Despite Cain's warning, I don't go to train straight away. I go attend to Lyros's summoning first. I don't know why he called me but when I got to his room it was clean. I saw him folding his shirts and putting them into his wardrobe. He asked me to sit and he asked how I was feeling, and then after, he told me what Cain wouldn't. We're going to a very far place. He didn't tell me where just told me to get ready for two days at sea. I'm to act as a companion of Cain, an ambassador from the Lycan king of the north to the lands inland. The Lycan king we're going to visit is named Rafie and he isn't dangerous, those around him are the really dangerous ones so I'll have to watch what I say, watch where I step, and also get ready to live without electricity, running water, and an air conditioner in my room. It's going to be like a whole new world but I feel pumped for it already. Safira comes for me afterward and I recognize her as the lady I had seen in front of my door yesterday. The

Safira drafts a training schedule for us and tells me it was fun training with someone that has some backbone. I'm not sure if she just insulted all the warrior Lycans in this building or if she insulted me and every other werewolf out there. She doesn't stay back long enough to clarify, she says it and she leaves while I stay there, panting. I lay on the floor and let the silence of this place fill me. For her to have her own training space, she must be really important to Lyros. The way she's also made me so aware of the fact that I am not supposed to be here is surprising. Up until today, I don't think I ever saw myself as the daughter of an Alpha. I sure wasn't treated like one in the pack and I don't think I've ever been the daughter of an Alpha. I've always been the pack disappointment, my parent's shame, and a failure to the moon goddess. I can barely feel my wolf during the full moons and when a shift does overtake me it's so painful it feels like it's going to kill me. I a

Rhys is looking at me weirdly.Safira lunges at me with a bit more speed this time so I take my eyes off him and place more attention on her. There's a feeling creeping down my back that tells me Rhys is here for something, maybe he's here to distract me, I can't tell, but the way he looks at me makes me feel strange. Like he's observing me closely and it only makes me super conscious of myself.I haven't seen Cain for the past two days now and I would have loved to say the same for Lyros but that would be a lie. The Lycan king has been around, more than Cain has been around, and I'm left to wonder if that's something Lyros has caused or if Cain just doesn't want to see me."Focus Adelaide!"Safira's voice comes out angrier than I imagined and my attention snaps to her immediately. Clang!Her sword hits mine and I feel the force of it go into my arm. I spend the next few minutes dodging thrusts, deflecting jabs, repeating her words over and over in my mind as I master the art of the

"Tomorrow, you both head off on your next mission. I expect nothing but the best from both of you, and remember, crossing me is death. Whatever plans you have better be thought over carefully. I don't handle betrayal well, there's nowhere you would run to that I wouldn't find you."Lyros's words ring in my ears like bells and sink into my mind. I can tell he's not lying. It's a creeping at the base of my spine and a tingling at my fingertips. I can tell he's not joking, and somehow that makes me feel even sadder than I already do.Cain is refusing to look at meHe's standing beside Lyros, one hand at his back and the other holding his cane. He's as still as a statue and it hurts my heart. It breaks me deep into my soul that he's acting like this to me, but I guess if were in his shoes I'd have done the sameHeck, I was angry at him for not paying me attention after he kissed me. How mad would I have been if I had caught him doing something like kissing Safira or one of the maids?"Ade

"I'm sorry, but have you seen Cain?"Raina stares at me like she's seeing me for the first time and she doesn't like what she's seeing.I noticed her giving me this same look when she served me in the dining hall and now she's doing it again.I'm confused but I don't have the time to fully inquire about why she's acting this way. I need to see Cain.Raina keeps on staring at me and I realize that maybe I do have the time to ask why she's acting this way. She's my only female friend here and it's hard to know that she's angry when I don't know why."Is something wrong Raina?"She blinks and looks away but I know she has something she wants to say. Maybe she's scared of what will happen if she says it here."Can we talk outside?"Almost like I read her mind or she reads mine she suggests what I had been about to suggest and I nod.I might have not noticed it before but the threat of that strange wolf still hangs heavy in the air. The security around the building is still tight and there