The next morning I wake up with a groan, because they really did torture us yesterday. It was an


    endurancepetition thatsted pretty much all day. We had to stand on a bnce beam with a pail


    of water, of all things, on our heads and a staff stretched across our shoulders. At regr intervals, the


    Leutenants woulde around and add weights to our staffs so that it was a test not only of how long


    you could stand there and whether or not you could stay straight, but also how long you could endure


    increasing weight on your shoulders.


    It was absolute agony, onlypounded by the fact that I somehow got ced next to Jackson. during


    it, so I had the added challenge of enduring his exquisite smoke–and–pine scent the entire time I stood


    there. And god, the more I smelled it, the more I realized that there was something elseyered


    beneath it – something warm, and rich, and delicious, like…cherries? God, I don’t know, but whatever it


    is, it works.


    Needless to say. I did not win thispetition. I didn’t shame myself I have good bnce after years of


    ballet and made it somewhere to the midway point of candidates. It was the weights that took me out


    eventually when they added a final set of sandbags to the ends of my staff, I just copsed –


    completely ate dirt while water from the pail sshed all over me.


    And, damn it. I could have sworn that I heard Jacksonughing at me, even though when I scowled up


    at him his face was totally nk.


    It came down to Jackson, Rafe, and Jesse at thest, and we were all required to sit and watch them in


    silence, missing lunch and dinner, while they all stubbornly just stood there, refusing to give up even


    when it meant that the rest of us starved.


    Eventually the Captain made them all go to one foot, which took Rafe out pretty fast, to my surprise. He


    scowled as he sat next to me, though that was the only sign of his disappointment.


    And then it was all Jesse and Jackson for another hour before Jackson wobbled, just once, and his pail


    fell down. Even though Jackson himself didn’t fall, the Captain called it in Jesse’s favor.


    Jesse and Jackson shook hands, but I could see Jackson’s disappointment. He’s at the top of every


    list, but he hasn’te in first in a single evaluation since the logic exam, and even that he knows he


    only got because I let him turn his paper in first.


    But then again, neither has Jesse, who was beaming when he came over to ept our


    congrattions.


    Still, despite his enthusiasm at winning, I could tell that Jesse was beat. He skipped his shower and fell


    immediately into bed. And this morning, even though Jesse is always up first and waking me with a


    happy smile….he’s dead asleep right now, his face totally ck and pressed into his pillow.


    I grin as I climb down from my bunk, proud of my cousin and also a little pleased to see him out of


    energy for once. He always seems to have three times as much as the rest of us.


    But I sigh and decide to give him the morning off, pulling on my boots – I always sleep in my


    12:37 Sun, 10 Mar


    fatigues, much to my chagrin – and heading to the bathroom to give my teeth a quick brush before


    moving towards the door. Because even if Jesse is asleep I’ve got a routine to follow.


    I mean, I know that I showed up to this Academy kind of desperately and on a whim, but the closer and


    closer it gets? The more I really do want it.


    So, I push open the door to the barracks and get started on my run without my cousin, going on our


    usual trail at the speeds at which he usually makes me run. And when I cken a little bit, I grit my


    teeth and tell myself not to go easy just because Jesse isn’t here. And then I push myself to go even


    faster.


    Even without my cousin it’s an usual morning. The countryside around the Academy is usually clear


    and bright, with little pockets of fog hanging low in the hills, hiding from the rising sun that will inevitably


    burn them off. But today the fog is thicker, hanging in the air and sticking to my cheeks in tiny droplets


    as I run through it.


    I smile as I go, though, because it looks kind of cool and spooky – like running through a cloud. I start


    to look forward to breakfast now as I crest the final hill, wondering if Jesse is going to fall face–down


    into his eggs like he used to do when we were preteens and he was going through a growth spurt. God,


    he’d fall asleep at the craziest moments, his body just taking whatever rest it needed whenever it


    needed it. One time he fell asleep mid–conversation at the dinner table, his cheek falling right into his


    mashed potatoes.


    We’d allughed, and Uncle Roger had gathered him up in his arms to carry him to bed, but


    I slow, abruptly, when I see a dark figure forming in the fog ahead of me. His head is down as his arms


    pump – he’s running too –


    But there are only two people who are that all, and that broad, in the barracks right now.


    And one of them is a prince who absolutely does not get up for a morning run.


    My steps stutter to a stop as Jacksones more clearly into sight. His head whips up as he senses.


    and I freeze on the path, my eyes wide and my hears me, smells me, I don’t know what


    me


    arms out like an idiot, ready to bolt.


    –


    But when his eyes light on me, and he realizes who I am, and his mouth lifts in a sneer, I realize that


    my instinct was correct. This man – he is not just going to pass me with a casual morning hello.


    F**k. F**k! What do I do? Do I run?


    But I’m out of time.


    “Where are your bodyguards?” Jackson snaps, stalking towards me, his eyes livid.


    “Um,” I say, keeping my eyes on him, not at all able toe up with an answer better than that. My


    mind goespletely nk in my panic.


    SUN, TU IVIGI


    “Great,” he growls, stepping close so that there’s only a breath between us. I tilt my chin upwards,


    staring up at the mountain that is my mate, fear streaking through me.


    Go! My wolf urges me, for once logical and not telling me to kiss him or something stupid. Run! Get


    back to Jesse and Rafe!


    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    But before I can move Jackson grabs me by the front of my uniform, twisting it in his fist and hauling


    me with him so that I stumble backwards until my back is pressed up against a tree. I pant in my fear,


    staring at him like a trapped animal.


    “Then it’s time for us to have the conversation that we should have had that first night.” Jackson hisses,


    “when you sent me on a wild goose chase after my mate.”


    “Um,” I say again, my eyes darting to the side, trying toe up with something, anything.


    “And then,” Jackson continues, “why the f**k you smell like her. Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Maybe


    you would have gotten away with it if we hadn’t been paired up in that bout, but I got close enough,


    rk, to realize that you f**king have her scent on you – ”


    My mind suddenly shes back to that moment in the ring. Because that’s not what he said then – he


    didn’t say “why do you smell like her,”


    He had said “what are you?”


    Which means…


    Which means that something has changed. Either he talked himself out of realizing what I am – or he


    forced himself to forget the pulse in the air – the way my hands heated –


    –


    But he doesn’t think I’m her – hasn’t yet figured out that I’m a girl –


    “Please!” I beg, pressing myself against the tree, turning my face away from him and pressing my eyes


    shut. “Let me go! I’ll tell you!”


    But, unfortunately, it was the wrong thing to say.


    “Let you go?” he growls, leaning closer. “Fat chance, rk – I’m not letting you go anywhere.”


    My heart begins to pound almost out of my chest.