I choked, desperately trying to inhale air, as I felt like I was on the verge of passing out. After what felt like forever, Clover finally removed her boot from my throat. "I'll give you a two minute break, and then we're going again."

I coughed in response, clutching my neck and rubbing it tenderly. Clover definitely did not take it easy on me. I didn't think it would bruise, but goddamn if it didn't hurt like hell.

Clover tossed me my water bottle as she stood above me, since I continued laying on the ground. "Okay, break is over," she said after I sipped my water.

Rolling my eyes, I mumbled that she definitely didn't even give me a minute long break, but whatever. Clover stood in a fighting stance, and I sighed as I mimicked her. We had been going at it for nearly three hours now.

We stood staring at each other for a few seconds before as always, she threw herself at me. She always made the first move. She said that the strongest defense is a brutal offense. I wasn't sure if that's how the saying goes, but considering I could rarely get a hit on her, it was hard to argue with her.

By some miracle, I was able to sidestep her charging at me. I quickly kicked at leg while she was behind me, but as quickly as I kicked, she turned and grabbed my leg. She pulled my leg hard enough for my other leg to go into the air, sending me falling to the ground.

Clover quickly straddled my waist, pinning me to the floor by my wrists.  "Fuck," I cursed. It's not like I was truly expecting a different outcome, honestly. Clover had pinned me every match for as long as I've been training with her, which was now a week.

"Not your worst sparring, Onyx," Clover's mouth turned up in what I would have called a smile if I didn't know that she wouldn't smile. "That's the first time you haven't let my first hit land. That means we're making progress."

Clover got off of me and I stood up with her, rubbing my wrists where her grip had restrained me. "Oh, yeah. Excellent progress. I went from being pinned right away to being pinned almost right away. Someone get me a medal," I sarcastically responded. I was spending too much time with Thane.

Clover frowned at me. "You can't give up, Onyx. You've been putting a lot of work in this last week. The outcome of the Luna challenge is not set in stone yet."

She was right about me putting a lot of work in. Ever since I had lost my gift a week ago, I threw myself into training. Not only because if I lost the Luna challenge I would die, but also because even if by some miracle I survived it, I would have to learn how to defend myself without black magic. Despite Thane and his men's investigations, nobody had any concrete explanation for how my Gift could just vanish. It's not like I was going to wait in bed and bawl every night until my Gift magically reappeared. I may be pathetic but I'm not that pathetic.

I made a noncommittal noise in response to her attempt at reassurance. Clover and I both knew that I didn't stand a chance at beating Brenna. Brenna wasn't even abnormally strong for a she-wolf, I was just extremely under average due to my lack of training from being a rogue. I immensely regret always turning Greyson down when he tried to teach me how to fight. Until now, I always considered myself somewhat of a pacifist, but I suppose that since I'll be trying to kill another person in three weeks, that label no longer applies.

"Miss me?" I heard a deep voice question from behind me.

"Thane," I breathed out. I would never get used to how quickly and quietly he could appear. "I missed being around someone who isn't trying to kick my ass," I joked as I turned around to look at him.

Thane's electric green eyes narrowed as he put his arms around me. "Is Clover being too rough with you again, little one?"

I rolled my eyes as Clover scoffed as she was almost out of the training room door. "No," we both unanimously answered my overprotective mate. When I had finished one particularly brutal training session with Clover, Thane was furious at the amount of bruises scattered around my body. I tried reassuring him that it was fine and I was okay, but he was shaking in anger and nearly shifted in his bedroom. My next training session, Clover was considerably more gentle, and even though she didn't say anything to me, I knew that Thane had scolded her. Later that night, Thane had inspected my flesh for new bruises, and when he didn't find any, he gently kissed the old ones that were nearly healed. I shivered as I remembered his lips on my skin.

"Cold, little one?" Thane whispered in my ear when he felt my shiver. I shook my head, glad that my face was pressed to his chest so he couldn't see me blushing furiously. "I'm sorry I was late picking you up. I had to make a phone call."

"To who?" I questioned, my curiosity piquing. I pulled away to look at him when he didn't immediately answer.

Thane kissed my forehead. "Don't worry about it, little one. We can talk about it tonight, I don't want you to spend all of today worrying about it."

"Why would I worry about it?" I asked, my stomach knotting with anxiety.

Laughing, Thane affectionately twirled a piece of my hair from my ponytail. "Because you worry about everything. Don't worry, it's not bad news."

I narrowed my eyes at him, but decided to drop it. If it wasn't bad news, then I really had no reason to worry about it and could wait until tonight to hear it.

We left the training center, and he had his large hand wrapped around mine. This had quickly became a tradition during the last week. The sparks I felt from touching his skin made getting my ass kicked at training almost worth it.

"Thane, we should talk about the Luna challenge," I finally said after we walked in silence back to his house.

"What would you like to talk about specifically?" Thane answered coolly, even though I could feel his gaze on me as he gauged my emotions.

