Chapter 8 TRANING THE MOON WOILF

I woke to the smell of pine smoke and roasting meat.

For a moment, I forgot where I was. My body was warm, comfortable, and pain-free. So different from the servant's cot I'd slept on for nineteen years that I thought I was dreaming.

Then the memory crashed back. The rejection. The transformation. Running through the forest.

Elena.

I sat up quickly, my heart racing. The shelter was empty except for me. Pale morning light filtered through gaps in the walls. How long had I slept?

"Easy," Elena's voice came from outside. "You're safe. Just making breakfast."

I pushed myself to standing, testing my feet. The bandages were still there, but the pain was completely gone. I unwrapped one foot carefully.

Perfect skin. Not even a scar.

"Told you," Elena said, ducking into the shelter with two wooden bowls. "Wolf healing. Moon Wolf healing is probably even faster." She handed me a bowl filled with what looked like fish and wild berries. "You slept for fourteen hours straight."

"Fourteen hours?" Panic spiked through me. "The hunters-"

"Came within fifty feet of here twice. Never saw us." She settled cross-legged on the floor. "This place is protected by old magic. I told you. As long as we're careful, we're invisible."

I sank back down onto the furs, relief making my legs weak. "Thank you. For everything. You didn't have to help me."

"Yes, I did." Elena's blue eyes were serious. "You're not the first wolf the packs have thrown away. Won't be the last. We outcasts have to stick together."

I ate slowly, savoring each bite. The fish was perfectly cooked, flaky, and seasoned with herbs I didn't recognize. "Where did you learn all this? Survival skills, healing, hiding?"

"Trial and error. Lots of errors." She touched a scar on her forearm. "Got that from eating the wrong mushrooms. I was sick for three days. Thought I'd die. But I learned."

"You were fifteen when they banished you?"

"Fifteen and stupid enough to think I could go back to pack life someday." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Took me six months to accept I was better off alone. Another year to stop hating them for it."

"Do you still hate them?"

Elena thought about that. "Not hate. That takes too much energy. But I don't forgive them either. They chose their rules over my freedom. That's something I'll never forget."

I understood that more than I wanted to admit.

We finished eating in comfortable silence. When we were done, Elena stood and stretched. "So. The Rogue Lands are two and a half days from here. But you can't make that journey looking like you do now."

"What's wrong with how I look?"

"You move like prey, not a predator. You don't know how to hunt, track, or fight. Your wolf is powerful, but you have no control." She moved to the entrance. "If we're going to get you there alive, you need training. Starting now."

My stomach twisted with nerves. "I don't know how to-"

"That's why I'm teaching you." Elena gestured for me to follow. "Come on. We're burning daylight."

Outside, the forest was beautiful in the morning light. Birds sang in the trees. A light mist clung to the ground. It would have been peaceful if I weren't so terrified of screwing this up.

Elena led me to a small clearing about twenty feet from her shelter. "First lesson: shifting. You did it once by accident. Now you need to do it on purpose."

"How?"

"Close your eyes."

I obeyed.

"Feel your wolf. She's right there, just under your skin. Can you feel her?"

I could. A presence in my mind. Watchful. Waiting.

Hello, I thought to her.

Finally, she responded. Ready to run?

"Now," Elena continued, "shifting is about letting go of control while maintaining awareness. You need to trust your wolf completely, but not lose yourself in the process."

That sounded impossible.

"Don't think about it too much. Just... let her out."

I reached for my wolf. Felt her surge forward eagerly.

Pain exploded through my body.

My bones cracked. My skin stretched. I screamed as the transformation took hold, just as agonizing as the first time.

But faster.

Within seconds, I was on four legs instead of two. The world looked different from this angle. Colors were muted, but I could see movement I'd missed before. Every scent was magnified-earth and pine and Elena's nervous sweat.

We did it, my wolf said, pride in her mental voice.

I tried to take a step and immediately face-planted into the dirt.

Elena's laugh rang out. "Don't worry. Everyone's clumsy their first few shifts. Try again."

I pushed myself up. My legs felt wrong-too many joints bending in directions that didn't make sense. But I managed to stand without falling this time.

"Good. Now walk."

I took a tentative step. Then another. By the third step, something clicked. My body remembered how to move like this, even if my mind didn't.

"Perfect!" Elena clapped. "Now shift back."

That was harder. I didn't know how to let go of this form. Panic rose in my chest.

Calm, my wolf said. Just reverse what we did. Pull inward instead of outward.

I tried. Nothing happened.

"You're thinking too hard," Elena called. "Stop trying to control it. Just... be human again."

I stopped fighting. Stopped thinking. Just wanted to be human.

