Chapter 4 - TRAINING

Nalani’s POV

I lay flat on my back on the training mat, arms crossed behind my head, staring up at the high ceiling of the Halestone pack gym. Sweat still clung to my skin from the last set. My lungs burned, but my mind was clear.

“I need to work on my weaknesses,” I said, voice steady. “I won’t win the tournament if I don’t.”

Smith crouched beside me, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “That’s the spirit. Let’s start with core strength. You need to be able to take a hit and keep moving.”

He tossed me a heavy medicine ball. “Sit-ups. But not the sloppy kind. I want you to focus on controlling your movements, engage your core not just your arms or momentum.”

I took a deep breath and then began to lift myself up, the medicine ball clutched tightly to my chest, Smith watched me closely and soon enough a scowl formed on his face“Not like that Stormy” his voice firm but encouraging “You’re using your arms to lift yourself up. I want you to use your core, Feel the burn in your abs and not your arms.”I gritted my teeth and adjusted. The medicine ball felt heavier with each lift. By the time I hit ninety, my abs were screaming, sweat dripping into my eyes.

“That’s it,” Smith encouraged. “Keep breathing. Don’t rush.”

I pushed through the last ten, muscles trembling, until I collapsed back onto the mat, gasping. Every inch of me ached, sweat dripped down from my body like I just had a dip in the river. I couldn’t even sit up.

Smith knelt beside me. “Good job. Seriously. You pushed past where most would’ve quit.”

I cracked one eye open about to curse but he was already walking away to answer his ringing phone. His posture stiffened as he spoke, short answers, glances flicking back towardsme. When he hung up, he scratched the back of his head, that nervous habit he only did when he had bad news.

“What’s up?” I asked, pushing myself to sit.

He hesitated. “Alpha Caspian wants to see you.”

I exhaled slowly. Of course. We were training in his pack… Halestone had opened its facilities to all tournament warriors and our last encounter still hung between us like smoke. The changing room. The almost-kiss. The way he’d walked away cold and confused.

I got up with the help of Smith and sighed in acceptance. “Fine. Let’s get it over with.”

The moment I stepped in his office, I was hit all at once with the scent of him, it hit me like a physical wave—pine, smoke, dark earth, power. My wolf surged forward, a tidal rush of longing crashing through me so hard I nearly gasped from the onslaught. I locked it down, keeping my face neutral.

“Alpha Caspian.” I bowed slightly, showing the respect protocol demanded.

He sat behind a massive oak desk, watching me with that unreadable intensity. The open window behind him let in a breeze that ruffled his black curls. One strand fell across his forehead. I had the sudden, stupid urge to reach over and brush it back but I refrained recalling the last time we were close and how it ended. I stayed rooted where I was.

Silence stretched. His jaw ticked once, twice.

“You called for me, Alpha?” I prompted when he continued watching me.

He leaned back in his chair.

“Yes, I would like to train and sponsor you” 

Excitement flared… bright, sharp, involuntary. Training under a Gold Moon Alpha? Sponsorship from one of the five remaining? It was every warrior’s dream.

But his next words doused it.

“As one of the few Gold Moon Alphas still alive, I support a candidate each cycle. My beta recommended you. He seems to think you’re… special. So I agreed.”

My excitement curdled into something bitter. Recommended. Special. Not because he’d seen me fight, not because of the spark between us in the changing room, not because he believed in me. Just because his beta had placed a bet on me.

My face hardened. “I don’t need your help.”

Surprise flickered in his eyes, brief, quickly masked.

“I appreciate the offer, Alpha,” I continued, voice cold and detached, “but I already have a sponsor.”

The lie slipped out easily. I refused to be anyone’s charity case. Especially not his.

He studied me for a long moment. “Suit yourself.”

I turned on my heel and left, slamming the door harder than necessary. The irritated flash on his face before it closed was the only satisfaction I got. I guess the attraction I felt was one sided, an Alpha could not be interested in a mere wolf. He could at least have not acted like an asshole stuck up Alpha.

Smith was waiting outside the gym when I stormed back.

“Are you out of your mind?” he exploded the second he saw me. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a sponsor, let alone from a Gold Moon Alpha like Caspian? And we don’t even have a sponsor!” I swear I could almost see smoke rise from his head.

 “Calm down. I’ll find one. Just not him.”

He stared at me, recognizing the stubborn set of my jaw, the one that meant I wasn’t budging. After a long breath, he shook his head and walked off, muttering under his breath.

I needed air.

I decided to walk around. 

Halestone pack was enormous. Modern. Tech-heavy. Guards in crisp black uniforms patrolled the perimeter. Maids in pale grey dresses moved in quiet groups, heads down. I blinked hard when I saw a girl with ginger coloured hair that looked like my sister walking with some group of girls “Bianca” I yelled and truly it was her. What the heck was she doing here and dressed as a maid at that.“Hi sis” she waved at me, she was really cheerful today, I scrutinized her wondering if it was the grumpy Bianca I knew. 

“What are you doing here?” I thought mum told you I applied to work in Alpha Caspian’s pack, she giggled, and I looked at her again, she was acting all weird. “Why would you do that, you hate working” she just shrugged and left quickly when she saw the head maid.

I wandered the paths, memorizing layouts: the pack hospital with its glass-fronted entrance, the towering pack house at the center, the Alpha’s private wing high on the ridge.

I even found a small hidden garden deep in the forest.

By the time I returned to the warriors’ quarters, I was bone-tired. I just wanted a nap, then a cold shower.

