Damien’s POV
I took another drink.
The whiskey burned going down. Didn’t help. Nothing helped lately.
Around , the crowd roared like animals. Screaming. Betting. Losing their minds over two people beating the shit out of each other.
I stared at my phone screen, trying to focus on the email from Adrian’s teacher. Sothing about a science fair. Sothing I should probably care about.
"You’re missing it!" Lucas shouted over the noise.
"Missing what?" I didn’t look up.
"The fight! This is the main event!"
"Great."
The crowd’s volu spiked. More screaming. Soone must’ve landed a good hit.
I scrolled to the next email. Budget reports. Thrilling.
My wolf stirred uneasily beneath my skin.
*What?* I asked Alex.
No answer. Just that restless feeling. Like sothing was wrong.
I took another drink. Longer this ti.
"Oh shit!" Lucas grabbed my arm. "Did you see that?"
"No."
"I can’t see their faces clearly, but he just—holy fuck, that had to hurt!"
The crowd was going insane now. Chanting sothing I couldn’t make out. The noise pressed against my skull like a vise.
I needed to leave. This whole thing was a waste of ti.
"Lucas." I set my glass down. "This was a mistake."
"What? No! The fight just started!"
"I don’t care about the fight." I stood up, pocketing my phone. "I care about finding actual solutions to our problems. Not watching humans destroy each other for entertainnt."
Lucas’s face fell. "But you said—"
"I said I’d watch. I watched. It’s boring." I started moving toward the aisle. "I’m leaving."
"Damien, wait—"
A sickening thud cut through the crowd noise. Followed by an eerie silence.
Then the referee’s voice: "ONE!"
I paused despite myself. Soone was down. Hard.
"TWO!"
The crowd had gone from screaming to sothing else. Anticipation. Bloodlust. Waiting for the kill shot.
"THREE!"
My chest tightened for no reason. That weird unease from before was back. Stronger now.
*Sothing’s wrong,* Alex insisted.
*Nothing’s wrong. Let’s go.*
"FOUR!"
But I couldn’t move. My feet were rooted to the spot. My eyes fixed on the ring even though I couldn’t see much from back here. Just shapes. Shadows.
"FIVE!"
Lucas was on his feet now too, leaning forward. "Co on," he muttered. "Get up. Get up."
"SIX!"
The silence in the warehouse was deafening. Hundreds of people holding their breath as one.
"SEVEN!"
My hands clenched into fists. Why the hell did I care? This wasn’t my fight. Wasn’t my problem.
But that feeling in my chest—that wrongness—it was getting worse.
"EIGHT!"
*We need to go,* Alex said urgently. *Now.*
*Why?*
*I don’t know. Sothing’s wrong. Sothing’s—*
"NINE!"
Movent in the ring. Small. Barely there.
The crowd gasped.
"She’s moving!" Lucas shouted. "Holy shit, she’s actually moving!"
She. The woman fighter.
The one Lucas had been so excited about. The human who was supposed to be so incredible.
Currently getting destroyed in front of hundreds of people.
"TEN—" The referee stopped. "She’s up! She’s up!"
The warehouse erupted.
People were on their feet, screaming, throwing money in the air. The noise was deafening. Overwhelming.
And that feeling in my chest? It exploded.
Pure, undiluted panic flooded my system.
I didn’t know why. Didn’t understand it. But every instinct I had was screaming at that sothing was terribly, catastrophically wrong.
"Damien?" Lucas looked at , concerned. "You okay?"
"We need to leave." My voice ca out rough. Wrong. "Right now."
"But the fight—"
"I don’t give a fuck about the fight!" The words exploded out of . "This whole thing was a stupid idea. Recruiting from human fight circuits? Are you insane?"
Lucas blinked, taken aback by my sudden fury.
"These people are desperate," I continued, my voice getting louder. "Broken. They fight because they have nothing else. You think that makes them good candidates for pack work?"
Lucas scrambled to follow. "Just wait. Let explain—"
"There’s nothing to explain!" I turned on him, and he actually stepped back. "You wanted to see talented fighters? Fine. I saw them. I’m not impressed. End of discussion."
"But she—"
"I don’t care about *she*!" My voice cracked on the word. "I don’t care about any of them! This was a waste of ti and I’m done!"
The crowd’s roar swelled again. Louder. More violent.
Soone in the ring must’ve landed another hit.
That panic in my chest twisted tighter. My wolf was clawing at my insides, desperate to get out.
I turned toward the exit, needing to get out of this place before I lost control completely.
"Damien, please." Lucas caught my arm. "Just watch for five more minutes. If you still want to leave after that, we’ll go."
"No."
"Five minutes!"
"I said no!" I yanked my arm free. "I’m not watching so human woman get beaten to death for your entertainnt! This whole idea was fucked from the start and I—"
A sound cut through my rant.
Not a scream. Not a shout.
A growl.
Low. Feral. Filled with pain and rage and sothing else I couldn’t na.
Coming from the ring.
My entire body went rigid.
"Did you hear that?" Lucas whispered.
I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
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