I woke up to a sharp hit on the head. "Ughhh," I groaned and grabbed my face, still too sleepy to open my eyes.

If you don't open your eyes in the next two seconds, the next hit is going directly into your kidney, a feminine voice that I didn't recognize filled my head.

My eyes instantly opened, and I was confused when Ares stood above me.

"How are you in my head?" I asked, my brain still fuzzy.

The old healer guy made some potion that makes me able to mindlink with you, and a separate one for the rest of the pack, Ares explained.

"Why did you have to hit me to wake me up," I grumbled. "A 'Good morning, Onyx, how did you sleep?' would have sufficed."

One side of Ares' mouth quirked up into a smile. Get ready for training. If you're not down in five minutes, I'll keep that in mind when we're sparring.

With those words, she left the room. Did she just threaten me?

I quickly got up to get dressed, not willing to risk making the Blood Luna angry. As I was putting my hair up into a bun, Thane appeared behind me.

"Where's the fire?" He asked sarcastically, referring to my frantic dressing.

"It'll be under my ass if I don't meet the Blood Luna downstairs in a minute," I told Thane as I quickly tied my running shoes.

Thane frowned. "You have no reason to fear Ares. She wouldn't harm you, she knows I would kill her."

I snorted. "Good luck dealing with the Blood Alpha."

Thane roughly grabbed my shoulder and spun me around so I was pinned to his chest. "I do not fear the Blood Alpha or Luna. Regardless, neither of them will hurt you. Ares knows how precious you are to me, she'll be gentle," Thane promised and gave a quick kiss on my head.

I nodded, but I wasn't sure if I agreed. Thane didn't see her kill over a dozen wolves without flinching.

"Seriously, Onyx. I will never let someone harm you," Thane's voice was distinctly deeper, and his green eyes were glowing bright.

"Fine, but I shouldn't be late," I said breathlessly. I had never seen him so intense before.

His gaze burned through me for a few seconds longer before he released me from his grasp. I went downstairs where Ares was standing with Axel, leaving Thane behind.

"Is the Blood Alpha coming?" I asked Ares.

She shook her head. He already left with the Blood Lake wolves. Axel is just staying to babysit.

I scoffed before responding back through the mindlink, I find it hard to believe that you need a babysitter.

Ares cracked a brief smile, but her eyes held a mischievous glint. Try telling that to Cain.

I rolled my eyes as I smiled. Yeah, right. He was the last person in the world I would ever start an argue with.

Axel interjected, "What is Ares telling you? Did she call me a glorified babysitter?"

I couldn't hold my giggle in. "Seriously, Luna?" Axel whined. "I'm the f*cking Beta of Blood Lake, you gotta stop telling people that I'm a babysitter."

Ares smirked but said nothing else. She started to head out the door.

We walked in silence towards the training center. "Luna, can I ask something?" I finally asked.

Stop calling me Luna. If you manage to not get killed during the challenge, you'll be a Luna too. It's Ares, she demanded. But yes, ask.

"Did you really tear apart all of those wolves in the field?" I asked, my voice lowering. I had to make sure that it wasn't my wolfsbane-contaminated mind hallucinating it.

Yes, she answered simply.

"How? How are you so strong?" I questioned, my curiosity deepening.

She sighed, and didn't answer for a minute. That's a long story, Onyx. We'll talk about it another time. Let's just say I'm not a normal Luna.

"Is that why people call you an Alpha?" I mumbled, and she abruptly stopped walking to look at me.

Something like that, she muttered, before picking up her pace and walking faster.

I could tell she didn't feel like talking about it, but luckily, I specialize in asking intrusive questions. "Have you ever accidentally hurt someone because you didn't realize your strength?" I asked quietly, having flashbacks to dissolving Killian's entire arm.

No, she answered without doubt or hesitation. Everyone I've hurt, it's because I wanted to.

I winced, not wanting to know how many people she's actually caused harm too. I felt nauseated thinking about the way she ripped apart the people yesterday.

"Are you asking because you have?" Axel asked, and I almost forgot he was trailing behind us, listening to our conversation.

My heartbeat quickened. He couldn't possibly know about what I did to Killian. "No," I answered, and I knew I responded too quickly.

"My mistake," Axel muttered, backing off.

"Oh goodie, we're here!" I sighed in relief. I pushed open the doors to the training center, where Clover was punching the crap out of a punching bag.

She looked up as we walked in, and wiped the sweat off of her forehead as she headed towards us. When she reached us, I introduced her to Ares and Axel.

