The Fire Fang training grounds were somehow louder than the dining hall.
Aries followed Adara across the scorched field, still chewing the last bite of croissant like it might be his final meal. Heat shimmered off the black stone, the air thick with smoke, sweat, and the metallic tang of blood. Wolves crashed into each other with bone‑rattling force, snarls echoing off the jagged cliffs. Someone was bleeding. Someone else was laughing about it.
Aries raised an eyebrow. “So… this is beginner level?”
“No,” Adara said. “Beginner level is inside. With mats. And helmets.”
Aries blinked. “There are helmets?”
“There were,” she muttered.
Before he could ask what happened to them, Blaze stepped into view like a storm cloud with arms. He stood in the center of the field, arms crossed, expressi
