Training sucks balls. There’s really no other way to put it. After everyone praised me for being so badass when I kicked Slate’s ass, I had a bit of confidence that perhaps I’d be able to hold my own. But nope. Rune has been kicking my butt all damn day. And supposedly, he’s taking it easy on me. At least, that’s what everyone keeps telling me. Apparently, Rune is a badass warrior who has never lost a fight, hence the reason Slate called him the “infamous Rune.”

“If he were fighting at full-force, you’d be dead,” Liberty told me.

That made me feel a bit scared, but not enough to stop fighting.

I grunt in pain and frustration as I slam to the mat for at least the twentieth time. The worst part is that Liberty, Kylan, and Jules are all here to witness me getting my ass kicked. Jules at least is trying to be encouraging.

“You’re doing okay.” Jules crouches down at the edge of the mat and catches my gaze. “You just need to find his weakness.”

“Yeah, easier said than done.” I wipe my mouth with my arm and see crimson streaks my skin.

The fucker made me bleed.

Rage currents through my achy muscles as I push to my feet and run at Rune, who’s barely broken a sweat. Two seconds later, I’m slammed into the mat again, on my back, the wind getting knocked out of me. If I were human, some of my bones would’ve broken by now. Jules assured me that our bodies are way stronger, something I’m finding out firsthand.

“You need to stop running at me and start fighting with your instincts.” Rune’s face appears above me, his hands on his hips.

“I can’t remember my instincts, remember?” I bite out. I know I’m being a sore loser about this, but every part of my body hurts. And I’m exhausted. And humiliated.

“You may not remember them, but they’re still alive in here.” He leans over and taps my star-marked temple. “You just need to reconnect with them.”

“I’m trying.”

“Well, try harder.”

I work my jaw from side to side. Great advice there, Rune.

He cracks his knuckles as he straightens. “Now, let’s try it again.” He doesn’t even bother moving back, as if he’s so sure I won’t be able to touch him. And he has every right and reason to feel that way, but it pisses me off.

I growl, and my wolf mimics me.

Do it, she whispers. Take him out. Just like you used to.

How? And now I’m talking to her. She doesn’t answer, but instinct takes over.

Rolling onto my side, I stretch my leg out lightning fast and kick Rune’s legs out from under him. He hits the mat with a loud smack as I leap to my feet. He blinks up at me in a dazed stupor, and I sort of feel bad, but not enough to stop.

I climb on top of him, using my knees to pin down his arms, and line my arm with his throat, pressing my weight down on him. He gasps for air, his face turning red. When I ease up the pressure on his neck, he wheezes with laughter.

I glance at Jules, wondering if I broke Rune’s brain or something.

But Jules is chuckling, too.

“What’s so funny?” I ask, hopping off Rune.

“That was your move,” Liberty explains as she secures her hair into a ponytail. “That’s how you would kick Jules, Shade, and Rune’s asses when we were younger. It got them almost every time.”

“Oh.” A bit of confidence rises as I turn back to Rune. “Again?”

His laughter dies as he stands, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “Now that you’ve found your wolf instincts, let’s see what you can do with them.”

Smiling, I lunge at him.

* * *

Hours later, I’m dripping in sweat and every part of my body feels bruised, yet I feel strangely content. While Rune kicked my ass most of the time, I did manage to knock him down a few more times and that gives me confidence that one day I’ll be able to fight like a true fighter. That maybe I won’t ever have to feel as vulnerable as I felt that day in the alley.

The sun has begun to descend behind the hills by the time Rune and I leave the training pit. Liberty and Kylan took off early to a meeting, and Jules left shortly after to check on Shade. While he never said when he’d return, his long absence has me concerned.

“If you’re okay with it, I’m going to swing into the shed so I can switch places with Shade, and then he can go home with you and Jules,” Rune says as he slings a bag over his shoulder. “You won’t have to go into the shed or anything. You can just wait outside. But if you’re not comfortable, I can take you home, and then return.”

“No, it’s fine. We can swing by there.” I pull my hair into a messy bun and secure it with an elastic Liberty gave me.

While I’m partially afraid of Slate, my wolf isn’t. And the other side of me doesn’t want to be.

He smiles and pats my shoulder. “You’re a brave girl, Lake. You really are.”

“I don’t feel very brave,” I admit as we start down the zigzagging path, venturing farther into the trees and in the direction of the shed, I’m assuming. “I’ve spent so much of my life being afraid of everything and everyone.”

He adjusts the handle of the bag higher onto his shoulders. “What was the Common Realm like?”

I shrug, massaging my tender shoulder. “Fast. Electric. Buzzing with too much energy. Almost everyone there is driven by the need to get more and be better. I’m okay with the being better part, but sometimes they stomped on others to get what they wanted instead of earning it.”

“Some wolves are like that here, too.”

“Like the king?”

His gaze glides to mine. “Did Jules tell you that?”

“No. I’ve picked up on a certain vibe that seems to arise every time anyone mentions the king.” I trail my fingers along the leaves as I walk. Like in my dreams, the leaves seem to magnetize toward my touch.

“You’re not wrong,” he utters, scanning the trees. “But you need to be careful saying stuff like that. If the wrong wolf hears you, it’ll get back to the king. And trust me; you don’t want that. He’s a punish first, never ask questions sort of wolf.”

I think of Philip’s family locked away in the kingdom somewhere. “Yeah, I picked up on that, too.”

