Chapter 61: The Class Above

The official notice arrived the next morning, slipped under Roxanne’s door before she’d even gotten out of bed. Advanced Training Program, it read, selection based on demonstrated control, adaptability, and individual performance. Isla practically squealed reading it over her shoulder, but Roxanne kept coming back to that wording, the way it made a point of saying earned rather than assigned.

She’d gotten here herself. Nobody had put her name on this list for her.

For a moment, she simply sat there with the notice in her hands, reading the same few lines again. After everything that had happened at the academy, being selected for something because of her own performance felt strangely satisfying. There were no royal names beside hers, no special recommendation, and no mention of the Moonstones.

Just Roxanne Silver.

The advanced grounds sat in an older section of the campus she’d never had reason to visit, and the difference hit her the moment she arrived. The students here were older, more composed, carrying themselves with the kind of confidence that came from actually surviving something difficult. The training field stretched wider than anything she’d trained on before, specialized combat rings set up alongside scent chambers, shifting tunnels, and obstacle structures unlike anything the regular grounds offered.

Even the air felt different. There was less shouting, fewer students joking between exercises, and none of the casual chaos she’d grown accustomed to on the regular grounds. Everyone seemed to know exactly where they were supposed to be.

Roxanne tightened her grip around her training bag and stepped onto the field.

The instructor gathered them with a voice that carried none of the usual academy warmth. "You are no longer being trained to survive ordinary academy challenges." A pause, letting that settle. "You’re being trained for situations where failure has consequences."

It didn’t feel ominous exactly, just heavier, like the stakes had quietly shifted without anyone announcing it outright.

Roxanne glanced around at the students beside her. Nobody laughed. Nobody whispered. They simply listened.

The first rule caught Roxanne off guard. Students would train individually, partnered up fresh every week, no permanent groupings allowed. That meant the four brothers, despite all standing in the same room, weren’t grouped together at all. Lucien got sent to a different section entirely. Roshan was paired off with someone Roxanne didn’t recognize. Liam complained loudly enough that the instructor gave him a look, and Kai barely reacted, simply accepting his own assignment without comment.

Liam muttered something under his breath as he walked away, earning another warning glance.

Roxanne got paired with a new student, someone she’d never trained alongside before, and for the first time in weeks she found herself having to work with people outside the small circle she’d gotten used to.

It was uncomfortable at first. She had become accustomed to knowing exactly how the Moonstones moved, when they would attack, when they would pull back, and how their strengths balanced one another. A stranger gave her none of those advantages.

The first assessment looked simple on paper. Shift partially, maintain control, cross the field, retrieve an object, return without losing that control anywhere along the way. Several of the advanced students made it look effortless, moving through the sequence like it barely required thought. Roxanne struggled, not from lack of ability but because the exercise demanded she manage her senses, her movement, and her wolf all at once, with nobody standing nearby offering quiet reminders.

The pressure made her shoulders tense. Every sound seemed sharper. Every scent seemed stronger. She nearly lost her concentration halfway through the course when another student shifted nearby, the sudden movement pulling her attention away from the task.

She remembered Kai’s advice from every training session before this one, but he wasn’t beside her this time. She adjusted on her own, worked through the discomfort, and completed the course without anyone guiding her hand.

When she crossed the finish line, her breathing was heavier than she’d wanted it to be, but she hadn’t failed.

The instructor didn’t offer much beyond a brief mark on his clipboard, no praise, no acknowledgment beyond the bare minimum. That restraint told her more than any compliment could have. This program clearly didn’t hand out validation freely.

A senior student finished his own assessment nearby with the kind of ease that made the whole exercise look almost boring, and when he noticed her watching, he didn’t seem particularly impressed by whatever reputation had followed her into the room.

"The advanced program doesn’t care who your friends are," he said, not unkindly, just stating a fact.

"Good," she said, and meant it.

He introduced himself as Elias Vale, a senior from another pack, and something about his flat honesty made her respect him instantly rather than resent it. He wasn’t cruel about it. He simply didn’t care that she’d been standing beside the Moonstones for weeks.

"Most people come here expecting someone to recognize them," Elias said.

Roxanne raised an eyebrow. "And you?"

"I expect them to make me prove myself every day."

She liked that answer more than she wanted to admit.

After training wrapped up, the four brothers found her near the edge of the field. Liam was still complaining about his instructor being evil, Roshan asked how her assessment had gone, and Lucien wanted a full breakdown of the rules they’d been given.

Kai just asked, "How did you do?"

She told him.

He nodded. "Good."

"That’s all?"

"You don’t need me to tell you whether you did well."

Something about that landed differently than she expected. It wasn’t dismissive. It was trust, quiet and unstated, and it meant more coming from him than a longer response would have.

Roxanne looked at him for another second before smiling faintly. "Fine."

Kai’s mouth almost curved in response before he looked away.

Before everyone dispersed, the instructor called them back one more time to announce the first major assignment. The next few days would cover advanced tracking, controlled shifting, combat under sensory interference, endurance training, and partner coordination.

Then came the line that made everyone go still. "Your first partner will be assigned tomorrow. You will not be allowed to choose."

A few students exchanged uneasy looks.

Roxanne glanced around the field while the instructor began reading names off his list, one after another, until finally he reached hers.

"Roxanne Silver." He paused, checking the sheet again. "You will be partnered with Elias Vale."

She looked toward him across the field, and Elias gave her a small, unbothered nod, already unsurprised by the pairing.

Behind her, Kai’s expression shifted, barely noticeable to anyone who wasn’t watching closely. Not jealousy, not yet. Just something quieter settling in, an interest he hadn’t shown before. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Roxanne picked up her training bag, thinking through everything the last few weeks had taught her about fighting beside the Moonstones, about trusting people who already knew her habits before she said them out loud.

Now she was about to find out what it looked like when someone else had to catch up to her instead.