A muffled thud sounded as Alex crawled panting over the top. I jumped away from Kai as if we had been caught doing something wrong, which of course, we hadn't. Hand holding was an innocent activity, something friends did. Wasn't it?

One by one, the rest of our group reached the cliff top. I looked left, shading my eyes against the sun. Ethan was still hauling up his third group member, which meant we had won. It seemed teamwork beat individualism.

Then it was only a matter of abseiling back down the rocks. We could have walked, of course. But this way was so much more fun. We lowered Kai down first, as he was only one who could belay. He proceeded to slowly bring the rest of us down. There was a feeling of freedom in abseiling. Almost like flying.

Why had I never done this before? Why had I never done half these things before joining the Moon Guard? It was like I hadn't started living until I came to Evarlin. After all, there is a huge difference between existing and living.

Kai helped me to unbuckle my harness when I reached solid ground. He showed me how to hold the end of the rope as a backup while Ben came down to join us. In reality, if he messed up, I doubted I would even be heavy enough to help. But he never did, so it didn't matter.

We returned to Evarlin together. Tammie told us to go ahead and that we had the rest of the day off. She stayed behind to wait for the other two groups. When our entire team reached the ground, Ethan was hauling up his last team member, and Corban and Matthias's team had almost reached the top.

For once, we didn't have to go out hunting or foraging. There was food enough to last a few more days at least. Hell, we still had half a deer hidden in the forest. So while we walked back, we gathered as much heather as we could carry and tied it in bundles with the climbing rope.

It was an idea that I'd given myself when talking about the Spartans building their own beds. Heather was hardly a feather bed, but with enough of it, we could make a decent mattress. Then maybe I would get a proper night's sleep.

An hour later I lay between Becky and Kai on the soft brush in the comfort of the dorm room. By unspoken consent, we had made one long mattress instead of five smaller ones. It saved materials and let us share warmth. The boys and girls were divided, but it was Kai and myself who formed the gender bridge.

"We're running out of time," Kai said suddenly, breaking a silence that had spanned for nearly ten minutes.

"What?" Alex asked drowsily.

"We need to complete the challenges by tomorrow," he replied.

"Any reason why?" Becky propped herself up on an elbow.

"I spoke to a guard who'd been on duty in the palace. He said the my mother is getting worse. I need to go and see her before it's too late." Kai's voice was distant, pained.

"So screw the Moon Guard," Becky advised him. "It's your mum. Go see her and damn the consequences. You're the Prince, Kaeden. If that doesn't mean you can do as you like, what's the point?"

"I can't," he murmured, and the heartbreak in his voice almost brought tears to my eyes. "I can't explain yet, but I can't leave this place until I'm one of the guard. Can you trust me?"

"You earned my trust a long time ago," Ben said quietly.

"Of course we all trust you," I added.

"Then help me. Please. We need to complete those challenges," Kai pleaded. "We can beat the instructor if we all work together. But as for the Shadowcat and the obstacle course..."

"Don't worry about defeating a Shadowcat," I sighed. I had finally realised what I should have ages ago. I trusted Kai, not only with my own life, but with someone else's life. I trusted all of them — Becky, Ben and Alex. So I could tell them about the night I had saved Nate's life. And I could tell them what he owed me.

Kai gave me an odd look, "Is this the part where you finally tell us how you met Nathan?"

Becky glowered at me. She must have bought the story about knowing him when we were children. But Ben didn't look all that surprised, and Alex ... well he'd known me long enough to sense something was off.

"Yes, it is," I said. And so I told the whole damn story. Everything from what happened to Seb, to finding a bloody Shadowcat in my living room, to Nate cornering me earlier that day.

As I spoke, my friends' expressions changed from incredulous, to confused, to downright impressed. I had been worried about them not believing it, but that didn't seem to be a problem. They must have trusted me as much as I trusted them.

Kai frowned. "You'd be willing to call in a blood debt to become a member of the Moon Guard?"

"If it means you will see your mother before she dies ... yes."

He bowed his head slightly, acknowledging the sacrifice. His eyes sparkled with gratitude when they met mine again. "About the obstacle course, let's think this through. Zara said no one can do the last obstacle."

And then it hit me, the realisation slamming into my chest with destructive force. It was so damn obvious. Everything ... everything we had done since coming here was intended to test this one attribute, the one attribute that the Moon Guard chose their initiates for.

It was why the instructor had made me fight Kai, to see if we would hurt each other. It was why we had to find our own food, why we all slept in one room and why we had gone rock climbing only an hour ago.

I laughed out loud, giddy with the excitement coursing through my body. We could win now. The five of us could form patrol eighty-nine. My friends' curious eyes turned to me and nearly breathless from laughter, I explained.

***

Before dawn the next day, Kai told the instructor that we wanted to have a go at the challenges. His reply was, "I don't think any of you useless little scumbags are ready, but at least I can enjoy watching you fail."

I had gotten a great night's sleep for the first time since arriving. All five of us were raring to go. I was mostly excited to see the look on Ethan and Olivia's faces when we completed the obstacle course.

Out in the woods, shifted and standing in pack, all seventeen candidates waited for the arrival of the Shadowcats. When they did arrive, they were met with no small amount of amazement and fear from most of the group, who had probably never seen one of the panther-like creatures before.

Nate had pride of place between Niamh and Brylan, and he was once again the only one in human form. Somehow, we had to make sure that our group was the one to fight Nate, or at least make him order one of his buddies to let us win.

"Nathan Silveryn," the instructor greeted him. "You have our thanks for journeying all the way from the Twin Peaks. I hope you are enjoying your stay."

Nate lifted his chin almost unperceivably. "Of course. The guard has been most hospitable."

He was lying, and I wasn't quite sure why or how I could tell.

