CHAPTER 4: BLOOD AND PRACTICE
1067 Words
Raven’s POV
The training ground smelled of wet earth and old sweat. Dawn light cut through the mist as Dante stood across from me, expression flat, hands curled into the shape of a man who had given orders his whole life. I tightened my fingers around the wooden practice knife and waited.
“Remember your stance,” he said, voice low. “Hold your weight back on your rear foot... don’t lean. Eyes on the shoulders, not the blade.”
I shifted without thinking. My feet slid into the angle he wanted before he had finished the sentence. I watched his eyes widen for the smallest beat. He threw a straight jab toward my midsection; I stepped aside and drove my elbow into the space he had left, the move landing clean.
“Again,” he said.
I moved, he feinted high, and my hand answered low. He spun left; my knee met him. He barked the next sequence... block, thrust, rip... words still leaving his mouth when my body had already done the third move. It felt like my limbs ran on a map my head no longer needed.
Dante landed a light hit on my shoulder, and I countered, shoving him back with a precise palm strike. He laughed, short and surprised. “You got that one before I finished saying it.”
I smiled, breath steaming in the cold air. “You train me well, coach.”
He pushed off my chest with the flat of his hand and nodded, satisfied. “Amazing. You have gotten so good. I am proud of you, Raven. Good job.”
I let the praise warm me for a second. “Thanks,” I said, panting. “You’re a great coach.”
He snorted. “Come on. That is enough for today. Rest.”
I wanted to keep moving until every shaky memory in my bones became muscle, but there was something I couldn't push aside anymore, and this might just be my chance.
“Wait, Dante,” I said, catching my breath as I wiped sweat from my brow. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
He paused on the path back to his cabin and turned. “What is it?”
“You remember the omega trafficking case we’ve been hunting for the last two years?” I asked, voice steady though my heart thudded against my ribs.
“How could I forget?” He gripped the edge of the practice ring, jaw tight. “It keeps me up at night; that son of a b***h haunts me.”
“They’ve expanded,” I said. “I heard someone at LethalMoon Pack is taking omegas and selling them to the traffickers. I don’t know who, but I want to go in, find the culprit, and bring them down.”
Dante stopped walking. The air between us went cold in a different way. “Wait... what? You mean Cassian’s pack?”
“Yes.” My voice had no tremble, even though I felt the old hurt like a hard coal under my sternum just by the mention of his name... sharp, fiery. “They have a good face in public, but something is rotten. I will go in as a rogue seeking refuge, snoop around, and find proof.”
Dante’s eyes were unreadable for a long beat. “No. Absolutely not,” he said finally. “Hell no, Raven. Even if I could swallow this, you are not going into LethalMoon alone. If there is a dangerous person in Cassian’s pack k********g omegas, the last thing I would do is send you into the lion’s den.”
“You said I’m ready.” I ran a hand through my hair, frustration flaring. “You said you were proud. I have trained for two years, and if I don’t do this, I will always feel fragile. I need this... Dante, please.”
He turned away and started walking again. I ran after him, breath coming faster than it should.
“I can't let you do this.” He stopped at the door of his cabin and faced me, raw lines in his face. “You almost died the last time you went out on a lead; I watched your body almost get torn apart. I will lose my mind if I lose you.”
I felt something break open in me at the way his voice cracked. For a second, the hard shell around me softened.
I stepped closer and took his hands. They were warm and calloused, steadying. “I know you’re worried,” I said, voice small. “I know what you feel, but I am okay. I was given this second chance. Let me use it; I won’t be reckless. I promise I will be careful.”
He watched me for a long breath, every muscle in his face working overtime. Then he let out a rough laugh that sounded like half-curse and half-plea. “Fine. You can go, but not alone. Pick someone to go with you, and you will check in with me at least once a week. If I don’t hear from you, I come and I tear that place down.”
“I’ll check in every two days,” I said immediately, because knowing him, I know he meant every word, and the last thing I need is for my mission to be ruined.
“Even better.” He shrugged, but his voice was softer. “And bring those traffickers to their knees.”
“I will.” I hugged him quickly, then pulled back and ran out before he could think up another excuse to stop me.
My heart pounded with a fierce heat that was part fear and part something sharper... hunger. As I walked back to my cabin, my mind sharpened with a list: gather intel, pick a partner, enter LethalMoon undercover, find proof, expose them.
And not just the traffickers... Cassian. Lena. All of them.
I closed my eyes and whispered once, barely able to hear my own voice over the steady beat of my heart.
“They took everything from Mira,” I promised the morning air. “Raven will take everything back.”
The name felt good; it fit like a blade in a hand. I was not Mira anymore; I was the storm about to break over the quiet valley of LethalMoon.
- Writer
