I was not happy about this. Not happy at all. The fortress was freaking massive, not even taking into consideration the river that we would somehow have to cross twice. My best guess was that we would have to swim it, which would take long enough on its own.

Half an hour. I was in so much trouble.

The pack of candidates was stretched across a hundred feet of grass, and we had barely been running thirty seconds. With Ethan absent, Kai was the undisputed leader, running well ahead of everyone else. To my disappointment, I was already near the back. Running long distances had never been a strong suit for me.

I heard a splash from ahead. Kai had reached the river and come to the same conclusion as me. A minute later, I was in the icy water myself. It wasn't too wide, but we were going against the current. I emerged on the opposite bank freezing cold and numb all over.

Were we really supposed to do this five times? Or was there a loophole like the assault course? It seemed that every single one of their tests had a catch. If there was one to running laps, I couldn't find it.

By the time I finished my first lap, my lungs were screaming for air and my muscles were burning. Even Alex was beating me! Patrick was in last place, but beating Patrick wasn't all that much of an achievement.

The next three laps went in a blur. I was shaking with exhaustion when I climbed out of the stream for the last time. My head felt fuzzy, and I struggled to breathe. But as I reached the last corner, I noticed a group of four people waiting outside the entrance to the fortress. They could have finished by now, but for some reason, they had chosen to wait.

Kai, Becky, Alex and Ben ran over to me just as I began to feel lightheaded. I was breathing too fast, not letting enough oxygen get into my bloodstream. "What are you doing?" I murmured through blurry vision. The time must be nearly up — they weren't getting more laps because of me.

"I had a lot of time to think about it," Kai explained as he slipped an arm around my back, supporting my weight. He was the only one who wasn't struggling for breath. "And I realised we can't hunt later if you're doing the extra running. Now, where's Patrick?"

I was too whacked out to realise that they could definitely still hunt without me and that was a very piss-poor excuse. I gestured to the heap of clothes a long way behind me. "He collapsed."

"You pushed yourself too hard," Kai complained at me. I was surprised to hear worry in his voice. "Now just focus on walking. The others are going to bring Patrick."

A glance over my shoulder showed the other three carrying the oblivious boy between them. They were jogging at an impressive speed considering their burden. The prince was taking more and more of my weight every second, and it didn't seem to faze him at all. All I was focused on was putting one foot in front of the other.

"Slow down your breathing," he advised. "Breathe with your stomach instead of your shoulders."

"The hell?" I managed to ask. How did someone breathe with their stomach? Then I tried it. It was an awful lot easier.

"Better," he muttered, glancing at my midriff. We turned into the courtyard to see a crowd gathered in front of the instructor, all yelling their encouragement.

Kai sped up into a jog, dragging me with them. The pair of us and Patrick arrived at the same time. The instructor stopped the clock, narrowing his eyes at me slumped on Kai's shoulder and the unconscious kid who was actually being carried.

"Twenty-nine minutes, fifty-six seconds," he announced. "What on earth do you think you are doing, Mr Davengard?"

Of course he would blame Kai. He was so obviously the handsome, enigmatic ringleader. Or maybe that was just my oxygen-deprived brain talking. He eased me down into a sitting position where I could focus on my breathing without worrying about passing out.

"You never said we couldn't help each other," Kai replied mildly. As usual, he kept his tone even and unprovocative.

"I didn't say you could either." He frowned at me, completely forgetting about Patrick. Okay, so helping each other obviously wasn't the loophole for this challenge. But what was?

"Well, if you want, I could take her back to where I found her and we can both do the extra laps," Kai suggested helpfully. I glared at him, but he wasn't finished, "Although it would be a shame for you to miss dinner because you were supervising us."

My saviour — the sly, conniving, little charmer.

The instructor fell for it completely, "Yes, I suppose that would be a shame. I have better things to do with my time than watch two children struggle. You can go back to the dorms with the others, but next time, I won't be so merciful."

"Thank you, sir." Kai smiled disarmingly. He touched my shoulder. "You okay to walk back?"

I nodded reluctantly. My five minute break had returned my breathing to normal, but I was still shaking slightly. I got onto my feet by myself and took a few hesitant steps. "It's alright, I can walk. You help the others with Patrick."