“We should probably be quiet now,” he whispers. “There are pixies near and they’re the kind of creatures who love to cause mischief and spread rumors—”

Movement scurries through the trees, and I inch closer to Rune.

“They can’t hurt you,” he assures me. “We’re much stronger creatures.”

Easy for him to say. He didn’t just get his ass kicked repeatedly.

I stay on edge the rest of the journey to the shed, a small wooden building nestled in the trees near the far back hills.

“Wait right here,” Rune instructs as he cracks open the door. “I’ll send Jules right out.”

When I nod, he slips inside, the door banging shut behind him.

I face the trees in front of me, searching for signs of pixies in the leaves. All I can see is the swishing of branches followed by a lot of rustling. Then the giggling starts.

At first, the laughter is soft and teasing, but the noise eventually shifts into fitful cackling.

“Hey, you,” a feminine voice whispers. “Do you know if Shade’s in there?”

“Um …” I squint against the glow of the sunset. “Who’s asking?”

“I am.” She giggles.

“And who are you?” I tuck my hand behind me and fold my fingers around the door handle, preparing to run inside if I must.

“His lover,” she purrs, rising from the bushes across from me.

The what I’m assuming is a pixie has leathery purple skin, coal eyes, angled cheekbones, and a snake-like tongue. Her legs are long, yet muscular; her lips plump; and her blue hair bobs around her chin. She’s dressed in an outfit that screams kinky, the thin strips of leather barely covering her body.

“You’re Shade’s lover?” Holy crazy werewolves, is this the one-night stand he was talking about?

She perks up, her stance straightening. “He mentioned me?”

“Um, sort of.”

“What’d he say?”

Shit. What the hell do I tell her?

“That you’re … awesome?”

Her lip juts out. “What does that mean?”

There’s that translation problem again. “Um … That … Shit.”

“You know what, I think you’re insulting me.” She ambles across the field with her hand on her hip, her fingers folding around the silver handle of a sword. “And I think that’s because you’re sleeping with him. Is that it? Did he decide to downgrade from top-shelf quality?”

Wow. I feel so insulted. Not enough to insult her back, though.

“I’m not sleeping with Shade.” I crack open the door, debating whether being out here with her and her silver sword is worse than going into the shed with Slate. “He’s not even my type.”

“Ha! Now I know you’re lying. He’s every creature’s type.” She draws her sword, and the pungent scent of silver assaults the air. “And now you must die.”

“For what?” I gape at her. “I didn’t do anything.”

“For lying and for sleeping with my wolf.” She stops in front of me with her legs spread, the sword poised in front of her. “Any last words, ugly, little wolf?”

“Yeah, take your snaky, leathery face and go slither off into the trees.” I kick her in the kneecap then whirl around and dive into the shed. “Holy nutjob pixies,” I breathe with my back pressed against the door.

“Lake? What are you doing in here?”

I jolt, turning to the side and finding Rune, Shade, and Jules all staring at me. Jules is shirtless, his chest drenched in sweat. Shade has the sleeves of his shirt rolled up and blood coats his knuckles. Slate is nowhere to be seen, but the place reeks of black roses, so he must be somewhere in the vicinity.

I point over my shoulder. “Shade’s crazy pixie lover is outside, and she wants to kill me because she thinks I’m sleeping with him.”

“Dammit, not again,” Shade curses as he swings around me and storms out of the shed, slamming the door behind him.

“You okay?” Jules frantically skims me over, searching for any injuries.

“I’m fine.” I force a smile. “I kicked her ass.”

He wipes a trail of sweat off his chest with his hand. “I bet you did.”

“I totally did.” And I totally want to lick the sweat off his chest, a desire I’m pretty positive I can blame on my wolf.

“Good. You can’t let pixies push you around. They’ll just push harder.” A droplet of sweat trickles down his chest, making a path down to the waistband of his pants.

“Why are you all sweaty?” I wonder, tearing my focus off the sweat bead.

He collects his T-shirt from off the ground. “I was … talking to Slate, which required me being in a room made entirely of silver.”

I remember how his skin blistered from wearing those silver rings. “Are you okay?”

He nods, tugging his shirt on. “I’m fine. I promise. It’s just a little hot in there.”

I glimpse around the shed. “Where is he, exactly?”

“Locked in a room upstairs.” He grazes his fingers along my cheek. “Don’t worry; the walls are covered with silver, including the inside door and the floor. There’s no way he can get out.”

“But if the room’s all silver, shouldn’t he be dead?”

“He’s suspended by a chain from the roof, so he’s not actually touching the silver. Although, being in a confined room with that much silver is weakening him.”

“Is he …?” I wipe my damp palms on the front of my legs, suddenly aware of how nervous I am. “Has he said anything about why he was in the Common Realm and why he attacked me?”

He ruffles his hair into place, his gaze shifting to the floor. “He snuck into the Common Realm a couple of times; that’s why he was there.”

“Why would he do that?” I ask, and he shrugs. “Are you sure you don’t know? Because you seem awfully fidgety.”

“I don’t want to lie to you,” he mumbles. “But I also don’t want to frighten you.”

“Not knowing the truth frightens me more than being in the dark.” And suddenly, I have my answer for whether or not I want my memories back.

Painful or not, scary or not, I don’t want the emptiness to haunt me every time I try to look back at the past.

He tears his gaze off the floor and swallows hard. “He was in the Common Realm looking for you because a wolf sent him there to find you.”