Kael's POV
Nova screams on the tenth shift.
Not from pain this time. From exhaustion. From the desperation of a body that has been pushed beyond its limits. Kael watches her collapse to the padded floor, breathing hard, tears streaming down her face.
"Stand up," he says.
"I cannot." Her voice is hoarse. Broken. "Please. I cannot do this anymore."
Every instinct inside him is screaming to stop. To gather her in his arms. To tell her she is strong enough. To be anything other than the cold machine standing over her demanding more.
But strength does not come from comfort.
"You will stand up and you will shift again," Kael says. His voice does not waver even though his wolf is going insane inside his chest. "The Council will not care how tired you are. When they come for you, they will not stop because you are exhausted. You need to be stronger than your pain."
Nova sobs. Her whole body shakes with it. She is a mess of sweat and tears and raw nerves. Kael has to force himself to stay where he is. To not move. To not give her the comfort his wolf is desperate to provide.
"Again," he orders.
She shifts. It takes longer this time. Her body fights the transformation like it is trying to refuse. But the change comes anyway. The silver wolf on the ground is smaller than she was hours ago. Tired. Broken.
The human form that emerges is worse.
Nova collapses again. This time she does not cry. She just lies on the floor, staring at nothing, completely defeated.
Shift eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.
By fifteen, Kael has stopped counting.
Nova is barely conscious. She shifts automatically now, her body responding to his commands without her mind being part of it anymore. She is sleepwalking through her own transformation. She is breaking in front of him and he is the one doing the breaking.
This is necessary. He knows this. He tells himself this with every shift she cannot refuse. She will not survive the Council without this foundation. She will not survive anything without learning that she is stronger than her own weakness.
But knowing it does not make it easier to watch.
On shift fifteen, Nova collapses and does not get back up.
She lies on the padded floor, barely breathing, her skin slick with sweat. Her eyes are open but vacant. She has moved beyond pain now. Beyond exhaustion. She has entered some hollow place where nothing matters anymore.
Kael feels his resolve crack.
He looks at her lying there, broken and helpless. He looks at his own hands that have pushed her to this point. He looks at the clock and realizes they have been training for four hours straight.
"Rest," he says quietly.
Nova does not respond. She probably cannot. She is too far gone.
Kael walks across the training room and looks at his reflection in the reinforced glass. He is unchanged. Cold. Unmoved. This is the image he projects. This is the Alpha that other Alphas fear. But underneath the surface, his wolf is clawing at him. It wants to go to her. It wants to care for her. It wants to be something other than this.
He forces the wolf back down.
He walks back to Nova and scoops her up.
She weighs almost nothing. His arms close around her and her scent hits him like a punch. Winter and moonlight and something uniquely hers. His wolf purrs. Actually purrs like she is his and he has reclaimed her and everything is right with the world.
He carries her through the hallways of the fortress. Her head rests against his chest. Her breathing is shallow and even. She is completely unconscious. Completely vulnerable.
Completely his.
Kael sets his jaw and forces himself to move faster. He reaches her cell and sets her on the cot as gently as possible. He does not linger. He does not let himself stay. Because if he stays, if he sits with her and watches her sleep, if he lets himself feel what his wolf feels, then he will do something stupid.
He will claim her.
And claiming her before she is ready, before she understands what it means, would be cruel.
Kael turns to leave.
"Kael," a voice calls out.
He freezes. Finn is standing in the hallway, blocking his exit. His Beta's kind hazel eyes are blazing with something Kael has never seen before. Anger. Judgment.
"Do not," Kael says quietly.
"She is bleeding," Finn says. "There are marks on her shoulders from shifting. Her hands are raw. She is barely conscious."
"She needs to be strong."
"She needs to be trained, not destroyed." Finn steps closer. His voice is quiet but absolutely certain. "You are torturing that girl."
Kael's wolf snarls. The sound comes out as a low growl from his own chest. "I am keeping her alive."
"By breaking her?" Finn shakes his head. "I have known you since we were children, brother. I know you are not this cruel. So tell me the truth. What is really happening in that training room?"
Kael does not answer. He cannot answer. Because the truth is something he cannot say out loud. The truth is that every moment with Nova is torture. Every moment he spends pushing her beyond her limits is a moment he is not holding her. Every time she cries, his wolf weeps. Every time she falls, his instinct is to catch her.
But she will die if he gives in to those instincts.
"She is my responsibility," Kael says finally.
"She is your mate," Finn counters. "And you are treating her like she is your enemy."
Kael's entire body goes rigid. "Do not speak of this."
"Why not? The entire pack can feel it. The way you look at her. The way your wolf responds to her presence." Finn crosses his arms. "You have claimed her as mate. So stop pretending you are doing this for strategy. Stop pretending there is no part of you that wants to protect her instead of destroy her."
"Protection requires strength."
"Protection requires mercy," Finn says firmly. "And you are running out of both."
He walks away before Kael can respond, leaving him alone in the hallway. Kael stands there, feeling the weight of the night pressing down on him. In the cell behind him, Nova is sleeping the sleep of the completely defeated.
Tomorrow he will push her again. Tomorrow she will cry and suffer and become stronger. Tomorrow he will hurt the one his wolf has claimed because it is the only way to keep her alive.
But tonight, standing in the darkness, Kael admits the truth that Finn spoke.
He is her mate. And he is breaking her in a way that might never be repaired.