Selene rode with Lucian seated in front of her. When they reached the western border, they alighted and Selene tethered the horses to a strong oak. She smoothed down her light tunic, her boots pressing silently into the soft, damp loam. Beside her, Lucian was ready and eager to begin, especially when his mother told him Alpha Kael would be training him.
As they cleared the final line of overgrown, tangled brush, the expansive clearing opened up before them.
Kael was already there.
He didn’t wear the heavy armor of the Blackbrier vanguard today, only a light leather brigandine over a dark linen tunic, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his scarred, corded forearms. He stood perfectly still, watching the thick morning mist curl off the surface of a rushing, sun-warmed stream. There were no g
