Train Me Like You Hate Me

I didn’t sleep.

How could I, when the room Kael gave me felt like both a gilded cage and the safest place I’d been in a year?

The bed was huge, black sheets, silver trim. The walls were bare stone. No windows. Just a single steel door that I knew was locked from the outside.

Kael didn’t trust me yet. Fair. I didn’t trust him either.

But my wolf was quiet for the first time since Kade rejected me.

She wasn’t scared. She was alert. Waiting.

At dawn, the door clicked open.

“Up,” Kael said from the doorway. No greeting. No mercy. He was already dressed in black tactical gear, sweat beading on his forehead like he’d been up for hours.

I sat up slowly, pulling the blanket around me. “It’s 5 AM.”

“Sun’s up. Wolves don’t sleep past sunrise unless they’re weak.” His silver eyes raked over me, assessing. “Get dressed. Training room. Five minutes.”

He tossed a bundle of clothes on the bed and left, the door locking behind him with a heavy _thunk_.

The clothes were mine. Black compression top, fitted pants, combat boots. Someone had paid attention to my size.

I dressed fast, anger giving me energy. If he wanted to train me, fine. I’d show him I wasn’t the broken Omega he thought I was.

---

The training room was underground. Cold, concrete, lit by harsh white lights. Weapons lined the walls. Dummies, punching bags, a ring in the center with no ropes.

Kael was already waiting, rolling his shoulders like he was bored.

“You’re late,” he said.

“It’s been four minutes.”

“Four minutes too long.” He gestured to the center of the room. “Circle.”

I stepped in, jaw set. “What’s the plan, Alpha? Beat me until I’m grateful you kidnapped me?”

Kael’s lips twitched. Not a smile. Something darker.

“No. I’m going to teach you how to survive when Kade comes for you. Because he will. And when he does, he won’t hold back.”

My stomach twisted at his name.

“What makes you think I want to fight him?”

“Because you’re still angry,” Kael said simply. “And angry wolves fight better than scared ones.”

He moved before I could blink.

I hit the mat hard, air whooshing out of my lungs.

“What was that?” I gasped.

“That,” Kael said, standing over me, “was you dying.”

I snarled and scrambled up, swinging at him. He caught my wrist easily, twisted, and had me face-down on the mat again.

“Your stance is sloppy. Your weight’s on your heels. You telegraph every move.” His voice was calm, clinical, like he was critiquing a painting. “If I were Kade, you’d be dead.”

“Then kill me already,” I spat, struggling against his hold.

Kael let go abruptly, stepping back.

“See? That’s your problem, Aria. You’d rather die mad than live smart.”

I pushed to my feet, chest heaving. “Don’t tell me what my problem is. You don’t know me.”

“I know you better than Kade does,” he said quietly. “I watched you for a year, remember?”

The words hit harder than his takedown.

I lunged again, not thinking this time. Just feeling.

This time I got a hit in. My fist connected with his jaw. Not hard enough to hurt him, but enough to surprise him.

Kael blinked, then grinned. It was feral. Proud.

“Good. There she is.”

For the next two hours, he broke me down and built me back up.

He taught me how to pivot, how to use my smaller size against bigger opponents, how to aim for the throat, the eyes, the joints.

“Wolves don’t fight fair,” he said, blocking my kick and sweeping my leg. “Neither should you.”

My muscles burned. My lungs screamed. But I didn’t stop.

Every time I hit the mat, I got up faster.

Because every time I fell, I heard Kade’s voice in my head: _“You’re weak, Aria.”_

I wasn’t weak anymore.

---

We stopped when I collapsed to my knees, sweat dripping down my face, hands trembling.

Kael crouched in front of me, studying me.

“Better,” he said. “Not good. But better.”

I glared at him through my hair. “You’re an asshole.”

“Yeah.” He wiped sweat off my forehead with his thumb, and the gesture was so gentle it threw me off. “But I’m your asshole now.”

I swatted his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

“Why not?” His voice dropped low. “Because it feels good?”

My cheeks heated. Damn him.

He stood, offering me a hand.

I stared at it.

“Take it, Aria. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Liar,” I muttered, but I took it anyway.

His grip was warm, solid. Safe, in a way Kade’s never was.

Kael pulled me up, but didn’t let go immediately.

“You did good today,” he said quietly. “For a first day.”

