"You want revenge," Liam says. "I want obedience."
Iris stood in the center of the training courtyard at dawn, her body still aching from yesterday's beating. Around her, frost clung to the stone walls. Her breath misted in the cold air.
Liam circled her slowly, hands clasped behind his back. He looked fresh, unbothered, like he hadn't just woken up before sunrise to torture her.
"When I tell you to move, you move. When I tell you to stop, you stop. When I tell you to kill—" He paused in front of her, eyes gleaming. "You don't hesitate. You don't question. You obey. Understood?"
"I'm not your pet."
His smile was razor-sharp. "No. You're much more pathetic than that. A pet, at least, knows its place." He gestured to Dominic, who stood at the edge of the courtyard. "Again."
Dominic moved forward. Iris barely had time to raise her hands before he attacked. His fist caught her jaw. Stars exploded across her vision. She hit the ground hard.
"Up," Liam said.
Iris pushed herself to her knees, spitting blood.
"Up."
She stood. Swayed. Steadied herself.
Dominic came at her again. This time she managed to block, but his follow-up strike caught her ribs. The same ribs he'd bruised yesterday. Pain shot through her chest. She went down again.
"Up."
"I can't—"
"Up."
Iris forced herself to stand. Her legs shook. Everything hurt. She'd been at this for three days now, and each day was worse than the last. Sleep was brief and restless. Food was minimal. Water was a privilege she had to earn.
This wasn't training. This was breaking.
"Do you know why you keep failing?" Liam asked, still circling. "Because you're fighting like a human. Thinking like a human. Hesitating like a human." He stopped in front of her. "Your wolf is in there, caged and useless. Let her out."
"I can't shift yet. My injuries—"
"Excuses." He nodded to Dominic. "Again."
It went on for hours. Fall, rise, fall, rise. By the time the sun cleared the walls, Iris couldn't feel her face anymore. Couldn't tell where pain ended and her body began. She collapsed for what felt like the hundredth time and simply lay there, staring up at the pale morning sky.
Liam's face appeared above her, blocking out the light.
"Are you done?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"Pity." He turned away. "I thought you wanted revenge."
Fury sparked in her chest. Iris rolled onto her side, then her hands and knees. Blood dripped from her nose, spattering the frost-covered stone.
She stood.
Liam glanced back, one eyebrow raised. "Well. Perhaps there's hope for you after all."
The days blurred together. Wake before dawn. Train until she couldn't stand. Eat. Sleep a few hours. Wake and do it again. Liam was everywhere, watching, correcting, pushing. He never touched her himself during combat training. That was Dominic's job. But Liam was always there, observing with those ancient eyes, seeing things she didn't even know she was revealing.
"Your left side is weak because you're favoring your right," he'd say. Or, "You telegraph your strikes. A child could read them."
She hated him. Hated his calm voice and perfect composure. Hated that he was right about everything. Hated that despite all of it, she was getting stronger.
On the seventh day, Liam finally spoke to her about something other than combat.
They sat in his private study after training. Iris had been summoned, though she didn't know why. Liam stood by the window, looking out at his territory.
"The Silverpine Pack," he said without turning around. "What do you know about their Alpha?"
Iris shifted in her chair. Everything still hurt, but she was learning to ignore it. "Derek's father leads them. Marcus Winters. He's been Alpha for twenty years."
"Marcus Winters is dead."
She blinked. "What?"
"Killed three months ago. His son took over early." Liam finally turned to face her. "Derek Winters became Alpha the same week your pack was destroyed. Interesting timing, don't you think?"
Iris's mind raced. "You think the two are connected?"
"I think very little happens by coincidence in pack politics." He moved to his desk and pulled out a leather-bound book. "Twenty years ago, there were twelve major packs in this territory. Today there are seven. The others didn't simply disappear. They were absorbed. Conquered. Erased." He opened the book, revealing maps and notes. "Your pack was small, isolated, valuable only for your land. The Silverpine Pack wanted to expand. So they eliminated you."
"Then why pretend to be allies? Why not just attack openly?"
"Because open warfare draws attention. Questions. Intervention from packs like mine." Liam's finger traced a line on the map. "But if an allied pack suffers an 'unfortunate accident,' if everyone dies in what looks like a tragic fire or border skirmish, well. These things happen."
The cold logic of it made Iris sick. "So they planned it. All of it."
"Of course they did." Liam closed the book. "Which brings us to your training. You want Derek Winters dead. That's simple enough. But if you simply kill him, his pack will retaliate. You need to be smart about this. Strategic."
"I don't care about strategy. I care about making them pay."
"And that," Liam said softly, "is why you'd fail." He leaned back against his desk, studying her. "Revenge without purpose is just suicide with extra steps. If I'm going to help you, you'll do this properly. You'll learn to fight, to plan, to lead. And when the time comes, you won't just kill Derek Winters. You'll destroy everything he's built."
