Chapter 156

The woods were dark and eerily silent.

I stepped into a small clearing, grass crunching beneath my paws.

“Celeste?” a familiar voice said. Standing across the wide expanse in the trees was Matt. He was still human, and he took a tentative step out of the dense cover. “Celeste?” he called in a low voice. A shiver ran through me, and I moved closer.

He took a few more steps, his blue eyes bright. He reached out his hand, a pleading look on his face. “Celeste!”

A moment later, he gasped, looking down at his chest. Blood bloomed from a wound in his front, spilling across his white t-shirt. The man who stabbed him had appeared out of nowhere, and he turned to look at me as I growled.

Ronan grinned, a mean glint to his eye.

One moment he was standing there, a man, and the next he was a huge russet wolf. He gave a long, triumphant howl, then took off into the night. Matt gurgled, blood spilling from his mouth, and fell to his knees.

I ran to him, panic quickening my heart. It thrummed in time with my paws as they hit the ground. He slumped to the side, and I nudged him with my nose. I struggled to change back, to find the human inside, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t, and he was dying right in front of me.

“Celeste,” he said, reaching for me. “Celeste, I’m sorry. I love you.”

I howled a mournful song as he collapsed against the ground, the light going out of his eyes. The blade in his chest glinted silver in the dim light.

“No, no, no, no.” I woke up with a gasp, the words still on my lips. “No, no, no.”

I was back in my cell. The concrete walls pressing down on me. The dream lingered, and I turned onto my side, wrapping my arms around my torso. Matt was fine. Ronan wasn’t going to get anywhere near him. I had to believe that, or I’d go crazy.

I imagined Matt there with me, his arm draped over my side and his leg intertwined with mine. It settled me enough that my heart rate lowered, though my imagination could only go so far. I couldn’t conjure the warmth of his skin, or the press of his limbs against mine. I couldn’t remember the exact way he smelled, though I knew it reminded me of rain and coffee.

Still, the memory of him, safe and warm, was enough to get my thoughts to stop spiraling. Of course, I was having nightmares. Who wouldn't in my position? They didn’t mean anything. Matt was safe. He had to be.

I fell back into an uneasy sleep, jolting awake sometime later when the door to my room opened. Zoe walked in with a stack of clothes in her arms.

“Hi dear,” she said, closing the door behind her before she approached the bed.

I sat up and eyed her warily. Just because she seemed warm and kind, and was so incredibly beautiful, didn't mean I could trust her. She was here, after all.

She set the clothes down. “I know it’s a bit rough in here.” She looked around at the room, her brows furrowed. “Ronan’s just being cautious for now. Once you’ve had time to adjust, we’ll get you a better room.”

“How long will I be here?”

She shrugged. “However long it takes.”

Great, like that wasn’t cryptic or anything.

She tilted her head, studying me. “You look exhausted. It’s important you get some good sleep now that your training is starting. I’m sure once you’ve expended some energy, it’ll be easier.”

“Training?”

Her smile returned. “Oh, yes. We’re going to teach you how to control your wolf. Once you master that, you’ll move on to mastering your powers.”

“I don’t know if I have any powers.”

“Oh, you do. They’re buried somewhere in there. Don’t worry, they’ll manifest at some point. You’re still a newbie. No better than a cub. You’ve got to learn the basics first.”

“The basics?”

“I’ll let Alyx explain it all to you. You’d better get changed. He’ll be here any minute, and you know how impatient he can be.”

I didn’t comment but did what I was told. Changing in front of her was better than changing in front of him, at least. She wasn’t much, but at least she was a girl.

Zoe thought to bring me a sports bra, and I put it on gratefully. She was kind enough to turn slightly away, so she could only just see me out of the corner of her eye. I wondered about Fiona as I pulled on the clean pair of underwear and another pair of black cargo pants. Did anyone think to come up with some sort of excuse for my absence? Did she think I just ran off with Matt and never came back?

A pang of sadness moved through me. I missed her so much it hurt. She had always been a form of safety for me. The one person in the entire world who believed in me and who saw me for who I was, at least before Matt came into the picture.

My whole life back home seemed so normal now, and I longed for it with everything I had. To be able to just wake up and go to class. I’d take all the drama again if it meant being away from here.

“I’m ready,” I muttered, zipping up my coat.

She turned to face me. “Good. The clothes suit you.”

Despite the three meals a day, I’d lost weight since I arrived. I didn’t feel as triumphant about it as I would have a few months ago. It just served as a reminder that I was a prisoner here. That nothing I did was my choice.

The door opened, and I stepped back. Alyx appeared, a scowl on his face. His eyes were bloodshot, and he yawned.

“Ready?”

“She’s ready,” Zoe said, gesturing for me to go first.

I forced myself to trail after Alyx down the hall. He led me through the building and out into a wide courtyard. The ring was set into the ground, boarded by tall white walls. Sort of like a sunken hockey rink. In the middle were a few dummies, some weights, and racks of weapons. Claw marks marred the walls.

“What is this?” I murmured.

“This is where we train.” He turned his face up to the sky, where dark clouds drifted. Dawn approached, but sunlight struggled to break free from the cover.

“Train?”

“We were all taught how to fight in here. With weapons and hand-to-hand. It’s also where most of us learned to control our shifts, and how to fight as wolves.”

“Okay…”

“You’re about sixteen years behind where you should be, so we need to get started. You’re no good to us if you can’t control your shift.”

“So what? I’m just going to train here with you every day.”

“And me.”

A chill went down my spine, and I turned to look at Jeremy. Zoe was gone.

“What will that entail exactly?”

Jeremy grinned, and I hit the dirt with a gasp. It took him all but a second to lay me out on my ass. Pain radiated up my tailbone, and I glared at him.

“It’s like fighting a toddler,” he said.

“We’ll start with the basics,” Alyx continued. He sounded delighted, and I didn’t trust it one bit. “Don’t worry, Celeste.” He held out his hand, but I didn’t take it. Instead, I took a deep breath and forced myself to my feet. “This is going to be so fun.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised that Alyx used ‘training’ to get back at me. By the time I returned to my cell, I was covered in bruises and aching all over.

“We’ll do this every morning,” Alyx said when he dropped me off, a gleam to his eyes that wasn’t there before. “I suggest you rest up.”

I could barely walk, and I immediately collapsed onto my bed. Pain flared up my arm, and I winced. Alyx had bent it at an odd angel, bringing me to my knees in a matter of seconds. Every time I did something wrong, he found some creative way to hit me. How was I ever going to beat them? How was I ever going to make it out?