Ava’s POV
The sound of shouting carried across the yard before I even reached the training grounds.
“Keep your feet apart…no, wider than that!” Lucas’s voice thundered. “If I can knock you down with a finger, you’re useless against a rogue!”
When I stepped through the gate, the first thing I saw was a line of exhausted recruits, all dripping sweat, their arms shaking as they tried to hold their stances. Straw dummies stood in the dirt, some half-torn from claws that had missed their mark.
Lucas paced back and forth like a predator, his shirt clinging to him, hair damp with sweat, eyes sharp and merciless. He barked another correction, kicked at a boy’s stance until he shifted his weight, then moved on.
For a moment, I just stood there, watching. The recruits looked half-dead but no on
