Chapter 24: Training Day

Words : 1441 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 24: Training Day Brock Silver POV The wooden practice sword whizzed past my ear as Lily spun away from my attack. "Not bad," I grunted, impressed despite myself. "But you’re still telegraphing your moves." She wiped sweat from her face, breathing hard. We’d been training for two hours, and I had to admit, the little omega was tougher than I’d expected. "What do you mean, telegraphing?" she asked, changing her grip on the practice weapon. "You look where you’re going to strike before you do it," I explained, circling her slowly. "Watch my eyes during your next attack. I’ll know exactly what you’re planning." Lily nodded, then suddenly lunged forward without any notice at all. Her wooden sword caught me in the ribs before I could block it. "Like that?" she asked with a small smile. I rubbed my side, truly shocked. "Yeah, exactly like that. How did you—" "I watch people," she said simply. "You always shift your weight to your right foot before you hit. And you blink twice when you’re about to do something tricky." I stared at her. In all my years of training fighters, no one had picked up on my habits that quickly. Most attackers focused on power and speed. Lily was thinking three steps ahead. "Again," I said, raising my practice sword. "This time, I won’t go easy on you." She got into position, and I could see her studying my stance, looking for tells. When I moved, she was already sliding away from my hit, using my own speed against me. For the next several minutes, we moved in a dangerous dance. I was bigger and faster, but she was unreliable. Every time I thought I had her caught, she’d slip away like water. Finally, I managed to pin her against the training room wall, my sword at her throat. "Dead," I announced. "Are you sure?" she asked quietly. I looked down and saw her practice knife pressed against my stomach. If this had been a real fight, we would have killed each other. "How long have you been carrying that?" I asked. "Since the beginning," she admitted. "I noticed you never check for secret weapons. You assume everyone fights fair." I stepped back, shaking my head in amazement. "You’re not what I expected, omega." "What did you expect?" "Someone who needed protection," I said honestly. "Someone weak." Her face darkened. "Everyone thinks that about omegas. That’s why Luna almost succeeded in getting rid of me." The mention of Luna’s recent betrayal made my jaw clench. My brother’s former intended mate had allied with rogue wolves to attack Lily during the Winter Moon Festival. She’d nearly gotten everyone killed. "Luna was wrong about a lot of things," I said carefully. "Including what makes someone strong." Before Lily could speak, the training room door slammed open. Aiden burst in, his face pale with fear. "We have a problem," he announced. "A big one." I immediately went on alert. "What kind of problem?" "The kind where three pack members just disappeared without a trace," Aiden said grimly. "Including Elder Thomas." My stomach dropped. Elder Thomas was one of our most experienced council members. He wouldn’t just disappear. "When?" I asked, already moving toward the guns rack. "Sometime last night. They were meant to check the eastern border, but they never reported back. When the morning shift went to check on them, they found signs of a fight and..." Aiden paused. "And what?" Lily pressed. "Shadow Wolf tracks. Lots of them." I cursed under my breath. Shadow Wolves were worse than normal rogues. They had supernatural skills and left corruption wherever they went. "How many?" I asked, putting on my real guns. "At least six, maybe more. Dad wants us to investigate immediately." I nodded, then looked at Lily. "You should go back to the main house. Stay with Caleb where it’s safe." "No," she said firmly. "I’m coming with you." "Absolutely not. This isn’t training, Lily. Shadow Wolves are scary." "So are rogue wolves, and I survived them," she pointed out. "Besides, my omega senses might pick up things you miss." Aiden looked torn. "She has a point, Brock. During the last attack, she felt danger before any of us." I wanted to argue, but I couldn’t deny that Lily had proven herself useful in dangerous cases. And after watching her train, I knew she could handle herself better than most pack members. "Fine," I said grudgingly. "But you follow my orders exactly. No heroics." Twenty minutes later, we were running through the bush toward the eastern border. Lily kept pace with us easily, her breathing steady. I found myself looking at her, amazed by her endurance. "There," Aiden pointed ahead. "That’s where they were supposed to set up patrol." We approached carefully, and I instantly smelled something wrong. The smell of fear, anger, and something else—something that made my nose burn. "Shadow Wolf scent," I confirmed grimly. "Recent too." Lily knelt beside some disturbed ground, moving her fingers near but not touching the dirt. "Three different dogs struggled here. But look at this." She pointed to a set of tracks going away from the fight scene. "These aren’t Shadow Wolf prints. They’re from pack members, but they’re walking, not running." "So?" Aiden asked. "If they were being pushed to go somewhere, they’d be dragged or carried. If they were running away, the tracks would be darker, more spread out. These look like they were walking willingly." I studied the tracks and realized she was right. "You think they went with the Shadow Wolves on purpose?" "Or they were under some kind of spell," Lily offered. "Shadow Wolves can mess with people’s minds, right?" A chill ran down my spine. If the Shadow Wolves had learned to control pack members, we were in big trouble. We followed the tracks deeper into the forest, moving carefully. My warrior senses yelled that we were being watched, but I couldn’t see anyone. "This feels like a trap," I mumbled. "Everything feels like a trap lately," Aiden answered grimly. After an hour of tracking, we came to an area where the path simply... ended. No more tracks, no scent marks, nothing. "They just vanished," Aiden said, confused. But Lily was looking at something else. "Look at the trees." I followed her look and felt my blood freeze. Every tree around the clearing was dead. Not just dying—completely dead, as if something had sucked all the life out of them. "Shadow Wolf magic," I realized. "They held some kind of ritual here." Lily’s Triple Moon mark was shining through her sleeve, pulsing like a heartbeat. "Something’s still here," she whispered. "Something watching us." That’s when I heard it—a low humming sound that seemed to come from deep. The dead trees began to sway despite the lack of wind. "We need to leave," I said quickly. "Now." But as we turned to go, Shadow Wolves stepped out from behind the dead trees. Six of them, their red eyes glowing with evil. "Too late," one of them said in a voice like grinding stone. "You’ve found our sacred ground." I drew my guns, placing myself protectively in front of Lily. Aiden did the same, but we were outnumbered and surrounded. "What did you do with our pack members?" I asked. The lead Shadow Wolf smiled, showing teeth like black blades. "They’ve joined us willingly. Just as you will." "Never," I snarled. "Oh, but you will," the creature said strongly. "You see, we know something you don’t. Something about your precious omega and her pretty mark." Lily stepped forward, her mark burning with silver light. "What are you talking about?" "Your mark isn’t just about finding mates, little one. It’s a key. A key to power that’s been sleeping under this rock for over a century." My mind raced. What power? What had been hidden here? The Shadow Wolf continued, "The Darkmore Pack hid something valuable before we destroyed them. Something we’ve been looking for ever since. And now, thanks to your mark, we’ve finally found it." The humming sound got louder, and the ground beneath our feet started to crack. Something was waking up down there, something that had been asleep for a very long time. "What is it?" Lily asked, her voice shaking. The Shadow Wolf’s grin widened. "The source of all Shadow Wolf power. And once we claim it, every pack in these mountains will bow to us." The ground split open with a sound like thunder, showing a deep pit that glowed with sickly green light. And from that pit, something old and terrible began to rise.

Chapter 24: Training Day

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