The next morning, Amelia met Kael in the private training yard as instructed. It was a secluded space surrounded by high walls, hidden from the main fortress. Kael was already there, dressed in simple training clothes, his expression serious.
"Shifting is natural for most wolves," he began without preamble. "But you have eighteen years of suppression to overcome. Your wolf is powerful, but you lack the instinctive control that comes from shifting since childhood. We need to build that control from the ground up."
For the next several hours, Kael taught Amelia how to shift smoothly between forms, how to maintain her human consciousness while in wolf form, how to use her enhanced senses without becoming overwhelmed. He was patient and thorough, never mocking her mistakes, always offering constructive guidance.
