62

One Month Later
Carlo had spent weeks carefully forming specialized teams to track the rogues. Every day, they ventured further into the wilderness, scouring for any sign of their camps. But no matter how deep they searched, they came up empty-handed. It became clear to Carlo that the rogues were constantly on the move. After their defeat at the hands of our pack, they must have fled, forcing even their wounded to keep up or risk being left behind. Yet, Carlo remained patient, convinced they would regroup eventually and make their return.
Carlo had been diligent about keeping me informed. He spoke with other Alphas, alerting our allies and neighboring packs of the rogue threat. But whenever it came to Leonardo, he said nothing, and I refused to ask, no matter how much I longed to.
***
“Block it, Ella!” Sofia’s sharp voice echoed across the mat. Her wavy brown hair was tied back in a tight ponytail as she watched me spar against a girl named Alessia. Beside her, Enrico stood with a grim expression, his arms crossed as he observed me struggle.
Alessia was a force of nature. Taller than me by at least a foot, her body was a masterpiece of muscle-strong yet somehow graceful. She resembled Sofia, with similar brown hair and pouty lips, but her demeanor was far more aggressive. Having failed the showdown two months ago, she was stuck repeating the beginner’s class, and she took her frustration out on her sparring partners. Unfortunately, today, that meant me.
I had somehow survived a month of Sofia and Enrico’s relentless training, but if I had thought I knew what to expect, I was dead wrong. After just one day, my body was covered in bruises, and every inch of me ached so badly that it kept me up at night. Lifting myself from bed each morning required all my strength, and even a simple trip to the bathroom left me drenched in sweat. A month later, I still hadn’t improved. My reflexes were slow, my muscles weak, and every time I considered giving up, Sofia convinced me otherwise.
We were preparing for a tournament next month, and today’s sparring session was to test our limits. Whether by chance or Sofia’s decision, I was paired with Alessia Gallo. Despite the countless bruises I’d earned over the past few weeks, I hadn’t felt that gut-wrenching fear return-not since my mom’s death. It had changed me in ways I didn’t yet fully understand. The physical pain of training was a welcome distraction, but it did nothing to soothe the deeper ache in my heart. Moving into Carlo’s house hadn’t healed the wound left by her absence.
“Keep your hands up!” Sofia shouted again, her voice laced with frustration as I struggled to fend off Alessia’s attacks. I barely heard her. It took all my focus just to stay on my feet. In a move Sofia had shown me a hundred times, I ducked Alessia’s swing and countered with a punch to her ribs. But my weak strike barely fazed her. She grunted and kept coming. Before I could react, her knee slammed into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. My vision blurred, and stars danced behind my eyes.
“Come on, Ella!” Sofia’s voice pierced through the fog in my brain. “Dodge! Dodge!”
I tried to respond, but every nerve in my body screamed in agony. Something soft and damp pressed against my face-the smell of sweat and blood thick in the air.
‘Damn it.’ Blue, my wolf, growled in frustration. I could feel her pain, as helpless as I was in human form.
‘Sorry,’ I muttered back. ‘I know you can’t help if I’m this useless as a human.’
In the werewolf world, it was common knowledge that the stronger your human body, the stronger your wolf. And my human form was far from strong. I had never bothered to build up my muscles or quicken my reflexes, and now, I was paying the price.
As my vision cleared, I looked up to see Alessia standing over me, her fists clenched, waiting for me to get up. Every part of me screamed to stay down, but something inside wouldn’t let me. Slowly, painfully, I forced myself to my feet, my arms trembling from the effort. The pain was unbearable, radiating through my ribs and back like fire, but I embraced it. It was the only thing that felt real.
Alessia drew her fist back again, and then-darkness.
***
This past month, pain had been my constant companion-both physical and emotional. The physical pain was easier. Bruises faded, and I could see the healing process. But the pain of losing my mom was invisible, festering beneath the surface. It was a slow burn that came in waves. Sometimes it boiled over into anger, a rage that left me breathless and trembling on the floor. I was angry at myself for distracting her that day. Angry at Carlo for letting her fight. Angry at Leonardo for rejecting me, which had led to our move to the Blood Moon Pack. Most of all, I was angry at the world for moving on without her.
“Ella?” Carlo’s voice broke through the haze of my thoughts, pulling me from the dark recesses of my mind.
I groaned, the memory of my fight with Alessia flashing in my head. “I take it I lost?”
