Chapter 16: The One Who Wouldn’t Go Easy

Roxanne walked toward the combat-training grounds with Isla, feeling something close to genuine anticipation for the first time in days.

After everything, physical training was one of the few things that still made sense. She knew how to fight. She knew how to defend herself. She didn’t want anyone treating her like the fragile girl who’d fallen from a third-floor window and somehow survived.

"Moonball season’s starting," Isla said as they walked.

"I still haven’t agreed to play."

"You don’t have to agree," Liam said, appearing beside them like he’d been summoned. "We already put your name down."

Roxanne stopped walking. "You did what?"

"Your team needed someone with your speed."

"I never said I wanted to join."

Liam shrugged. "That’s what makes it more exciting."

"I will end you."

"See?" Liam grinned. "Natural athlete."

Roxanne rolled her eyes and kept walking. Behind them, Kai said nothing, watching the exchange in silence. He didn’t join the teasing. But he noticed how fast her irritation dissolved the moment competition entered the conversation.

Inside the combat hall, the instructor explained the day’s lesson. One-on-one combat, defensive control. The point wasn’t to overpower an opponent — it was learning to control enhanced strength and instinct while fighting. That, more than anything, was the entire philosophy of Moonstone Academy.

Partners were called out. Roxanne expected Isla.

"Roxanne Silver. Kai Moonstone."

The room reacted immediately, whispers rippling through the students. Roxanne looked toward Kai, already stepping onto the floor.

She raised her hand. "Can I have someone else?"

"Why?" the instructor asked.

"I don’t need special treatment."

"Neither do I," Kai said.

The room went quiet. Roxanne looked at him, and found the answer irritatingly satisfying. She stepped onto the floor without further argument.

They took their positions. Kai didn’t offer a speech. He didn’t ask if she was ready. He simply waited, and Roxanne realized he expected her to attack first.

So she did.

She moved fast. He blocked. She tried again, changed direction, and he followed every shift without effort. The fight stayed controlled but quick, and Roxanne’s frustration climbed with every attempt that failed to land.

Kai wasn’t showing off. He wasn’t humiliating her. He was simply better.

She switched tactics — faked left, cut right — and caught him across the shoulder.

The class reacted. Kai looked at the spot where she’d hit him, then back at her.

"Better."

"That’s all I get?"

"Do you want more?"

"Yes."

He nodded once. "Again."

The second round came harder. Kai’s speed increased, and Roxanne struggled to keep pace. He caught her wrist; she twisted free. He swept her leg; she caught herself before hitting the mat and got back up without hesitation.

He didn’t offer a hand. At first she thought it was rudeness. Then she understood — he was giving her the chance to get up on her own.

She attacked again, and eventually made a mistake. Her foot landed wrong. Her balance tipped.

Kai caught her before she fell, one hand closing around her wrist, the other steadying her arm. For a second they stood close enough that Roxanne felt the warmth off him, and when she looked up, he was already looking at her.

Neither spoke. Then he let go.

"Your balance," he said.

"I know."

"No. You don’t."

He told her she relied too much on strength and speed instead of controlling her center of gravity, then demonstrated the movement and stepped back, watching her try it herself.

She failed the first time. The second time, she got it.

Kai gave a small nod. "There."

That tiny approval mattered more than she wanted it to.

For their final exchange, Roxanne was determined to land another hit. Kai expected her to repeat her earlier strategy. Instead, she changed her rhythm entirely, waited for him to move first, and caught him across the chest the second he committed.

The class reacted again. Kai stepped back, studying her.

Then he smiled.

It was small, barely there, but Roxanne saw it, and she realized she’d never seen him smile before.

"Good," he said.

"Was that another compliment?"

"Yes."

She laughed, and when the instructor called the exercise finished, she walked off the floor feeling strangely pleased. Not because of the compliment, she told herself. Because she’d won.

At least partially.

Liam caught up the moment she stepped off the mat. "Did he hurt you?"

"No."

"Good. Because I was about to challenge him."

Kai glanced at his brother. "You’d lose."

Liam pressed a hand to his chest. "You wound me."

Kai said nothing.

"Still worth it," Liam said, grinning.

Roxanne laughed, watching the exchange. The brothers could tear into each other without any real edge behind it, and for the first time she didn’t feel like an outsider standing among them.

She felt almost included.

The thought made her uncomfortable enough that she pushed it away immediately.

Later, gathering her things, Roxanne assumed the hall had emptied. Then she noticed Kai still standing nearby.

"Need something?"

"No."

She waited. Eventually, he said, "You did well."

"Is that your version of a compliment?"

"Yes."

She laughed softly, then asked the question that had been sitting with her since the first round. "Why didn’t you go easy on me?"

Kai looked at her like the answer should have been obvious. "You would’ve hated that."

She went quiet, because he was right. She would have.

"You don’t want people feeling sorry for you," he added.

Something shifted in her expression. He’d noticed. "How do you know that?"

He shrugged. "You make it obvious."

Then he walked away, and Roxanne watched him go, no longer irritated. Just curious.

Maybe he wasn’t cold. Maybe he was simply quiet, and noticed far more than he ever said.

That thought stayed with her longer than she expected.

On the way out, an academy notice board caught Isla’s attention, students already crowding around it.

"The Moonball teams are up," Isla said, dragging her closer.

Roxanne scanned the list and froze at her own name.

Her teammates:

Lucien Moonstone. Roshan Moonstone. Liam Moonstone. Kai Moonstone.

All four.

She turned slowly toward Liam, who was already standing behind her, smiling.

"You did this."

"I prefer to call it destiny."

"I’m not playing."

"Too late."

Kai looked at the list without comment. Roshan studied it with quiet interest. Lucien simply said, "Practice starts tomorrow."

Roxanne stared at all four of them, unable to fully process it. She’d come to Moonstone Academy to start over, to build something that belonged only to her.

Instead, she’d somehow ended up teammates with four royal Lycans, and judging by the look on Liam’s face, he was already planning to make her regret every second of it.

Except she’d never agreed to any of it in the first place.

That might have been the worst part.

Roxanne had survived betrayal, rejection, and a three-story fall.

Apparently, none of that had prepared her for being trapped on a Moonball team with four royal Lycans.