DANCE IN THE MOONLIGHT

Beyond the Limits

"Focus! Just focus!"

Valeria collapsed to her knees. It was 3:00 AM. She and Fenrik had been working for hours, but she couldn't focus.

"I can't do it! I can't think of anything but Lucian!"

Suddenly, she snapped her head up and began looking around quickly. "Someone’s coming, did you hear that?"

She had thought it was just the two of them in the forest. It was supposed to be just them. If they were caught by a teacher from the school at this hour, it would be disastrous for both. A figure emerged from between the trees, approaching Valeria and Fenrik.

"Lilia!"

Fenrik lunged forward joyfully and hugged the woman Valeria didn't recognize.

After a brief embrace, they began walking toward Valeria. Valeria immediately stood up. She couldn't help but scan the woman. With her copper-colored hair and pale skin, she looked stunning. As she stood right in front of her, her blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the moonlight.

"I’m Lilia. I am Theo’s assistant. You must be Valeria?"

Why did everyone know Valeria?

She nodded slowly. If Lilia was by the Alpha’s side, how could she be standing here?

Fenrik spoke with a mixture of excitement and bitterness. "She was the only person who helped me when I was exiled from the pack."

"And I’ve come to help you, too," Lilia said with a faint smile.

Tons of question marks formed in Valeria’s mind. But most importantly, why? Why was she helping?

"Why are you helping? You said you’re with the Alpha. How can you do this?"

"Because Lucian is precious to me."

A wave of jealousy washed over Valeria, but she took care not to succumb to it. She had to stay calm. For herself, and for Lucian. "Is Lucian okay, then? Where is he being held?"

Lilia smiled and took Valeria’s hands. "He is fine."

Valeria felt her eyes fill with tears at the relief that surged within her. "Is he wondering about me? Why can't I hear him?"

Lilia squeezed Valeria’s hands tighter. "Calm down. He is sleeping. And he will remain that way for a long time."

Valeria was confused. When she looked at Fenrik, she saw him staring at the ground. "Why is he sleeping?"

Lilia slowly let go of Valeria’s hands. "Don't think about that. He is fine. I won't let anything happen to him." After a brief glance at Fenrik, she turned back to the woman. "Gather your strength and come. I will be waiting for you."

And just like that, she vanished from sight.

Valeria looked at Fenrik with the questions still swirling in her head. She knew he knew something. He definitely knew and wasn't saying.

"You’re going to tell me why he’s sleeping, aren’t you?"

Fenrik ignored her and began walking. "We’d better get back to work."

"Don't you know I’ll be thinking about this now? I won't be able to focus again!" Valeria shouted at him from where she stood.

Fenrik paused. "Fine. That son of a b***h is keeping Lucian asleep because he’s going to kill you!"

Valeria burst into laughter. Was he keeping him asleep because he was afraid of Lucian’s power?

"So the Alpha you’re all afraid of is such a coward? He’s afraid of Lucian’s power, isn't he? That’s why he put him to sleep."

She continued to laugh. Fenrik turned toward her, his brows furrowed. Valeria suppressed her insincere laughter.

"He knows Lucian is bonded to you. And that you are bonded to him. Do you know anything about being bonded, Valeria?" Valeria remembered what her mother had told her. "As you stop hearing from him and stop seeing him, first you will go mad, and then you will die." Fenrik moved closer to her. "You’re already at the beginning of it. You can't focus; you only think of him. But I won't let you die." Fenrik grabbed the woman’s arm and shook her firmly. "Now pull yourself together and focus! If you die, Lucian dies too. You have to get it together for him now!"

This sentence echoed in Valeria’s brain. She could never accept this. Such a thing could not happen.

She began shaking her head. "No, no, no, it won't happen!" Her eyes widened in shock. "Help me!"

"First, control your speed. A normal human would run through this forest from end to end in 3 hours. I run it in 5 minutes."

Valeria shook her head quickly and looked around. 5 minutes—she could do that.

"You need to run it in 2 minutes at most."

She snapped her head toward the man. "2 minutes?!"

Fenrik laughed at her. "Lucian runs it in 3 minutes. Besides, you are an Alpha; you can't be slow."

2 minutes? Valeria wasn't sure she could do it. This forest was truly massive!

Fenrik pulled out his pocket watch.

"You have to do it. Unless, of course, you want Lucian to die."