The shift happened instantly. One second, I was a wolf; the next, I was sitting naked in the dirt, gasping for air.

Elena tossed me a spare dress she'd brought from the shelter. "Better. Most new wolves take an hour to figure out the reverse shift. You did it in under a minute."

I pulled the dress on with shaking hands. "That was horrible."

"The pain fades with practice. Eventually, you won't even feel it." She helped me to my feet. "Again."

"Again?"

"You need to be able to shift instantly in a fight. No hesitation. No thinking. Just action." Her expression was serious. "Your life might depend on it."

She was right. I knew she was right.

So I shifted again. And again. And again.

By the tenth shift, the pain had dulled to a manageable ache. By the twentieth, I could do it in seconds without thinking.

"Good," Elena finally said when the sun was high overhead. "That's enough shifting for today. Now let's work on your senses."

She led me back to the shelter and handed me a strip of cloth. "Blindfold."

"What?"

"You need to learn to trust your other senses. Sight is the weakest sense a wolf has. Sound and smell are everything." She gestured to the cloth. "Put it on."

I tied the blindfold around my eyes. The world went dark.

"Now," Elena's voice came from somewhere to my left, "tell me what you hear."

I stood still and listened. Really listened.

Birds in the trees. Wind through the leaves. Water trickling somewhere distant-the stream we'd passed last night. Elena's breathing, calm and steady. Her heartbeat, strong and rhythmic.

And something else. Something farther away.

"There are wolves nearby," I said. "Three of them. Maybe a quarter mile east."

"Very good." Elena sounded impressed. "What else?"

I focused harder. "They're talking. I can't make out the words, but... they sound frustrated. Like they're looking for something and not finding it."

"They're looking for you," Elena confirmed. "They've been circling this area all morning. But they can't find us because of the wards."

She moved, her footsteps deliberately loud. "Now tell me where I am without looking."

I tracked her by sound alone. "Behind me. About five feet. Moving to the right now."

"Perfect. Your wolf senses are already strong. Moon Wolf heritage probably amplifies them." She removed the blindfold. "Last lesson for today: combat."

My stomach dropped. "I've never fought anyone."

"I know. That's the problem." She picked up two thick branches from a pile near the shelter. "These are training weapons. They won't kill, but they'll hurt enough to teach you to block."

She tossed one to me. I caught it clumsily.

"Defensive stance," she ordered, demonstrating. "Knees bent, weight on the balls of your feet, weapon up."

I copied her as best I could.

"Good. Now-"

She attacked without warning.

The branch came at my head fast. I barely got my own branch up in time to block. The impact jarred my arms.

"Too slow," Elena said. "Again."

She attacked from a different angle. I blocked, but barely.

"Faster."

Another attack. Another clumsy block.

We drilled for over an hour. My arms screamed. Sweat poured down my face. I gained more bruises than I could count.

But I was learning. My blocks got faster. My footwork improved. By the end, I was actually managing to counterattack a few times.

"Enough," Elena finally called, both of us breathing hard. "You're a natural. Most wolves take weeks to develop combat instincts. You've got them already. Just need to refine them."

I collapsed onto the ground, every muscle trembling. "I feel like I got hit by a tree."

"You basically did. Multiple times." She sat beside me, equally exhausted. "But you did well, Moon Wolf. Really well. Another few days of this and you might actually survive a real fight."

Might survive. Great.

We rested for a while, sharing water from a leather skin. The afternoon sun was warm on my face. For a moment, I let myself feel something close to peace.

Then Elena stiffened. "Quiet."

I froze. "What is it?"

"Voices. Closer than before." She stood slowly, listening. "They're coming this way. Multiple wolves."

My heart raced. "The hunters?"

"Sounds like it." She grabbed her pack and started shoving essentials inside. "We need to move. Now."

"But you said the wards-"

"Wards aren't perfect. If enough wolves search the same area long enough, eventually they'll find inconsistencies. Gaps." She tossed me a pack. "Fill this. Food, water, anything you can carry. We leave in two minutes."

I scrambled to help, throwing dried meat and herbs, and supplies into the pack with shaking hands.

Outside, the voices grew louder. Closer.

"...has to be around here somewhere..."

"...tracks lead this direction..."

"...Alpha King wants her found today..."

Elena and I locked eyes. Today. They were pushing harder now.

"Ready?" she whispered.

I nodded, even though I wasn't. Would never be ready for this.

"Then let's go." She moved to the back of the shelter, where a section of wall could be removed. "Stay close. Stay quiet. And whatever happens, don't stop running."

She pushed through first. I followed, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might burst from my chest.

Behind us, I heard a shout.

"There! I saw movement!"

Elena cursed. "Run!"

We ran.