I wasn’t paying attention… too drained, too distracted and walked straight into a solid wall.

I rubbed my forehead, confused.

The wall moved.

I jumped back.

Alpha Caspian stood there, looking down 

at me. He’d been in the warriors’ corridor, his presence filling the narrow hallway like smoke.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, stepping aside to let him pass.

He didn’t move. “I need to talk to you.”

I groaned inwardly but followed. He led me past his office, up a private stairwell, and stopped in front of a set of double doors… his personal quarters.

My stomach tightened. Why his room? Not the office?

He opened the door and gestured me inside. I walked past him into the room that was bigger than my whole house, there was a huge mirror on the ceiling as I glanced at the white crop top and jean that I wore. I saw some maids cleaning the room, glancing around in awe I noticed my sister… again, and other maids. I swear I could hear their heartbeat thundering from way over here in both fear and admiration, they shyly glanced at him batting their eyelashes and for some unknown reason I felt my wolf snarl at them but I ignored the territorial feeling she was giving off, he wasn’t my mate I whispered to myself, he only saw me as a charity case after all.

I moved towards Bianca happy to see her again when Caspian’s voice cut through the room, low and commanding. “Leave.”

The maids scurried away but not before I noticed the look on my sister’s face, it was a look of hurt which then transformed to jealousy in a split second before she covered it up with a neutral expression as she waved me bye. “What was that all about, it seemed my sister was crushing on him, ohh well he wasn’t mine” I shrugged looking towards Caspian as he motioned me to sit but I declined wanting to leave as quickly as possible.“Have you changed your mind about my proposition?”

“No,” I said flatly. “And I won’t. If that’s all, I’ll be going.”

I bowed stiffly and turned for the door.

His voice stopped me. “You’re making a mistake.”

I paused, hand on the knob. “Maybe. But it’s my mistake to make.”

I left, slamming the door behind me.

I hurried down the hall, hoping to catch Bianca, but she’d vanished around a corner. I hesitated, then let it go. I’d talk to her later.

I made it back to my room, collapsed face-down on the bed, drained and weak from all the training paired with my wolf’s restlessness. What I needed was a nap and then a cold shower in that order. I was already getting comfy on my soft bed when I felt a buzz underneath me, I scooted away from the annoying buzz and smiled to myself almost asleep but the incessant buzz was starting to tick me off. Opening my eyes now fully awake I groaned as I picked the call seeing an unknown number flash on my screen. “Hello” I glanced at the phone when I heard no reply thinking the call had ended but it hadn’t and as I listened carefully, I could hear the person breathing lightly.

I ended the call.

It rang again.

I picked up, waited.

Nothing.

“Who the hell is this?” I snapped.

Still nothing.

I hung up, irritated.

A text popped in:

“IF YOU LOVE YOUR LIFE, DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE TOURNAMENT!” 

The words were in bold caps. A chill crawled down my spine, quickly replaced by white-hot anger.

Who did this person think they were?

I was so pissed, my phone rang again and seeing it was also private number, I picked and said in a chilling voice “don’t you even dare call me again or send me stupid texts because I’m not scared of …”

“Hey! calm down tiger” the voice was familiar… deep, teasing, amused.

I exhaled. “Alpha Kieran?”

“The one and only.” He chuckled. “You okay? You sound like you’re about to murder someone.”

I rubbed my temple. “It’s nothing. How did you get my number?”

“Being an Alpha has its perks.” He paused, tone shifting to something smoother, more serious. “I’d like to sponsor you, Nalani.”

My name in his mouth sent a shiver through me, warm, unexpected.

“There’s something unique about you,” he continued. “I’d really love to be your sponsor. Do you accept?”

I thought of Caspian’s cold indifference. Of the tournament looming. Of the threat I just got.

I had limited options. Refusing two Alphas would be foolish.

“Yes,” I said quietly.

“Good choice.” Satisfaction hummed in his voice. “My beta will meet you in a few hours to finalize everything. Send me your location.”

He hung up.

Minutes later, a message arrived from his beta and I gave him directions.

I walked toward the pack boundary, heart beating a little faster. It was forbidden for outsiders to enter without the Alpha’s knowledge, and part of me was relieved Kieran hadn’t informed Caspian though it still felt strange they’d agreed so easily.

A twig snapped in the distance.

I froze.

A low growl… barely audible drifted from my left.

I shifted on instinct. My wolf form was stronger, senses sharper. Grey fur rippled over me as I scented the air. Nothing distinct, but every instinct screamed danger.

I trotted forward cautiously.

Another growl, this one closer, deeper, rumbling through the ground.

The earth seemed to shake.

A massive wolf stepped from the shadows… golden fur swallowing the moonlight, golden eyes burning like embers. It towered over me, radiating raw dominance.

My wolf whimpered, ears flattening.

I knew this wolf.

“Nalani,” Caspian’s voice echoed in my mind through the link all Gold Moon Alphas could access. “What are you doing out here alone?”

He circled me slowly, sniffing the air, eyes raking over my grey fur.

“I’m… waiting for someone,” I answered through the link, voice small.

“You know allowing another wolf onto pack lands without my knowledge is punishable by law.”

I dipped my head thinking what my headiness had gotten me into and what punishment would be dealt out to me. “I know.”

“

Who is it you are waiting to see?” the massive wolf still circled me, my slightest movement a threat.

I swallowed. “I’m waiting for…”

“She’s waiting for me… brother.”