Whispers of the wild

CHAPTER 4

Sienna’s muscles protested, but she didn’t stop. She had no choice. The wilds wanted it all from her and she was not going to disappoint them. Kane was always there, prodding her, challenging her, which meant it was never possible to take it easy. Each time she paused, she could hear his voice echoing into her ear.

“Again,” Kane commanded as Sienna barely managed to take a step back from the strike she had just received. His golden eyes sparkled with pleasure, but his voice was still sharp.

The sweat was running down her face and she looked at her clenched fists. “Don’t you ever get tired?”

Kane laughed outright, and the smile he gave her was a thin, cold thing. “The wilds don’t care about fatigue, Sienna,’ I repeated the words of my father. One of them is that you have to learn how to go the extra mile. He stood over her like a lion, eyeing her up. “It’s not your body that is the issue, it is your head.”

Sienna clenching her teeth, she could feel the anger rising from the depth of her soul. “So what is that supposed to mean?”

”But you’re still afraid of what is in you,” Kane said quietly, and it was the sharpest of all the things he had said to her. ‘You think too much, you don’t believe in yourself.’ You are too passive because you are afraid of letting go of the control.”

Sienna’s chest tightened. He wasn’t wrong. The energy that was building up within her was feral, uncontrolled. Each time she drew from it, she felt as if a deluge was waiting to engulf her. But without it, she realized that she could not win—not against the rogues, not against the council, and definitely not against the traitors.

“I’m not afraid,” she replied sharply, the anger in her voice.

Kane looked smug and said nothing. But he turned and pointed towards the dense forest on the back of the stage. “Then prove it.”

Sienna blinked. “What?”

Kane motioned again. ‘There is a pack of these things out there – a much larger pack than the ones we have dealt with before.’ They will confront them alone.”

Her pulse quickened. “You are leaving me alone out there?”

Kane did not let out a sign of emotion, he maintained a poker face. “You’ve trained, haven’t you? This is what you wanted. The real test.”

Sienna felt her heart racing in her chest. A small voice in her head shuddered at the idea of entering those woods alone but another, more primal, voice inside her rejoiced in the idea. It was far, and she had come this far, learned how to wield the power inside her. It was time to prove herself.

With no further warning, she wheeled around and dashed into the woods, her hips propelling her forward at a fast pace. This is what she heard: the whispering of the trees, the howling of the wolves, and yet her thoughts were clear. She was ready for this.

The further she went the thicker the forest seemed to get. She only saw that the moonlight was barely able to penetrate the dense foliage above her head, and the shadows appeared to move as she moved. Sienna lowered her speed and started being more attentive, looking for something or someone in the vicinity.

Suddenly there was a low growl from the darkness.

Sienna froze. But her heart beat fast and she put her hands on her chest and tried to bring her thoughts into order. She swirled around, scowling when a pair of fiery amber eyes appeared from the darkness. The wolf which was on the run approached her fur erect, and its lips curled back to reveal sharp teeth.

Sienna felt her heart racing in her chest, but she did not let fear get the best of her. She continued to glare at him and could feel the power growing inside her. The wolf attacked and in the blink of an eye Sienna drew upon that feral power, and raced at quicker than she ever had before.

She managed to dodge the attack and turned quickly to give the wolf a punch in the abdomen. The creature barked and, after a moment, was back on her feet and circling her. Yet another wolf emerged from the darkness, followed by yet another. Three against one.

Good. She welcomed the odds.

The wolves lunged at once. Sienna’s body seemed to act of its own accord, each muscle tensed and ready for action. She was dancing from one to another, hitting the wolves and sending them flying into the trees. She could feel the pure power pumping through her veins and it was heady, it was potent.

But then, it happened.

The passion within her, the strength she had been attempting to contain, escaped her. She could barely see, her pulse pounding in her head as her body sped up, grew more out of control. Everything else around her disappeared, and all she could hear was her own growls, and the smell of blood in the air.

She didn’t stop.

With a loud growl Sienna threw the last wolf on the ground and standing on four she lowered her claws on the wolf’s fur and her mind was filled with anger. The wolf whined, beaten, but she couldn’t stop. The power wanted more – more blood, more violence. It called for release, for violence.

“Sienna!” Kane’s voice rose above the confusion, something I never thought I’d be glad for.

She stopped breathing for what seemed like a few seconds, blinking and the red haze slowly receded. The man beneath her was still, exhausted but conscious. She looked at her hands now, at the claws that had grown where her fingers used to be. This made her heart race and she backed away in horror.

Kane stepped out from behind the dark corner, his eyes were cold, but he did not look at me as though I was a liar. Only understanding.

“This is what I meant,” he said, slowly and quietly. “You got more muscle than you think, but if you don’t master it, this power will destroy you.”

Sienna gasped for air, her entire body shaking from the adrenaline that had just taken place. “I…I lost control.”

Kane nodded. “Yes. But now you know what it is like. Next time, you’ll be ready.”

She looked at him, while her thoughts raced through her head. How could she possibly control something that wild, something that dangerous? The power inside her was not a weapon – it was a monster, a monster which could devour her from the inside.

But the words of Kane interfered with her thoughts all the time. “You’ll be ready.”

Sienna didn’t know if she would ever be ready, but one thing was certain: she couldn’t stop now. Only when she had learned to tame the beast that resides in her.