Kael’s POV
The Pit was the only place that made sense anymore.
Blood. Sweat. The crack of bones under my fists. Sothing real. Sothing I could control when everything else in my miserable life was spinning out of control.
I walked straight into the cage without waiting for announcents. The crowd went wild. They loved it when I showed up unscheduled. ant soone was about to get destroyed.
Tonight, that soone was anyone stupid enough to face .
The first challenger lasted forty-five seconds. I broke his nose with my opening hit and his shoulder with my second. He was screaming on the ground before the crowd finished their first cheer.
Good. More.
The second one was bigger. Thought his size would save him. It didn’t. I felt his ribs give way under my fist, that satisfying crunch of bone, and he crumpled like wet paper.
Still not enough.
The third tried to be clever. Kept his distance. Danced around like we were playing so kind of ga.
I wasn’t playing.
I closed the gap in two strides and put him down with a single hit to the jaw. His eyes rolled back. His body dropped. The referee was calling the match before he even hit the ground.
But the rage was still there. Burning. Clawing at my insides like a caged animal trying to tear its way out.
Because the real fight wasn’t in this cage.
The real fight was waiting for at ho.
My father’s face flashed through my mind. That cold satisfaction in his eyes when he’d hit my mother. The way he’d smiled when I finally fought back, like he’d been waiting for it, like it was all part of so sick ga he was playing.
*"You want to challenge , boy? Do it properly."*
His words echoed in my skull. Taunting . Daring .
I slamd my fist into the cage wall so hard the tal scread. My knuckles split open. Blood ran down my fingers and dripped onto the floor.
The crowd had gone quiet. Even they could sense sothing was different tonight. Sothing dangerous.
I didn’t care.
All I could see was my mother’s face. Swollen. Bleeding. Cowering on the floor like a beaten dog while the man who was supposed to protect her stood over her with his fist raised.
Twenty-five years.
Twenty-five years I’d watched him destroy her piece by piece. Watched him break her spirit with his fists and his words and his endless cruelty. Watched him turn our ho into a prison where love was weakness and fear was the only currency that mattered.
And I’d done nothing.
I’d been too scared. Too weak. Too fucking conditioned to believe that this was normal, that this was how Alphas treated their mates, that challenging him would only make things worse.
But things couldn’t get worse.
Things were already as bad as they could possibly be.
I climbed out of the cage, my whole body shaking with rage and self-loathing. The crowd parted for like I was carrying a plague. Good. I needed to be alone. Needed to think. Needed to figure out what the hell I was going to do next.
The back room was dark and quiet. I collapsed onto a bench and buried my head in my hands.
Six weeks since Aria disappeared. Six weeks of searching every corner of ridian Territory. Six weeks of calling in favors and bribing informants and threatening anyone who might have information.
Nothing.
She’d vanished like smoke. Like she’d never existed at all.
And anwhile, my father was still sitting in that mansion like a king on his throne. Still hurting my mother. Still controlling every aspect of my life. Still expecting to fall in line and marry Rebecca and produce heirs and continue his legacy of violence and abuse.
I couldn’t do it anymore.
I couldn’t keep pretending that any of this was okay.
"Kael?"
That voice made my skin crawl.
I didn’t look up. "Go away, Rebecca."
The click of heels on concrete. Getting closer. Always getting closer, no matter how many tis I pushed her away.
"I heard you were here again." Her voice was soft, dripping with fake concern. "Fighting every night. Drinking yourself stupid. People are worried about you, baby."
"Don’t call that."
"Kael." She sat beside . Too close. Her perfu was suffocating, all roses and poison. "Look at . Please."
I kept my head down. "What do you want?"
"I want to help you." Her hand touched my shoulder, and it took everything I had not to shake it off. "You’ve been like this for weeks. Not sleeping. Not eating. Coming here every night to destroy yourself. It’s killing to watch."
A bitter laugh escaped my throat. "Killing you? That’s rich."
"I’m serious!" She actually sounded hurt. Like she had any right to be hurt. "I care about you. I’ve always cared about you. And seeing you throw your life away over so... so Oga trash..."
I finally looked at her. Her green eyes were wide, earnest, full of carefully crafted sympathy.
"You were confused," she continued, encouraged by my attention. "Bewitched by so biological reaction that doesn’t an anything. It happens sotis with Ogas. It’s just hormones. It’s not love."
She paused. Shrugged.
"Maybe she’s dead sowhere. Either way, it’s for the best. Now you can focus on what really matters. On us. On your future. On—"
I moved before my brain caught up with my body.
My hand closed around her throat. I slamd her against the wall so hard the impact echoed through the empty room.
Rebecca’s eyes went wide. Real fear flickered there—the first genuine emotion I’d seen from her in years.
Good.
She should be terrified.
"Did you just say she might be dead?" My voice was barely human. Low and dangerous, vibrating with Alpha command. "Did you just casually suggest that my mate is lying dead sowhere, and that’s a good thing?"
She tried to speak. Couldn’t. My grip was too tight.
"Let make sothing very clear to you, Rebecca." I leaned in close enough to see my reflection in her terrified eyes. "Aria is my fated mate. Mine. Recognized by Fenrir. Chosen by the Moon Goddess before either of us was born. She is the other half of my soul, and you do not get to speak about her like she’s garbage."
Her hands clawed uselessly at my wrist. Her face was turning red. I squeezed harder. Watched her eyes bulge.
"If I ever hear you say her na again with anything less than absolute respect, I will tear your throat out with my teeth. Do you understand ?"
She nodded frantically. As much as she could with my hand crushing her windpipe.
I released her.
Rebecca collapsed against the wall, gasping and choking, her hand flying to her bruised throat. There would be marks there tomorrow. Evidence of what I was capable of when soone threatened what was mine.
"Go ho, Rebecca. Find soone else to manipulate. I’m done."
I walked out before she could respond.
The main floor of The Pit was still buzzing with energy—wolves gambling, fighting, drowning their misery in blood and alcohol. I pushed through the crowd, desperate for air, desperate to escape the suffocating weight of everything pressing down on .
"Kael! Hey! KAEL!"
A hand grabbed my arm. Spun around.
It’s my friend Damon.
His usually easygoing face was creased with worry. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
"Dude. What the actual fuck is happening with you?"
"Nothing. Let go."
"Bullshit!" He tightened his grip. "I just watched you nearly strangle Rebecca in the back room. You’ve been fighting like you have a death wish. You look like absolute shit. This isn’t nothing."
"I said I’m fine."
"You’re not fine, you goddamn idiot!" His voice rose, drawing attention from nearby wolves. "You’re falling apart! You’re acting like a fucking lunatic! I’ve known you my whole life, and I’ve never seen you like this!"
"This is about your father, isn’t it?" I didn’t answer.
Damon sighed heavily, running his hands through his hair. “What are you going to do about it?"
"I don’t know yet."
"Well, you better figure it out fast." He stepped closer, dropping his voice. "Because this path you’re on? It ends with you dead in a ditch sowhere. Or worse—you turn into your father. Is that what you want?"
He clapped on the shoulder, then walked back toward the fighting pits.
I stood there for a mont, alone in the crowd, letting his words sink in.
He was right about everything.
I couldn’t keep spiraling. Couldn’t keep drinking and fighting and destroying myself in the hope that the pain would eventually stop. It wouldn’t. Not until I actually did sothing to fix it.
My father was waiting for at ho. Waiting for to either submit or challenge him. Waiting to see if I had the balls to finally stand up for sothing.
The problems needed to be solved.
I couldn’t fix everything tonight. But I could start.
I walked toward ho.
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