Nyroth


    Finished


    Arriving at the arena, I realized I hade too early. The rogues had plotted their games and arrived ahead of time.


    Ka, ever the schemer, was already there. Many wolves from other packs had gathered, eager to watch the spectacle, the Lycan King’s woman fighting for the Luna who had been framed.


    I took my position near the floor, eyes sweeping over the wide battleground. My heart sank at the thought of Zeph being overpowered, pinned, and killed before my eyes… all because of what I had helped set in motion.


    I sat down, my mind reying the events earlier at White Pack. I had been pushed to my limit, I had snapped, and then I’d heard her admit she had slept with him. That meant Zeph was no longer a virgin. She was the Lycan King’s possession now.


    A carriage bearing my pack’s crest arrived, and my gut tightened when my mother stepped down with Olivia. Both of them were smiling, eager to witness Zeph’s downfall as they always were. I could hardly me them. I had never stood in their way before, and now their malice had grown unchecked. My mother’s ruthlessness I understood. She had been born and bread with high status but tragedy made her went kow once.


    After wing her <i>way </i>back to the top she had refused to let anyone of low status threaten her ce.


    Their eyes scanned the arena until they found me. They came rushing over, bright smiles masking their venom. Olivia still avoided my gaze after my earlier outburst.


    We sat in silence as the arena filled, until another carriage rolled in, bearing the Lycan Kingdom’s crest. My stomach twisted. It was the same carriage the Lycan King had embraced Zephyrine beside. Rage burned in my chest, but I could do nothing.


    I watched as she stepped down, the maid assigned to her at her side, along with Alpha Auedric, now smug over his alliance with the Lycan King. Luna Tahlia was with them as they disappeared toward the back.


    The arena hushed as the opponents arrived, and soon the signal fire was lit. Ka rushed to the rogue fighter, whispering in his ear before slipping him something. My heart dropped. They wouldn’t fight fair.


    Zeph had to know. I shot to my feet, ready to go backstage when a sudden silence rippled over the crowd, the kind that only one presence couldmand.


    I looked up and froze. Apex Blood.


    He didn’t arrive alone. Beside him were his two elegant elder sisters, and behind him, his ever–present mysterious bodyguard. One more figure followed. He is different, unsettling, as if he didn’t belong to this empire at all. All of them dressed in ck, hauntingly striking.


    Apex, gentle only to his sisters, seated them before folding his arms and scanning the arena in silence.


    Movement drew my gaze to the back. Zeph stepping out. It was as though she had felt him arrive. She paused when he turned to her, and the air shifted. Silence deepened. The wind swirled.


    RW


    Finished


    every sky,


    It was like the connection between them, cold chills sweeping through the arena.


    “Lycannar…” I heard her breathe and then she was running into his arms, their mouths meeting in a kiss that was anything but gentle. Hungry. Starved. He kissed her like he wanted to consume her entirely, and she clung to him as if she couldn’t get close enough.


    My knees weakened. My mate kissing another man before the entire world. And no one would judge her. I was the one who insisted our bond stay private.


    I watched her smile at him, so free, so unburdened.


    “They won’t fight fair, Zephyrine,” he murmured, and she nodded, jaw set in determination.<fn7ba6> The rightful source is find?novel</fn7ba6>


    “Use more speed than strength. No matter your skill, he’s a male wolf. He’ll be stronger.”


    Again, she nodded obediently. A call from backstage pulled her attention, and she started to leave but then she turned back, ran to him, and kissed him again, fiercely.


    “You kill him when it’s over. Don’t hesitate. He won’t if he gets the chance.”


    As thoughpelled, she nodded again and vanished backstage.


    I copsed into my seat, shaken by what I had just seen and overheard.


    Was this new Zeph going to be a killer? Was he poisoning her mind already? And why, in the name of the empire, was she kissing him like that?


    No answer came, only the deep drumbeats signaling the duel’s start. And just like that… it began.


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