The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon (Celine and Bastian) novel Chapter 38

Chapter 38

For some reason, that information makes me imagine Bastian training alone in the middle of this enormous dark hall, and the thought manages to make me slightly nervous.

The sweatshirt starts to bother me because of the heat left by the walk and also because of the nerves I feel after stepping into my mate’s personal space, so I end up taking it off, leaving myself only in the fitted black thermal shirt.

Aymara lets out a small amused smile when she sees me looking around as if I had stepped into another world.

And I probably have.

“What do I have to do?” I ask, looking back at Alaric.

The Beta walks over to a metal table where several water bottles, bandages, towels, and a few objects I do not recognize are resting before beginning to explain the training plan to me.

The first fifteen days will be easy.

Well… easy by Lycan standards, I suppose.

Basic but intense exercises to strengthen muscles, improve endurance, and help my body develop properly. No weapons yet. No real combat. Just strength, balance, coordination, and self-defense.

Alaric will be the one helping me with physical conditioning while Aymara will be responsible for teaching me defensive moves and techniques to react if someone tries to attack me.

It will only be two hours.

My gaze lifts toward the black clock hanging on one of the walls.

Eight oh five in the morning.

Goddess.

I have the horrible feeling that I am going to suffer a lot more than I expected.

I end up sprawled across one of the mats with my heart beating so hard that I can hear it in my ears. My entire body is covered in sweat, and I can barely move my arms without feeling as though they weigh twice as much. I deeply regret telling the court ladies that I would take them with me to the southern border because right now I’m not sure I could even walk to the door without dragging myself across the floor.

Alaric said that the first fifteen days of training would be easy, but honestly, I do not want to imagine what kind of torture that man considers difficult training.

I have gone through brisk walks around the entire hall, mobility exercises, squats, balance work, stretching, resistance band exercises, and something Alaric called “muscle activation,” but which I am fairly certain was an elegant attempt to slowly end my existence.

Aymara showed no mercy either.

She made me repeat different ways of covering myself, falling to the ground, and getting back up without losing my balance for almost forty minutes. I quickly discovered that my body is far more clumsy than I imagined and that my legs shake in a humiliating way after doing too many squats.

Goddess, you showed no mercy to this poor she-wolf today.

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The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon

I did not even know there were muscles in some parts of my body until today.

Take a deep breath or you’re going to get dizzy.” Aymara says, handing me a bottle of water while Alaric checks something on a tablet on the other side of the hall. “For your first day, it wasn’t bad.”

I look up at her from the floor, completely disheveled, sweaty, and with my dignity in pieces.

“I think I saw the Moon Goddess five minutes ago,” I say between breaths.

Alaric lets out a laugh from the far end of the hall.

“That means you’re still alive. We’re doing well.”

“I think those were the worst two hours of my life.” I sit up on one of the mats to finish the bottle of water while trying to catch my breath.

I raise my eyes toward the black clock hanging on the wall.

Ten oh five in the morning.

I am supposed to be on my way to the south of the kingdom with the court ladies by now.

Goddess.

“You’re late,” Aymara says, approaching to help me to my feet. “Come on, Celine. You still need to shower and change clothes. Let’s not keep our distinguished court ladies waiting.”

Just thinking about having to walk across half the castle again makes me feel as though my soul is slowly leaving my body. Even worse knowing that I will have to endure those women for hours.

“I didn’t invite them, so I have no intention of rushing for them,” I grumble while fixing my messy ponytail. “If they want to wait, they can wait. And if they get tired and leave, even better.”

“They’ll feel offended,” Alaric comments while he starts putting away part of the training equipment, leaving everything exactly as it had been before.

“Perfect. That way they’ll start understanding right now that I don’t like them.”

I leave the hall first and the siblings follow me as we make our way through another section of the castle completely different from the one we used to get here. This corridor is narrower, with enormous dark columns and tall windows through which the cold morning wind enters.

“It’s strange hearing you talk like that,” Alaric says after a few seconds. “Bastian told us a little about your life in the Blood Moon Pack. I never imagined you had so much character.”

His words make me lower my gaze for a few seconds as I continue walking.

“I always had character,” I reply, barely shaking my head. “But when you grow up surrounded by beatings, punishments, and people who take away your food and the little you have, you learn very quickly to stay quiet.”

The silence that follows lasts several seconds.

I can feel both siblings looking at me while they finally understand that my submission was never weakness.

It was survival.

“I’m sorry.” Alaric says in a much more serious voice. “I didn’t mean to make you remember bad things.”

When I look up at him. I discover that his golden eyes have small reddish sparks shining beneath the corridor’s light.

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