Kai's Point of View
The training center smells like metal, sweat, and focus. My gloves hit the pad Luke is holding, again and again, until the sound of impact becomes the only thing keeping me centered. My muscles burn, my breath comes rough and steady, but I do not stop. I need this. I need to hit something that cannot bleed.
“Again,” I say.
Luke groans, adjusting his stance. “Dude, you have been saying that for twenty minutes.”
I ignore him. I drive forward, one two, pivot, elbow strike. My body remembers the rhythm, even if my mind keeps drifting back to Lunaris. To the smoke. The blood. Octavia’s mother lying on the ground, and the scent of wolves that should not exist anymore.
“Kai.” Luke lowers the pad, breathing hard. “You are doing that thing again.”
“What thing?”
“The one w