As I opened my eyes, I saw Carlo sitting at the foot of my bed, holding my lyrics book-the one I carried everywhere. He was thumbing through the pages, pausing every so often to read the tiny words scribbled in ink. I had grown attached to that book, using my mom’s old necklace as a bookmark between the pages.
“Oh, you lost,” Carlo confirmed, though his lips twitched with the hint of a smile. “But I’m proud of you.”
“Proud?” I scoffed, wincing as I touched my swollen cheek. “I lost. There’s nothing to be proud of.”
“You stood back up,” Carlo said softly, his eyes brightened by the sunlight streaming through the window. “That takes strength-something we look for in warriors.”
His words warmed something inside me, but there were still moments when looking at Carlo brought back memories of Leonardo, of the rejection that had cut so deep. Over time, I’d grown used to hiding the pain, but it still lingered in the background.
“You think so?” I mumbled, shifting my gaze away from his.
Carlo had a way of seeing through me, of understanding the meaning behind my silence. Lately, both he and Enrico had been hovering closer, watching over me in ways that I wasn’t sure I needed anymore.
“Why do you look at me like that?” Carlo asked quietly, moving closer, his hand resting gently on my leg.
The intensity in his gaze made my heart race, but I knew he already understood what was behind the look.
“Like I’ve hurt you,” Carlo said, his voice laced with regret.
“You just remind me of someone,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Alpha Leonardo,” he said, the name heavy between us. “The one who rejected you.”
I didn’t flinch at the mention of his name anymore, but the weight of it still hung in the air. “Yeah. Sometimes you look like him.”
Carlo frowned, and it felt like a knife twisting in my chest. “Do you think you could be happy with someone else, someday?”
The question hung between us, sparking something I wasn’t ready to confront. Before I could answer, the door creaked open and Enrico stepped inside, cutting through the tension.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Enrico said, his tone light as he approached the bed. “But I had to say-Ella, you can take a punch.”
For a split second, I saw something flash in Carlo’s eyes-jealousy, maybe-but he quickly masked it with a sigh.
“Thanks, I guess,” I muttered, my voice dripping with sarcasm as I brushed off the intense looks both Enrico and Carlo were giving me. “I have no idea how I’ll make it through the Showdown next month.”
“If you’re not at your best, there’s always another chance,” Enrico said with a wide grin, casually placing his hand on mine. “The Showdowns happen every two months. You’ll just stay in the beginners’ group until then. Plus, you heal faster than most, so that’s something in your favor.”
I shifted uncomfortably in the bed, catching the way Carlo’s eyes narrowed at Enrico’s wandering hand. Both of them were undeniably attractive, but I couldn’t let myself think like that. How could I? They had mates out there somewhere, waiting to be found. I couldn’t be the one to get in the way of that.
They’d both passed eighteen, turning nineteen without any sign of their mates. Carlo’s parents always hoped Sofia would be his, while Enrico’s parents suspected Chiara. Each of those girls had turned eighteen as well, yet no mate bond had formed for any of them. Even Vito hadn’t found his mate yet.
Enrico had always been protective and kind, but I’d never seen him as anything more than a brother. And as for Carlo… well, there were moments when his presence made my heart stutter, or when he brought a genuine smile to my face. But I wouldn’t risk the inevitable heartbreak by thinking about him that way.
‘If Carlo was meant to be ours, the Moon Goddess would’ve made it so,’ Blue murmured in the back of my mind. ‘We won’t destroy their futures.’
Carlo’s expression shifted briefly, his eyes glazing over as someone contacted him through the mind-link. I still hadn’t completed the ceremony that would officially make me part of the pack. I was supposed to do it with my mom, but after she died… well, I’d been avoiding it. A part of me still belonged to my old pack.
“Mom says dinner’s ready,” Carlo said gently, his eyes flicking toward Enrico before returning to me.
“Give me a minute to change, and I’ll be down,” I replied, grateful for the chance to be alone for a while.
“Think about what I asked you,” Carlo added softly, signaling Enrico to follow him out of the room.
I tore my gaze away, focusing on the closet as Enrico’s confused stare lingered on me. When they left, my eyes landed on my lyrics book lying open on the bed. It had flipped to the last page Carlo had touched during our conversation. My fingers traced the smooth paper as I read the words he had unknowingly left behind:
“You’ve got too many smiles to hide,
Don’t let the sadness take your light,
Your heart’s still shining through the gray,
There’s brighter days not far away…”
The lyrics resonated in a way I wasn’t ready to admit.