

She stopped at the notice board and searched the quarter assessment rankings. Her name appeared in the top fifty, exactly where she expected it to be. A small smile touched her lips before she looked lower for Elena. It vanished when she found rank three hundred and fifty.

Pathetic.

She turned at once.

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Across the courtyard, Elena stood staring at the notice board as if the numbers might change if she looked at them long enough. Out of four hundred students, she had escaped last place but little else. Rank three hundred and fifty stared back at her like an insult carved into stone. Most of her points had come from theory, not strength.

Around her, students whispered proudly over their own scores or laughed in relief at surviving another assessment. Some celebrated moving up only a few places, while others complained they deserved higher. Elena heard none of it clearly. The noise around her felt distant beneath the weight settling in her chest.

“You were not expecting a miracle because you improved a little, were you?”

Elena stiffened at Rowan’s voice beside her and turned sharply. She had not heard him approach. “No,” she said quietly after a moment. “But I did not expect to be this low. Not when my sister is so high.”

Her eyes drifted again toward rank fifty, where Elaine’s name sat neatly among students who belonged. The difference between them looked larger written on the board than it ever had at home. For a second, Elena wished she had never come.

Rowan followed her gaze and said nothing at first. His expression remained unreadable, but there was something colder than usual in his eyes. “You are human,” he said at last, lowering his voice so only she could hear. “This is as far as humans go before they are removed.”

Elena’s hands clenched at her sides until her nails bit into her palms. Shame burned hot beneath her skin, but anger rose with it. She hated that he spoke as though her failure had already been decided.

“Then quit now,” Rowan said coolly. “Leave before this place crushes what pride you have left. Better to walk out on your own feet than be dragged out later.”

He turned to walk away, already dismissing her.

“Senior Rowan.”

The confident female voice cut through the courtyard sharply enough to stop nearby conversations. Several heads turned at once. Rowan paused mid-step and looked back without haste.

Elaine stood a few steps away with Celeste and Mira behind her. Her chin was lifted, posture flawless, blue eyes cold enough to match steel. Even in a crowded courtyard, attention gathered around her naturally.

“It is the duty of a group leader to train students and bring out their strengths,” she said smoothly. “If they remain weak, does that not reflect poorly on the one teaching them?”

A murmur spread through the students nearby. Some looked amused, others eager for conflict. Elena stared at her sister in surprise, unsure whether this was defense or humiliation dressed in prettier words.

Rowan’s expression did not change.

But his eyes sharpened.