Aveline
The air in the old mill’s auxiliary gym was thick enough to chew. It tasted of pulverized stone, ancient iron, and the sharp, metallic tang of the adrenaline currently flooding my veins. Matteo was gone—meeting with the same Council that wanted my head on a pike—which meant this was the only hour I had to stop being a victim.
"Again," Kai barked.
He didn't wait for me to reset. He lunged, a blur of grey tactical gear and brute force.
I didn't think. I couldn't. Thinking was for the girl who lived in the city, the girl who hid behind grease-stained coveralls and pretended she didn't have a wolf screaming in her marrow. I just felt.
The world around me didn't just slow down; it fractured. I saw the way Kai’s lead foot pivoted, a micro-second before his weight shifted. I saw the