"Do you have any preference as to which group you go up against?" The instructor's tone was careful, as if he was afraid of offending Nate.

Nate's eyes scanned the crowd. To anyone else, it might look like his gaze settled on Kai, but it felt like he was staring right at me. "Yes. I will fight the prince's group. It will make for a ... better contest."

"Feel free to begin whenever you're feeling particularly violent."

Nate wasted absolutely no time in pouncing at us, shifting mid stride into the dark beast I had spent half a night leaning on. Everyone scattered at once, but my group kept running while all the other candidates scampered back to the instructor for ... well, protection, I supposed.

Even as I ran, I reeled off a message through the mind-link, praying Nate would be able to hear it. "I'm calling in the blood debt. Lie down and show us your throat."

I'd made sure he shifted before I dropped that particular bombshell. Nate couldn't reply. Shadowcats were unable to mind-link, only tap into connections. But he growled at me, a rich growl layered with anger and damaged pride.

I knew it would go against every instinct of his being to submit to five teenage werewolves. But I had saved his life, and the least he could do in exchange was sacrifice a little pride and ego.

A dull thud echoed behind me as an oversized panther hit the dust. I twisted around to find Kai already charging at him, but Nate growled again, this time with an unspoken threat. His eyes fixed on me. It was a clear message. Only you.

My paws started moving of their own accord, breaking into a lope. Slowly, I drew closer and closer to Nate until I could feel the heat of his breath against my fur. Then as gently as I could, I extended my neck to touch my long white canines to his exposed throat. All the while I fixed my gaze on those green, unblinking eyes.

The instructor didn't see what he must have thought was a pretty epic fight. He jogged through the trees just in time to see me holding Nate down by his neck. Kai was standing off to one side looking a little unsure what he was supposed to be doing, while Ben, Becky and Alex gathered a safe distance away.

"How in hell did you do that, Miss Fairborne?" he demanded, looking more than a little impressed.

"I have amazing first aid skills," I explained through the mind-link, knowing he wouldn't understand.

"Right ... okay. What, did you bandage him into submission?"

"Something like that," I replied. Deciding that Nate had spent long enough on the floor, I released him and moved out of the way. The young Shadowcat was on his feet in an instant, shaking himself off and shooting me dirty looks that I suspected might not be completely for show.

"Anyway, we still have another two groups to test. As you're unharmed, Nathan, would you like to test the others, or shall I get Brylan and Niamh...?"

Nate couldn't communicate in words, but he dipped his head ever so slightly. Somehow, I knew his decision even before that small cue. "He wants to do it," I translated. "He really, really wants to do it."

Maybe it was to regain a little dignity. Or maybe he just had a blood lust. Although I later found that his primary motive was to show the Moon Guard exactly what a fully grown Shadowcat could do. A threat to show what would happen if the guard made any move against the throne.

Corban and Matthias's group went first. At least half of them had been trained with the prince himself and were dangerous fighters in their own right. I had seen Corban and Matthias bring Kai down when they worked together.

Nate tore through them like blades of grass under his feet. Poor Patrick was thrown several metres, slamming into a tree trunk. The fight was over before it even began.

Ethan's group fared little better. Once again, Nate left them all lying scattered around a clearing, most of them not even bleeding. Ethan himself almost managed to get close enough to land a hit. Keyword being almost. Nate saved him for last, so he could savour flipping him onto his back.

It was a game of cat and mouse.

I began to feel glad that Nate seemed to be on our side. I imagined an army of nearly a hundred of these creatures. That wasn't even close to the number of fighting werewolves on the island, but would it make a difference?

"Thank you, Nathan," the instructor said when the demonstration was over. "Your part here is done, but the commander asked me to pass along a message that the Moon Guard's hospitality remains open for a while longer. He expressed his hope that you don't make the journey home just yet."

A threat in its own right. Nate, Brylan and Niamh were being asked to stick around in so many words. There might not be any venom behind the words, but the message was clear. Stay here.

We traipsed back to Evarlin to shift and get dressed. In the changing room, it was hard to ignore the whispers and the staring from the other girls.

"I heard she took down that Shadowcat all by herself."

"You've got to be kidding. Sav couldn't take down a kitten."

"Maybe she slept with him, so he'd let her win."

"Why didn't we think of doing that?"

It sounded a lot like Olivia and her friends. For the first time, the words really grated against me. I had been called many things in my life, but somehow that was just the final straw.

"Because you have fewer brain cells than a fish," I snapped angrily.

Becky's smile was the biggest I'd ever seen. Her head lifted to look me in the eyes, the message full of mischief. Go get 'em tiger.

"Excuse me?" Olivia demanded, hands on her hips.

"She didn't sleep with Nate. Some of us don't need to open our legs to make friends," Becky retorted.

"Friends... So you'll admit it wasn't a proper fight?" She asked viciously.

"I don't remember the instructor ever saying it had to be a proper fight. He said take down a Shadowcat, nothing about the Shadowcat fighting back," I said.

"That's bullshit," one of Olivia's friends called out.

"You're both cheaters," another added.

"Hey, aren't you guys all sworn to House Davengard?" I interrupted.

"Yeah," she said warily. "What does that matter?"

"You're effectively calling Kai a cheater as well. He's both your prince and head of house one day." My smug smile grew with every word.

"No— I—" Olivia spluttered, completely caught out. It was unthinkable to criticise your house leaders, let alone royalty.

"Shall we go and take it up with him?" I asked.

"No." Olivia saw the trap closing around her and backed down, albeit grudgingly. "We didn't mean it. Sorry."

She had to force the word out, but she had still said it. I realised that for the first time in my life, I had properly stood up to someone. Usually, I was happy to ignore jibes until they stopped, or even make a joke of them. Usually I was happy to let people walk all over me. I didn't know when or why that had changed.