"It's an honor to meet you, Luna," Clover tilted her neck in submission.

Ares nodded at her. Both her and Clover's eyes went glossy, so I assumed they were mind-linking.

"Onyx, do your normal warm-up," Clover commanded. I internally groaned. That meant a 5 mile jog around the indoor track, 500 crunches, and 300 push-ups.

Nevertheless, I shrugged off my jacket and began running. To my surprise, Axel joined me.

"Don't tell me you like to run," I groaned at him.

He snorted. "We're moving so slowly, it's basically walking at this point."

"Hey!" I protested. "I'm just warming up!"

He laughed, and jogged faster, so that he was a little bit ahead of me. I scowled, knowing he was just doing that so I would feel challenged and try to catch up to prove a point.

Obviously I'm easily manipulated, because I played into it anyways and ran faster until he was by my side.

We stayed at that pace for awhile, and even though it was harder, it wasn't unbearable. While we ran, Ares and Clover stretched and took turns holding the punching bag while one of them hit it. I wouldn't be surprised if they became best friends, Clover was also exceptionally violent. However, it seemed like Clover is more controlled. Ares just screams chaos.

When I finished the five miles with Axel, we laid on the ground and did the crouches. I could tell that this was a baby workout for him. He didn't even break a sweat. I wasn't surprised by that. When we arrived in the training center, he took off his hoodie and revealed a literal 8-pack.

By the time I was finished with the push-ups, I felt like I was dying. I groaned as I laid face-down on the ground.

Get up, I heard Ares' voice resonating in my mind. I want to see you spar with Clover.

Clover, dressed in running shorts and a tank top, looked as menacing as ever. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into one long french braid, and her quad muscles flexed threateningly as she walked near me.

I got up off of the ground and stood across from Clover. Ares folded her arms across her chest. She didn't remove her black cloak, making her look all the more intimidating. Her face showed no emotion, while Axel's eyebrows were furrowed as he looked on with interest.

I sighed, already knowing I was about to get my butt kicked in front of the Luna and Beta of Blood Lake. Nevertheless, I still got into my fighting stance as Clover did the same.

Clover made the first move, and swung her right fist at me. Jumping backwards, I narrowly dodged it. She sent a kick towards my torso, which I pushed away using my hands. As soon as both of her feet were back on the ground, she sent another punch at me, which connected with my jaw. I had the feeling she was holding back, because it didn't even hurt that badly. However, it did distract me enough to where she was able to knock me off of my feet and pin me.

I groaned as I hit the floor, and Clover rolled off of me. I stared up at Ares, who's eyes were narrowed. She looked back and forth from me to Clover. When she looked at Clover, her eyes glossed over.

"Of course I went easy on her," Clover answered a mind-link I didn't hear. "Thane would kill me if I harmed her. He's already punished me once for being too rough."

Ares looked back to me. Do you have a problem if you get injured while training with me?

I gulped. "No, Luna."

She smiled, a chaotic glint in her eye that made my stomach turn. Very well then, I'll let Clover know that we'll be doing this my way from now on.

She must have told Clover, because Clover protested, "Luna, with all due respect, Thane is quite overprotective of his mate. I'm not sure you'll want to put that to the test..."

Ares' smile faltered as she began mind-linking with Clover once again. Neither of them spoke aloud, indicating that they were probably arguing over the mind-link.

I looked at Axel, who shrugged. He was probably used to the Blood Luna starting arguments. She didn't seem like the type to hold back her opinion, which was admirable.

"Okay, Onyx. The Luna will train you as she sees fit," Clover agreed hesitantly.

I grinned. Despite being terrified of Ares, I knew that she was the most capable fighter in the world, and if I wanted to have the chance to destroy Brenna, I would need her to be completely unfiltered and unrestrained.

Axel cracked his neck and stretched his arm across his chest as he walked towards Ares. Ares removed her cloak, revealing a black sports bra that matched her black leggings. She haphazardly pulled her long, platinum hair back into a ponytail.

She cracked her knuckles as her and Axel stood across from each other. Axel had a glint of excitement in his eyes, and I felt worried for the Blood Luna.

I was sure that her Beta would not harm her, but he did look like he could easily crush her. That's no insult to the Luna, in fact, she is quite muscular herself. She also has defined abs, and even her arms looked formidable. However, Axel is just four times her size.

"3," Axel began counting, and I saw Ares canines drop as she smiled threateningly at him.

"2," Axel sank lower into his fighting stance, and his body tensed, revealing even more muscle definition.

"1."