Something in his voice made her look closer. There was anger there, buried deep but burning hot. Personal anger.
"You hate them too," Iris said slowly. "The Silverpine Pack. Why?"
Liam was quiet for a long moment. Then he smiled, sharp and bitter. "Let's just say they and I have history. Old history. The kind that doesn't forgive or forget."
He didn't elaborate. Iris knew better than to push. Liam revealed things when he wanted to, not before.
Two weeks into training, something changed.
They were sparring in the courtyard. Not Iris and Dominic this time, but Iris and Liam himself. He'd decided she was finally strong enough to face him directly.
It was brutal. Liam moved like something that couldn't be touched. Every attack she threw, he countered. Every opening she tried to exploit, he closed. He wasn't even trying hard. She could tell by the bored expression on his face.
Frustration built in her chest. She pushed harder, faster, more aggressive. Nothing worked. Liam simply wasn't there when her fists arrived.
"Predictable," he said, blocking another strike. "Slow. Weak."
Something inside Iris snapped.
Her wolf, dormant for so long, surged upward. Not a full shift, but close. Power flooded her limbs. Her vision sharpened. She smelled everything: sweat, stone, blood, Liam's cedar scent cutting through it all.
She attacked.
This time, Liam had to work for it. He blocked, dodged, countered, but Iris stayed with him. Her strikes came faster, harder, driven by instinct rather than thought. Her wolf guided her movements, showing her openings she'd never have seen before.
She caught him. Just once. Her fist connected with his ribs, and she felt something give. Not break, but yield. Liam's eyes widened, just a fraction.
Then she was on him. They went down hard, Iris on top, her hand around his throat. Her fingers tightened. She could feel his pulse under her palm, steady and strong. Could hear his heartbeat, too calm for someone being strangled.
Kill him, her wolf whispered. Kill him kill him kill him.
Her grip tightened.
Liam didn't fight back. He just looked at her, those amber eyes fixed on her face. Waiting. Curious.
Iris realized what she was doing and jerked backward, releasing him. She scrambled away, breathing hard. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
"Good," Liam said.
He sat up, rubbing his throat. There would be bruises there tomorrow. She'd marked him. Left evidence of what she could do.
Liam smiled. Really smiled, with teeth and something almost like pride.
"Good," he said again, his voice rough. "Your wolf is waking."
He stood and moved toward her. Iris backed up instinctively, but he kept coming until he was close enough to touch. Too close. Invading her space in a way that made her wolf stir nervously.
Liam leaned in. His face dipped toward her neck, not touching but close enough that she could feel his breath against her skin. He inhaled slowly, deeply, scenting her.
Every nerve in Iris's body went haywire. This was intimate. Wrong. Alphas didn't scent wolves outside their pack unless they were claiming them or challenging them. Unless they were—
Liam pulled back slightly, his eyes dark and intense. "You smell like grief and potential." His voice was barely above a whisper. "Like something wild that's been caged too long."
Iris couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. His presence overwhelmed her, made her wolf want to submit and fight in equal measure.
Then Liam stepped back, breaking the spell. "Come with me."
He didn't wait to see if she'd follow, just turned and walked toward the main building. Iris stood frozen for a moment, her heart hammering. Then she forced her legs to move.
She followed him through corridors she'd never seen before, deeper into the fortress. They descended stairs, went through locked doors that Liam opened with keys he kept on a chain around his neck. The air grew colder. Damper. They were going underground.
Finally, they reached a heavy wooden door reinforced with iron. Liam unlocked it and pushed it open.
The room beyond was massive. A war room. Maps covered every wall, some old and yellowed, others new and marked with fresh ink. Tables held documents, books, weapons. Everything was organized with military precision.
But what caught Iris's attention were the maps themselves. Red circles marked locations across the territory. Dozens of them. And through several circles, someone had drawn thick black X's.
"What is this?" she whispered.
Liam moved to the largest map, his finger touching one of the black X's. "The Blackwood Pack. Destroyed two years ago. Blamed on a disease outbreak." His finger moved to another. "The Riverside Pack. Destroyed eighteen months ago. Blamed on internal conflict." Another X. Another. "The Moonstone Pack. The Ash Creek Pack. The Valley Pack." He turned to face her, his expression grim. "Your pack wasn't the only one targeted, Iris."
She stared at the map, her blood running cold. "They're all gone?"
"All gone. All in the last three years. All small, isolated packs on valuable territory." Liam's jaw tightened. "And every single one bordered or neighbored the Silverpine Pack."
"But that's... that's genocide."
"Yes." Liam's eyes met hers, and there was something terrible in them. "And I know exactly why."