The Professor's Mate Clause novel Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Day one of training left every muscle in my body burning.

By sunset, I was flat on my back to the dirt again, gasping for breath while Clara stood over me with her arms crossed.

“Again.”

I groaned and pushed myself upright. Sweat clung to my skin. My hands shook from exhaustion. We had been sparring for hours, and somehow she still looked perfectly fine.

“You telegraph every move,” Clara said, circling me slowly. “Your shoulders tense before you attack. Your eyes give away where you’re aiming. Any experienced fighter would see you coming before you even move.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try smarter.”

I lunged anyway.

Big mistake.

She sidestepped effortlessly, grabbed my arm, and used my own momentum against me. One second I was charging at her, the next I hit the ground hard enough to knock the air from my lungs.

Clara crouched beside me. “See? Predictable.”

Frustration boiled in my chest. I had spent weeks learning how to shift. Weeks adapting to my wolf, learning pack customs, learning strength and speed and instincts that still didn’t feel fully mine.

And yet Clara kept defeating me in less than ten seconds.

I shoved dirt from my arms and stood again. “What am I doing wrong?”

Her expression softened slightly. “You’re fighting like a human.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means you think too much.” She tapped two fingers against her temple. “Wolves don’t stop in the middle of a fight to calculate every move, Combat is instinct. Momentum. Reaction.” She stepped closer. “You’re trying to control your wolt sistead of trusting her.”

I frowned

“That hesitation?” Clara continued. “It’ll get you killed when Corbin arrives.”

The name alone tightened my stomach.

Corbin

Six days.

Only six days until war reached us.

Clara must have seen the fear flicker across my face because her tone gentled

“I’m hard on you because I need you alive,” she said quietly “Corbin’s wolves won’t care that you’re new They’ll target you because you’re Adrian’s mate. His weakness. If you can’t defend your self, they’ll use that against him ”

I swallowed hard and nodded.

“Again,” she said.

This time, before attacking, 1 closed toy eyes for half a second and rewed inward

My wolf stirred immediately

Not hesitant Nottin

Prady

Okay, I thought silently Show me

Warmth rushed through me like fire beneath my skin My senses sharpened The breeze tested against my face I could hear Clara’s heartbeat Smell the dirt beneath our feet Feel the tension in her muscles before she troved.

When Clara attacked this time, I didn’t think

I reacted

My body twisted before my mind could process it. I ducked beneath her strike, grabbed her wrist, and drove forward with enough force to knock her down.

A second later, she was pinned beneath me.

For the first time all day, I had actually won.

Clara blinked up at me in surprise before a grin spread across her face.

“There,” she said breathlessly. “That’s what I’ve been trying to teach you.”

I released her and stepped back quickly, almost startled by myself.

“That felt…” I searched for the word, “Different.”

“Because you stopped fighting your instincts.” Clara rose to her feet and brushed dirt from her clothes. “Your wolf knows how to survive. Trusting her is the hardest part.”

The rest of training passed in a blur of bruises, sweat, and repetition.

Again

Again

Every time I stopped overthinking, I got better. Faster Stronger. My movements became smoother, less breed by the evid of the day I still wasn’t close to Clara’s level, but at least now I could land a hit

It was progress

Adrian caught my hand before I could pull away.

“These will heal in an hour,” he said softly. “What matters is what you learned.”

The intensity in his voice eased slightly then, replaced by something warmer.

Something that made my chest ache.

“I love you,” I admitted quietly.

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

His expression changed instantly.

Not surprise.

Something deeper.

“I know,” he murmured, bringing my hand to his lips. “I love you too.”

For a moment, the coming war disappeared.

No Corbin.

No battles.

No fear

Just us

Then Adrian rested his forehead against mine and whispered, “That’s exactly why I refuse to let you die ”

Silence settled between us after that

Heavy

Honest.

We both understood what was coming

Six days.

Six days until Corbin arrived.

I send Corbin our response without embellishment. No negotiation, ne fear disguised as diplomacy Only acceptance. If he wants war, we will meet him in it–not as a fractured pack, but as something far larger than he anticipated. A coalition. A challenge not just to his authority, but to the entire system he represents. And when I finish speaking to our own people, when I tell them plainly what is coming, I do not soften the truth. War is coming, and it will demand everything from us.

But when I look at them-at the fear, the resolve, the quiet fire building behind their eyes-i imderstand something essential. We are not walking into this as victims. We are walking into it as something new. And whatever Corbin believes he is about to destroy, he is already too late to understand what has begun.