Valeria looked at Fenrik with anger. She quickly turned ahead and began to run.

She shoved tree branches out of her way with her hands, never stopping. She saw fallen trees, dug pits, and stones she didn't know the purpose of, and she leapt over them. Despite her running, she could hear the sounds of other animals in the forest. She also couldn't help but be surprised by how strong her conditioning was. As she cleared the obstacles before her, she wondered why she hadn't climbed the trees to make the journey easier.

When she saw Fenrik, instead of slowing her steps, she accelerated even more. Fenrik was looking at her with great happiness. She was glad she could stop quickly right beside him. Her heart was racing; although her breathing was easy, she felt the need to take deep breaths.

"How long was it?"

"58 seconds."

Valeria’s eyes widened in shock. Had she really run it in just 58 seconds?!

"Could you have started it late?"

Fenrik burst into laughter. "You obviously didn't see how fast you were!"

58 seconds? That whole forest? She hadn't realized she was that fast while running. She smiled. It felt as if she had been doing this for years.

"So I passed the speed test. Now I’ll learn to fight, right?"

"No, you need to control your transformation."

"Then when will I learn to fight? That’s what I need!" Valeria snapped angrily.

"You become ready to transform when you get angry, Valeria. If you can't control it, you won't be able to transform when you need to!"

Valeria stopped. The first time she transformed, Lucian had truly angered her.

She closed her eyes. She was quite calm now. She could transform, couldn't she?

She opened her eyes again. "I can't transform right now."

"Why?"

"Because I don't have any clothes."

Fenrik laughed again. "Is that what you’re going to say when you have to fight, Valeria? 'Oh, can we fight some other time? I don't have my clothes with me!'"

Valeria didn't like being mimicked one bit. Sticking her tongue out at the man, she closed her eyes again. Fine, she didn't care about the clothes; she could transform.

Did she have to close her eyes and focus every time she wanted to transform?

She shook her head.

She slowly backed away from Fenrik.

"What are you doing?"

Valeria smiled at him, still backing away. "Protect yourself, Fenrik. I see you as my enemy right now!" When she thought she was far enough away, she fixed her eyes on Fenrik. For now, he was her enemy.

Fenrik smiled as if he understood what Valeria was doing and stood ready.

After taking a deep breath, Valeria ran.

She was focused on Fenrik. When she realized she was close, she leaped as if pouncing on him, the thought in her mind being that she needed to transform to attack him.

When she saw Fenrik quickly duck and move forward, an incredible pain shot through her back.

The pain was so intense she thought nothing would go right. She thought she would lose this battle, that she would die. She was about to collapse from the pain. But when her feet met the ground, she realized her thoughts weren't true. She had landed on her FEET.

"Wow, that was so cool."

When she turned around, she saw Elara with her arms wrapped around Fenrik’s waist.

Both were looking at her with enchanted eyes.

"She’s gathering her strength, isn't she? Soon she’ll transform me too?" Elara asked with innocent excitement. Fenrik nodded to his girlfriend with a smile, then turned back to Valeria and tossed the bag in Elara’s hand forward.

Valeria paused as she walked toward them. With a sudden decision, she entered the forest again, the one she had just run through in 58 seconds.

She felt different this time.

Freer, stronger, braver...

She jumped as she pleased, leaping from tree to tree. She felt so perfect that she even forgot the revenge she had to take.

She came back to her friends again. Fenrik snapped his pocket watch shut and tucked it into his pocket. "30 seconds!"

In years past, if they had told her she would be a wolf—and an Alpha wolf at that—she would have laughed it off. She might have even cursed them, saying the joke wasn't funny. But now she was satisfied. She was happy to be a wolf. She was fighting to stay alive. She was fighting for love.

She would fight for Lucian even at the cost of her life.

She turned her back to the pair and told herself she wanted to return to her old body.

She realized she had done it by the wind that wrapped around her body. The last two transformations had happened unconsciously. Now, it was by her own will.

Elara was covering her eyes with her hand, holding out the bag to her.

She took it quickly and got dressed.

"I won't be attending classes tomorrow. I don't care about the punishment I’ll get. I’m going to spend my whole day fighting. I don't want to keep Lucian waiting."

"Me too, me too! I’ll be with you guys tomorrow too!"

Valeria couldn't help but laugh at her friend’s childlike excitement and happiness.

Now, even though she didn't want to, she had to take a break from training. She had to rest and learn to fight.