Alex was straining to hold one of the kid's legs, cussing him out every few seconds and constantly readjusting the weight. Becky, on the other leg, didn't look all that bothered. Ben was carrying his shoulders with sweat gleaming on his forehead. Kai wordlessly went to help, and the four of them carried him back to the room together, with me trailing along behind.

"I never imagined a single person weighed so much," Alex said. "It's certainly put me off becoming a serial killer, just think of all the bodies you would have to dispose of."

"The packs have a training exercise where you have to carry your partner a mile. I once saw an Alpha carry two guys at once and still beat everyone else back," Kai said.

"So if they bother training you in it, you probably improve with time," I summarised. "There you go, Alex — you can still follow your dreams."

"Alphas sound hot," Becky added. "Anyone know where I can get myself one of those?"

"You have no shame," Ben scolded.

"Life's too short for shame," she shot back as they navigated Patrick through the narrow doorway of our room and dumped him on the floor. Patrick let out a low groan, the first indication we had that he was even alive.

"Have we got the evening off now?" I asked, curling up in my corner. Ethan was lying on his side, fast asleep with a bucket beside him. The room smelt distinctly of sick. I was beginning to question the wisdom of giving him the oleander. All it had achieved was letting him off the run.

"Until just before dawn, when we do training in our wolf form," Ben explained.

"I guess that means we're waiting until we can hunt," I sighed. "If it's alright with you all, I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when the moon's up."

Without further ado, I curled up facing the wall and tried my best to go off to sleep. The stone floor was solid and unyielding beneath me, much less than comfortable than the bed I was accustomed to. I drifted into an uneasy sleep, knowing my muscles would probably hurt even more when I woke up.

***

"Sav," someone shook my shoulder. "Sav, you gotta get up."

I rolled over with a low groan. Images from my dream still flashed through my mind. Eyes watching me from the shadows. A dark shape lying on the floor of my living room. A pair of hands covered in blood.

"Stay quiet," Kai hissed at me. Alrighty, then. I zipped my lips firmly shut.

Four curious faces peered at me. All the usual suspects of course. Apparently, none of them had used the available time to rest. Alex prodded my stomach. "Get up. We're going now."

"Why do we have to keep quiet?" I frowned, pushing myself onto my elbows.

"We don't want to wake up Ethan or his lapdogs." Becky grabbed the back of my shirt and dragged me to my feet. "The five of us are going to bring down Bambi."

I was being herded out of the door without even a chance to protest. The room was covered with people stretched out and wrapped in layers of clothing. It seemed everyone except us was fast asleep without dinner. And for good reason — the moon was up, and the fortress was shrouded in darkness.

"Why aren't we taking more people?" I said as I shed my jacket. It would only slow me down when I was shifting.

"It doesn't take a dozen people to hunt, and they're all exhausted," Kai explained.

"They aren't the only ones," I grumbled quietly. If I had my way, we'd run to the nearest supermarket to buy food, but the Moon Guard had effectively removed that possibility when they didn't let us keep our suitcases or the money in them.

The dim light of the courtyard was a perfect place to shift. Girls then boys, we found a quiet corner and stripped off. I focused on the back of my mind where my wolf resided during the day, letting her come out and take over my body. The snapping and grinding of bones sounded as my body yielded to the shift.

My wolf didn't share many traits with my human form, save for the silver eyes that never went away. Height, build, hair colour — none of it affected our wolf's appearance as much as your eyes. I was a light grey flecked with white, paler than your average werewolf but definitely not the same shade as the Fairborne family hair. Becky was my polar opposite with dark brown eyes and dark fur.

We waited patiently facing a wall for the others to shift. At least, I waited patiently. Becky snapped her teeth and pawed the ground every few seconds. I was tackled from behind by a gangly timbre wolf. Alex. Our wolves had run together before, though not as often as I would have liked. School nights don't leave much time to shift.

Ben was pretty much what I had expected — short, stocky and powerfully-built but with an aura of calmness. Then my eyes lifted to the little slice of heaven that was Prince Kaeden's wolf. He towered far over me, in a body full of the wildness that only spending time with the packs could bring. My wolf was practically swooning.

