Iris's POV
"Sit." Professor Frost pointed at a chair that looked like it had survived a war.
I sat. The wood creaked under me. Everything in his office looked ancient and dangerous. Weapons hung on the walls. Swords. Axes. Things I didn't have names for. All of them had dark stains that might have been blood.
Professor Frost settled into his chair. It groaned like it might break, even though he was the one who'd probably broken it in the first place through sheer size.
"Before I accept you into my program, I need to understand something." His eyes pinned me in place. They were gray like storm clouds. "Why does a fragile human girl want training that could kill her?"
My mouth went dry. "I already told you—"
"You told me someone called you weak." He leaned forward. "But that's not the whole truth, is it?"
How did he know? Could he read minds? Some supernaturals could.
"Tell me the real reason," he said. "And don't lie. I can smell lies."
Of course he could. He was a werewolf. An ancient one. He probably smelled everything.
I took a deep breath. Fine. He wanted the truth? I'd give him the truth.
"Yesterday, I found out I had a mate," I said. My voice shook but I kept going. "For exactly ten seconds, I felt something I didn't know was possible. Like finding a piece of myself I didn't know was missing."
Professor Frost's expression didn't change. He just waited.
"Then he rejected me. In front of everyone. Said I was too weak. Too human. Genetically impossible and politically unacceptable." The words hurt coming out. Like swallowing glass. "He said the Moon Goddess made a mistake when she chose me for him."
"Caspian Ravencourt," Professor Frost said. Not a question.
"Yes." I met his eyes. "And he was right about one thing. I am weak. Right now. I couldn't fight a vampire. I couldn't fight a werewolf. I can barely open jars sometimes."
Something flickered across Professor Frost's face. Respect, maybe.
"But I don't want to be weak anymore," I continued. My voice got stronger. "I want to become so strong that every time he sees me, he remembers his mistake. I want him to watch me become everything he said was impossible."
I stood up. I couldn't sit anymore. The fire in my chest was too hot.
"I want to prove that humans aren't weak. That we're not mistakes. That we
matter."
My hands were shaking. Not from fear. From anger. From determination.
"So yes, I want training that could kill me. Because staying weak feels like dying anyway."
Silence filled the office. Professor Frost stared at me. I stared back. I wasn't going to look away first.
Then he smiled. That terrifying all-teeth smile from before.
"There it is," he said softly.
"There's what?"
"Fire." He pointed at my eyes. "Real fire. The kind that can't be taught. You either have it or you don't. And you, Miss Hale, are
burning."
My heart pounded. "Does that mean—"
"It means I'll train you," he said. "On one condition."
"Anything."
"You will work three times harder than any supernatural student in this program. They have strength you don't have. Speed you don't have. Healing you don't have. The only way you'll survive is through effort."
He stood up. All seven feet of him. Looking down at me like a mountain.
"When they train for one hour, you train for three. When they do ten push-ups, you do thirty. When they want to quit, they go home. When you want to quit, you keep going."
"I understand."
"Do you?" He walked around the desk. Came to stand right in front of me. "Because I've seen strong werewolves cry in my training. I've seen vampires quit. Creatures with supernatural healing have broken under what I demand."
He bent down until we were eye to eye.
"You're human. You'll break bones that take weeks to heal. You'll tear muscles. You'll bleed. You'll hurt in ways you didn't know were possible."
My legs wanted to shake. I locked my knees and kept them still.
"And that's just the physical pain," he continued. "The other students will mock you. They'll laugh when you fall. They'll say humans don't belong. Some will try to hurt you on purpose just to prove their point."
"Let them," I said. My voice came out steady. Strong. "Let them laugh. Let them mock. I'll prove every single one of them wrong."
Professor Frost studied my face. Looking for weakness. Looking for doubt.
He wouldn't find it. I'd left my doubt in the assembly hall yesterday when Caspian destroyed me.
"You might die," he said bluntly. "I'm training supernaturals to fight each other. One wrong hit and your human body could break permanently. I need you to understand that risk."
"I understand."
"Your family will worry. Your friends will beg you to quit. You'll want to quit. Every muscle in your body will scream for you to stop."
"I won't stop."
"You say that now. But wait until you're covered in bruises. Wait until you can barely walk. Wait until your bones ache so badly you can't sleep."
I lifted my chin. "I. Won't. Stop."
Professor Frost's smile got bigger. "Good. Because the first student who tries to break you will be Caspian Ravencourt himself."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"He's my teaching assistant. He'll be at every session. Watching. Judging. And when I pair students for sparring..." He paused. "Well, eventually you two will fight each other."
The thought should have terrified me. Fighting Caspian? A trained werewolf? I'd be destroyed.
But instead, something fierce and hot blazed through my chest.
Good, I thought.
Let him watch me train. Let him see me improve. And one day, when I'm strong enough, let him fight me and realize he made a mistake.
"Perfect," I said out loud.
Professor Frost laughed. It was a deep, rumbling sound like thunder. "You're either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish. I haven't decided which yet."
"Maybe both," I admitted.
"Maybe." He walked back to his desk. Pulled out another form. "This is your training contract. It outlines everything we discussed. The commitment. The risks. The expectations."
He slid it across to me along with a pen.
"Once you sign this, there's no backing out. You're mine for four years. I will push you past every limit you think you have. I will break you down and rebuild you into something stronger."
I picked up the pen. Didn't even read the contract. I knew what I was choosing.
"One last question," Professor Frost said as I positioned the pen over the signature line.
I looked up.
His gray eyes bore into mine. Ancient and knowing and terrifying.
"The pain will be extraordinary," he said softly. "More than you've ever experienced. More than you can imagine. It will test every part of you—body, mind, and spirit."
He leaned forward.
"Can you handle it?"
I thought about yesterday. About standing in that assembly hall. About feeling the mate bond snap into place. About ten perfect seconds of belonging.
Then I thought about Caspian's face. His cold eyes. His voice saying
weak.
I thought about spending four years being small. Being nothing. Being exactly what he said I was.
Or I could choose pain. Choose growth. Choose to become something impossible.
My hand didn't shake as I signed my name.
"Yes," I said. And I meant it with every fiber of my being.
Professor Frost took the contract. Looked at my signature. Then at me.
"Good," he said. "Training starts tomorrow at dawn. Five AM sharp. Wear clothes you can move in. Bring water. And Miss Hale?"
"Yes, sir?"
His smile turned predatory. Like a wolf who'd found interesting prey.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to hurt you more than anyone ever has. I'm going to push you until you think you'll break. And when you beg me to stop..."
He paused. The air in the room felt heavy. Dangerous.
"I won't."
My heart hammered in my chest. Fear and excitement mixed together until I couldn't tell them apart.
"I understand," I whispered.
"We'll see if you still understand tomorrow." He gestured to the door. "Now get out of my office. You have twenty-four hours before your life changes forever."
I stood. Walked to the door on shaky legs.
"Miss Hale?"
I turned back one last time.
Professor Frost was watching me with those ancient storm-gray eyes.
"Don't disappoint me," he said quietly. "I haven't had a student worth training in fifty years. It would be a shame if you broke on day one."
And as I walked out of his office, one thought burned through my mind.
I won't break.
Not tomorrow. Not ever.
I'm going to become exactly what Caspian said was impossible.
And he's going to watch every painful second of it.
Twenty-four hours until everything changed.
Twenty-four hours until I stopped being the weak human girl who got rejected.
Twenty-four hours until I became a warrior.