"Let's not kid ourselves. We both know that Brenna is going to kill me easily. Even a pup from this pack could beat me in a fight," I spoke earnestly, but made sure my voice didn't shake. I wanted him to speak freely about the situation and not worry about sparing my feelings.

Thane frowned and stopped walking. Still holding my hand, he yanked me in front of him and cupped my cheeks. "Onyx, please don't think so negatively. The fight isn't for another three weeks. You never know what could happen in between now and then."

I glared at him. So he decided to spare my feelings after all. "Three weeks isn't enough time to beat someone who's been training for their whole life."

Thane stared at me for a few moments, before abruptly picking me up into his arms, bridal-style. My face contorted in confusion. "Thane, what are you d-AHHHH!" I yelped as he began sprinting.

Due to his Alpha speed, we quickly reached his house, but he didn't set me down until we were in his bathroom. He faced me to the mirror, and I could see my confused expression and his, which as always, expressed no emotion. "Care to explain what we're doing, Thane?"

He didn't speak, but instead ripped off my tank top, leaving me feeling exposed in only a sports bra. I glared at him. "Shouldn't you be undressing me in the bedroom?"

Thane's mouth twisted into a crooked smile as his eyes glinted with amusement. "Don't tempt me, little one. Stay focused."

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to be focusing on," I whined. "You just ripped my clothes off without any explanation, dude."

Thane growled lowly and playfully nipped my ear. "Don't call your Alpha and mate 'dude' or else I'll rip off your pants next, little mate."

My eyes widened as I nodded, but I couldn't help partially wanting that to happen. Thane grabbed my wrist from behind me and extended my arm so that it was perfectly horizontal. "Look how much muscle you've gained just in the last week of training," He said proudly.

I tilted my head and flexed in the mirror. Upon further inspection, he was right. I had gotten much more toned since I arrived. I wasn't muscular by any means, but I definitely had gained a slight definition.

"I can promise you that despite your different pasts, you are currently working ten times as hard as Brenna is. She underestimates you and she's not training as hard because of it. Don't give up, little mate. It's not over until it's over," Thane squeezed my shoulders affectionately and kissed the back of my head.

I turned to him and stared into his green eyes, which the longer I stared at them, the darker they got until they were nearly black. We both leaned in, and my breathing got shaky. Right when I was positive we were about to kiss, he abruptly pulled away.

"Shit," He mumbled as he got the same faraway look in his eyes as he did when he was mindlinking someone. "I'm sorry, little one. The guards on territory patrol think that they caught the scent of a rogue near the outskirts of our border, and I'm going to go check it out. Leo is downstairs and he'll guard you while I'm gone."

"Do you have to go?" I complained, not wanting him to leave me again already, no matter how clingy that was.

Thane chuckled. "Yes, Nyx. Don't worry, I won't be long. Go downstairs, get some food, and hangout with Leo. I'll be back before you know it." He kissed my forehead one last time before ducking out quickly.

I sighed, but decided to do as he said and go downstairs to see Leo. Before leaving, I showered and changed out of my sweaty training clothes. When I was leaving the room, I was surprised to see someone just on the other side of the door. Brenna.

"What do you want?" I asked, irritated by her very presence alone.

"Watch the way you talk to me, pup," Brenna's small, upturned nose crinkled in disgust. "I just came to tell you how excited I am to kill you in just three weeks."

I rolled my eyes, and pushed past her so I could go find Leo. To my surprise, she actually had the nerve to grab me by my bicep and squeeze it so tightly I was sure it would bruise.

"I said... Watch yourself," She hissed at me, and threw me to the ground, and I hit my head on the wall in the process. With her words, she walked away, and tears welled up in my eyes.

After that interaction, the last thing I wanted to do was talk to anyone, so I retreated back into Thane's room and locked the door behind me.

Thane was right about him not being long, and came back in under an hour. "Leo said you never went downstairs. Are you hungry, little mate?" He asked as he sat next to me on the bed.

I shook my head. "Is something wrong?" He asked, concern etched in his tone. I saw his eyes run over my body as he inspected me. His gaze fell on my arm, where a dark bruise in the shape of fingers lay.

"Is that from training? I told Clover to go easy on you," Thane frowned. I smiled weakly, not wanting him to know about Brenna. The last thing I wanted was for Brenna to accuse me of being a coward and hiding behind my mate.

"It's okay, I just bruise easily," I lied, and kissed his cheek to ease his concern. It worked, and his posture relaxed. "Will you please tell me what the call was about? It's stressing me out," I begged, and even though I wasn't too worried about the call, I wanted to distract him from the bruise.

Thane grinned. "We're having visitors tomorrow."

"Visitors," I repeated. "Who?" Thane had told me that he wanted to wait until the challenge was out of the way before he had anyone from neighboring packs visit.

"The Blood Alpha and his mate."

Happy holidays!