His upper lip lifted to growl at us, a low sound that practically oozed dominance. This wasn't Kai at all. His wolf was in control. I had to fight my own wolf to stop her rolling onto her back by instinct alone. Stupid animal. The only submission I conceded was putting my ears back and lowering my head far enough that he wouldn't feel the need to put me on the ground himself.

Kai shook his head, his eyes lightening a bit, and I knew he was in control again. He only gave me a cursory glance as he padded out of the courtyard and into the woods beyond. I followed after a second's hesitation. The watchmen at the gate waved us through, shouting their encouragement from the top of the wall. Well, I guessed it was encouragement. They could as easily have been laughing at us.

My nose dropped to the ground, testing the air for scents. That had always been Alex's strongest suit. He could follow a rabbit for days just using his nose. We all took great care to stay behind Kai, so as not to disrupt his place at the head of the pack. Everything in wolf form felt twice as dangerous, when our wolves could take over at any minute.

"I've got a deer," Alex's voice echoed through the mind link. "Trail's still warm."

Kai pawed at the ground with a front foot and turned his head to look back at us. "Sav, flank left. Alex and Becky, go right. We'll flush the deer to you."

He certainly knew what he was doing. Although I had never actually hunted for food before and had no desire to start now, I had read up on wolf hunting techniques. The bigger, more powerful animals drove the prey into an ambush. I wasn't quite sure why I was on my own, though. Maybe he wanted me to get kicked in the throat and die, but that seemed a little harsh.

Or maybe he had faith in my abilities. Yeah, let's go with that. It sounded a lot more encouraging.

I loped through the trees, dodging them with practiced speed. Weaving in and out of the bushes, I ran out as far left as I could go while still keeping tabs on the other's scents.

The deer was a massive roe buck who had got separated from the rest of the herd. He wandered along aimlessly, stopping every now and then to nibble on the ferns. Ah, crap. I didn't want to kill him. I didn't want to kill him at all. But my wolf had no such inhibitions, and while I was in this form she called most of the shots.

I steeled myself as best I could as my wolf took up a position between the deer and escape. If this is what I had to do to join the Moon Guard, it was worth it. Kai was stalking downwind of the deer, Ben a few paces behind him. I couldn't see Becky and Alex yet, but they were bound to be somewhere nearby.

Then, all very suddenly, Kai broke cover and leapt for the deer. It dashed left and ran for it, the prince close to its heels. My wolf had been waiting patiently and now she ran as well, cutting off any chance of escape. The thrill of the chase pounded through my veins, although I doubted I would be as exhilarated when it actually came to the kill.

Alex and Becky had been waiting quite a bit further ahead. When they joined the chase, the hunt descended into chaos. Alex tripped on a log disguised in the ferns and went sprawling directly into Kai's path. The pair of them fell over in a tangle of limbs and snapping teeth. Ben didn't have time to slow down before he joined the confused pile-on.

I was left to send a frustrated growl in the direction of the long-gone prey. Becky struggled to hide her amusement at the three male wolves rolling around in the dirt. She wasn't very concerned about the loss of our dinner.

Kai finally freed himself and clambered back onto his feet, still snarling at Alex. He shot the pair of us a look that suggested laughter meant death. Becky uncharacteristically swallowed her grin and looked at her feet. Could she be ... afraid of him?

When Alex reached into the mind link again, he wasn't perturbed in the least. "Deer 1, werewolves 0."

Kai gave him a glare that contained the power to liquefy kidneys. Alright, so maybe his wolf hadn't found it very funny.

A loud, pained-filled sound from the direction the deer had run made me whip my head around in alarm. All five of us were instantly frozen in place. Crashing echoed around the quiet forest, heading straight towards us. Dark shapes began to materialize from the shadows.

I knew that scent. The faintest whiff of it sent tingles down my spine.

Even before I saw that familiar pair of bright green eyes, I knew exactly who was approaching from the dark. Nate Silveryn was padding steadily towards us, and he wasn't alone. A pair of Shadowcats in their feline form flanked him, one of whom was dragging the limp carcass of our escaped deer.

I was so screwed.