[POV: Atlas]
I hit the ground hard, breath whooshing from my lungs in a sharp gasp. "Get up!" Noelle called, grinning as she stood a few paces away, her palms still glowing faintly with the last pulse of her ability. "You're not getting out of training that easy."
I groaned but pushed myself upright, shaking off the sting of her hit. She'd used her elemental force again—air pressure condensed into a blunt wave—and while she wasn't going full strength, it still packed enough punch to rattle my teeth and leave my ribs aching.
"I'm starting to think you enjoy throwing me across the clearing," I muttered, brushing dirt off my shirt and wincing at the new bruise forming on my shoulder.
She shrugged with mock innocence. "Maybe. Or maybe I just think you can handle it now."
I tried not to smile, but she wasn't wrong. I'd gotten stronger—faster, sharper, more grounded. My muscles had filled out from weeks of relentless training. My reflexes had sharpened to the point where I could anticipate attacks before they landed. And it wasn't just my body anymore.
Something had changed. Something deeper. And I didn't know it yet, but this was the day I'd find out exactly how much.
"Again?" she asked, cracking her knuckles with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
I nodded, determination settling in my chest. "Again."
We circled each other, feet moving in rhythm, eyes locked. The training ground was empty except for us, the midnight moon casting long shadows across the packed earth. I waited for her to strike first—and when she did, it was fast, a blast of wind meant to knock me off balance and send me sprawling again.
But this time, my instincts kicked in before my muscles did. Before I even had time to think, before I could process what was happening, a pulse stirred beneath my skin—dark, cool, powerful. And then the shadows moved. They rose.
All around me, the long shadows cast by the midnight moon twisted like liquid smoke, wrapping around me in a protective burst. The darkness responded to something primal inside me, something I hadn't known existed.
Noelle's force wave hit—but it didn't throw me. It stopped, absorbed by the swirling black veil that now surrounded me like armor.
My heart leapt into my throat. I gasped, stumbling back, staring at the shadows rippling across my arms, sliding around my fingers like ribbons of night itself. They moved with me, responding to my shock, my wonder, my fear.
"What…?" I whispered, voice barely audible.
Noelle's jaw dropped. "Holy shit."
I looked up at her, wide-eyed, my pulse racing. "What did I just do?"
She laughed—delighted, not scared. "You shadow-shielded me. That was badass."
The shadows slowly faded, melting back into the earth like they'd never been there. My hands shook, my pulse racing with shock and awe. I could still feel the echo of that power, humming beneath my skin like a second heartbeat. Noelle approached, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Was that the first time?"
I nodded slowly, still trying to process what had just happened. "I didn't even know I had the power. I mean… I thought shifting late meant I didn't have one."
She beamed. "Well, guess what? You've got one—and it's seriously cool. You were like—poof! Shadow warrior."
Despite the shock still buzzing through me, I laughed. It felt good to laugh, to share this moment with someone who genuinely seemed happy for me.
"I don't know how I did it," I admitted, flexing my fingers and watching for any sign of the shadows returning. "It just… happened."
"That's how it starts," Noelle said, her voice warm with understanding. "Trust me. It'll take time, but you'll learn. And if you want help practicing, I'm your girl."
I smiled, the warmth of her support settling deep in my chest. "Thank you."
She tilted her head, her voice gentling. "Atlas, this is huge. You've shifted. You've won a trial. And now your power's awakening? You're unstoppable."
My throat tightened, emotion threatening to rise. I hadn't told her everything—not about Draven, not about what really happened that night before the last trial.
She knew I'd shifted, but she didn't know who had been there. Who had caught me. Held me. Guided me through every searing second of it, his strong hands steadying me when I thought I'd be torn apart by the transformation.
And I didn't want to talk about him. Not after what he'd said. "Your pheromones are disruptive. Don't come near me."
The words still stung, cutting deeper than any training injury. He'd made it clear I was just a problem to manage. A distraction to avoid. An inconvenience he couldn't afford.
So I took his advice to heart. I stayed away. And oddly, he did too. No appearances during training. No passing glances in the halls. No brooding figure watching from the edges of the courtyard like he used to.
Just absence. And for Hyde, it was maddening. "He's only keeping his distance because he's struggling," my wolf whispered constantly, his voice an insistent presence in my mind. "You can feel it. You know this isn't just in your head."
"I also know when someone wants nothing to do with me," I'd snapped back at him earlier in the week, frustration boiling over. "We're not his mate, Hyde. You need to stop acting like we are."
"But we are," he insisted, stubborn and certain. "Sirius knows. Draven knows. You feel it. Why won't you admit it?"
"Because I'm not like him," I whispered bitterly, the old wounds from my past reopening. "Because I'm not enough. I never was. I've already told you."
Hyde went quiet after that, sulking, watching from the corner of my mind while I focused on something—anything—that wasn't Draven. Anything that didn't remind me of the way he'd looked at me before telling me to stay away.
Like the shadows. I spent hours in the training yard, testing their movement. It wasn't easy. They didn't respond to orders. They responded to need. To instinct. To emotion.
When I was focused, calm—they curled softly around me, thin as smoke, barely visible. When I was angry—they surged, sharp and fast like knives, ready to strike.
I was learning. Slowly. Figuring out the rhythm of this new power, the way it flowed through me like a second nature I was only just discovering.
But I preferred it this way. Shadow and silence. Effort and progress. Training until my muscles burned and my mind was too tired to think about dark eyes with golden flecks.
No eyes watching me with unreadable heat. No wolf inside me howling for an Alpha who didn't want us.
Just me, the shadows, and the determination to prove I was more than the broken rogue who'd stumbled into this pack. More than a distraction. More than not enough. I would become strong, powerful and worthy. Even if it killed me.