Chapter 18: Reforged in Fire
The days blurred into one another, marked by sweat, bruises, and the distant howl of danger.
Aria was done lying in bed.
The moment she could walk without swaying, she returned to the training grounds. Her limbs still ached, and her magic pulsed like a storm beneath her skin—but she was determined to control it, not let it consume her again.
Kael watched from a distance at first, arms crossed, his eyes sharp. When she stumbled during her first spar, he stepped in without a word.
"Again," he said, offering a hand.
Aria blinked, surprised.
"You said you'd fight for me too," he added, voice quiet. "So let me fight for you now."
She nodded.
They trained until the sun bled into the horizon.
Kael taught her precision, focus—how to move like fire without burning out. He didn't go easy on her. Not once. But his eyes always held that steady flame of belief, even when she collapsed.
Nigel, meanwhile, took over her political front.
He handled council meetings, deflected accusations of weakness, and answered every letter from the Northern Lords with thinly veiled threats of retaliation.
"She can't be touched," Nigel growled to one messenger. "Unless you want war on three fronts."
And while Kael pushed her body, Nigel sharpened her mind.
At night, he brought strategy maps to her room, tracing attack routes with his fingers while she lay curled in a chair, absorbing every detail. "You need to think like a general," he said. "Not just a fighter."
Between them, Aria was becoming something new.
Stronger. Smarter. Steeled.
But even as the fire in her returned, something else stirred beneath the surface.
Exhaustion. Guilt. And confusion.
Every time her fingers brushed Kael's during training, her breath caught.
Every time Nigel sat too close while reading scrolls, her heart skipped.
She didn't know what scared her more—choosing between them, or losing them both.
Meanwhile, scouts returned from the borders with grim news:
"The Northern Lords are moving. Armies are being gathered. The Eastern Territories might be caught in the crossfire."
Aria stood at the edge of the war table, eyes narrowed.
"It's not just me they're after," she said. "It's the balance of all the clans."
Kael leaned in, voice low. "Then we'll shift that balance in your favor."
Nigel smirked. "Let them come. We'll show them what a real Alpha looks like."
And in that moment, with two powerful men beside her and fire in her chest, Aria didn't feel afraid.
She felt ready.
End of Chapter 18