“Don’t patronize me.”

“I’m not.” His silver eyes held mine. “I’ve trained wolves twice your size who gave up faster.”

“Maybe they had sense.”

“Maybe.” He let go, stepping back. “Shower. Eat. We do this again tonight.”

“Every day?” I groaned.

“Every day until you can last five minutes against me without getting pinned.”

“That’s impossible.”

Kael smiled, and it was all predator.

“Then I guess you’d better get impossible, little Luna.”

---

The shower helped. Hot water washed away the sweat and the sting of failure.

But it didn’t wash away the thoughts.

Kael’s words kept replaying in my head.

_I watched you for a year._

_I let him break you so I could put you back together._

_You’re mine now._

He was insane. Possessive. Dangerous.

And yet…

I felt safer here than I ever did in the Red Moon Pack.

I wrapped myself in a towel and stepped out, only to find a tray of food waiting on the counter outside the bathroom.

Protein, eggs, fruit. Simple. Efficient.

No note. No Kael.

Typical.

I ate quickly, my mind racing.

If Kade was coming, I needed to be ready.

But what if I didn’t want to fight him? What if I wanted to choose Kael?

The thought scared me.

I barely knew this man. He was ruthless, possessive, and had a body count.

But he’d also been the only one to help me up when Kade broke me.

And right now, that mattered more than anything.

---

Night fell fast.

Kael found me in the library, sitting on the floor with a book I wasn’t reading.

“You’re avoiding the training room,” he said.

“I’m tired.”

“You’re scared.”

I looked up at him. “Aren’t you?”

Kael crouched in front of me, elbows on his knees.

“Every day, Aria. But fear doesn’t control me. It sharpens me.”

He reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers lingered a second too long.

“Kade will be here in three days,” he said quietly. “The council called for a parley. He’s going to demand you back.”

My heart dropped. “And if I say no?”

“Then we fight.” His voice was steel. “And this time, I don’t lose.”

“You sound sure.”

“I am.” He stood, pulling me up with him. “Come on.”

“Where?”

“Training room. Again.”

“It’s midnight!”

“Good. Kade won’t attack at noon. He’ll attack when you’re tired. When you’re weak.” Kael’s eyes were deadly serious. “So we train when you’re tired.”

I wanted to argue. I wanted to scream that this was insane.

But I followed him.

---

This session was different.

No words. No critiques. Just movement.

Kael pushed me harder than before. Faster. Dirtier.

He didn’t let me catch my breath. Didn’t let me think.

And I didn’t hold back either.

I bit him. I kneed him. I used every dirty trick he taught me.

And for the first time, I lasted more than two minutes.

When he finally pinned me, I wasn’t angry. I was breathing hard, laughing, high on adrenaline.

Kael was above me, forearms braced on either side of my head, his face inches from mine.

“See?” he said, voice rough. “You’re not weak.”

I swallowed hard. He was too close. I could feel his heartbeat against mine. Smell his scent - storm and blood and something that was uniquely him.

“Get off me,” I whispered.

“Make me.”

Challenge.

I bucked my hips, trying to throw him off. He didn’t move.

Instead, he lowered his head, his lips brushing my ear.

“You fight like you want me to break you,” he murmured.

My breath hitched.

“Kael…”

His name came out like a plea.

He pulled back, eyes searching mine.

“Tell me to stop, Aria. Say it, and I will.”

I should’ve said it.

I didn’t.

Kael exhaled like I’d just given him permission to breathe.

He didn’t kiss me.

He just pressed his forehead to mine, his breathing uneven.

“We’re not ready for this,” he said quietly. “Not yet.”

“Then why—”

“Because if I kiss you now, I won’t stop,” he said. “And Kade will use it against you.”

I nodded, understanding.

Kael rolled off me, pulling me up with him.

“We’re done for tonight,” he said. “Tomorrow, we work on your wolf.”

I frowned. “My wolf?”

“Your wolf’s been silent since the rejection,” he said. “We’re going to wake her up.”

“And how do we do that?”

Kael’s smile was dangerous.

“Pain. Rage. And me.”

---

I should’ve been terrified.

Instead, I felt alive.

As I walked back to my room, Kael’s words echoed in my head.

_This time, it’ll be your choice._

For the first time since the rejection, I believed it.

Kade took my choice from me.

Kael was giving it back.

Even if it killed us both.