Chapter 738: Neoma

Orion and Sophia had stopped to watch what was going on at the training grounds.

Orion’s gaze tracked the movements.

"Laia is pulling her weight," Orion said quietly. "But it’s not enough."

"Really?" Sophia asked.

Orion nodded. "Yes. Laia may be holding her own against Brynhild, but Brynhild is toying with her at this point and perhaps training her in a way too, but she’s not fighting her fully."

"And Laia is giving it her all," Sophia remarked.

"And it’s not enough."

"But the warriors are trying, right?" Sophia asked him. "They’re giving it everything they have."

"Trying isn’t enough," Orion replied. "Not for what’s coming. And I really hope after this, they improve more."

He paused, his eyes tracking Joren’s movements as the young warrior tried and failed to close the distance with Ellis. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Joren is good. His main issue is that he needs to get close to fight. He’s a bad match for Ellis, who can do both—close range and distance."

Sophia followed his gaze, watching as Joren fought with Ellis.

"Cat," Orion continued. "She uses brute force. It’s effective against most opponents, but Daniel is more experienced. He knows exactly what to hit and where to hit it. She’s a good match for him physically, but experience wins every time."

"Uther needs to be calm," Orion continued, his voice thoughtful. "He’s letting the pressure get to him. He’s searching too hard, moving too fast. If he just stopped and listened, he’d find Vincent."

Sophia frowned. "Vincent is hiding in the shadows."

Orion nodded slowly. "Vincent is almost like Tobias when it comes to that. The training grounds are open, but he uses what little shadows there are to hide and mask his scent. And the issue with Vincent is that finding him isn’t the only problem. He also uses a spear, and his wolf is not weak either. He’s not just a distraction—he’s a threat on his own. There’s also the fact that I’m a hundred percent sure he’s masking his scent."

"If they could get Vincent down, then that might serve in their favor since he’ll both attack his opponents and defend his comrades," he said. "And then there’s Brynhild, who is on par with the beasts of Nirvana."

He paused, then shook his head.

"It’s going to be quite hard for this group to defeat these people," he said.

Sophia nodded, processing his words. The warriors below were giving everything they had, but it wasn’t enough. Not yet.

Orion turned to her then.

"We have our own things to do though, so we have to leave."

"Where are we going?" she asked him.

"Outside. The training grounds are occupied, so we can’t use them, but we can do something outside," he told her.

Sophia decided to trust him, and they walked out of the pack compound together. Past his favorite tree and even the shrine.

They reached a clearing. Sophia realized they had passed this spot when she was taking the placement test.

The snow lay in a smooth white blanket.

Sophia did not need Orion to tell her this was the spot where they would train.

They both took positions at different ends of the clearing.

There was a beat of silence. The cold air bit at their skin, but neither of them moved.

Then Orion smiled.

It was slow, deliberate, and a little dangerous.

Sophia’s own lips curved in response, and she knew exactly what that smile meant.

Without a word, they moved at the same time.

Sophia’s hand flew to her belt, her fingers closing around a dagger. She threw it in one fluid motion, the blade spinning through the air toward Orion’s chest.

He sidestepped neatly, the dagger whistling past him and embedding itself in the snow behind him.

She threw another. He ducked.

She was already moving, her hands finding her shortswords and drawing them in one smooth motion. Orion reached for his own weapon—a longsword that gleamed in the light—and the blades met with a sharp clang that echoed through the trees.

They broke apart and circled each other.

Then came together again.

Fang clashed against steel, the sound ringing out again and again. Sophia pressed forward, her shortswords moving in quick, precise arcs. Orion matched her strike for strike, his longsword a blur of silver as he deflected and parried.

She rolled across the snow, scooping up a fallen dagger, and threw it in one motion. He deflected it, rolling to the side, using the corners of the clearing to intercept her.

But she already had another dagger in her hand. She threw it.

Orion caught it mid-air and threw it back.

She deflected it immediately, her blade sending the dagger spinning into the snow, and launched herself at him from the corner.

He was waiting though. He swiped his sword low, sending a spray of snow into her face. She blinked, momentarily blinded, and he rolled across the ground, putting distance between them.

Sophia shook the snow from her eyes, her chest heaving.

She knew there was no way she was going to win this. With every attempt she made, he countered it, deflected it, turned it back against her. He was faster, stronger, more experienced.

But she wasn’t giving up.

*Let me take control,* Neoma said suddenly.

Sophia paused.

’What?’

*Let me take control, Sophia,* Neoma repeated. *Let me help.*

Sophia hesitated. It had been so long since she had shifted, so long since she had felt the change move through her. She wasn’t even sure she could do it anymore.

’I don’t know if I can,’ she admitted.

As she spoke with Neoma, she kept on parrying strikes with Orion.

*Yes, you can,* Neoma said firmly. *Let go, Sophia. Just let go and let me take over.*

Sophia took a deep breath, then she moved away, struggling to put distance between her and Orion. She took one of her daggers and threw it at him, then immediately kicked up snow to blind him, though Orion deflected the dagger instantly and sidestepped the spray of snow.

He was about to charge at Sophia again but stopped.

The change moved through her like a wave. Her bones shifted, her muscles stretched, and her body reshaped itself. It didn’t hurt—not like the first time. It felt like coming home.

When it was done, a white wolf stood in her place.

She was huge—even more than the first time he had seen her. Her fur was a pure, untouched white that seemed to be one with the snow. Her eyes were the exact same shade of blue as Sophia’s, bright and fierce and full of everything she had ever felt.

And on her forehead, a half-crescent moon shape was etched into her fur.

She was breathtaking.

Orion stared at her, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Neoma," he said, his voice in awe.