Kael’s POV
The arena was ancient.
Carved into the earth centuries ago. Stone walls stained with the blood of countless challenges. This was where Alpha disputes were settled. Where wolves fought for dominance. Where wolves had killed each other since the beginning of our kind.
Today, it would witness another.
I stood at the eastern entrance, stripped to the waist. The morning air bit at my skin. Cold. Sharp. Good. I needed to feel sothing other than the terror clawing at my chest.
The stands were packed.
Every wolf in Blood Crown territory had co to watch. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. Their eyes burned into from every direction. I could sll their excitent. Their bloodlust. Their doubt.
Most of them thought I was going to die today.
Maybe they were right.
*Stop that,* Fenrir growled in my mind. *We didn’t co here to lose.*
I took a deep breath. Let it out slowly.
He was right. We hadn’t co here to lose. We’d co here to end this. One way or another.
The western entrance opened.
My father erged.
Magnus Blood Crown. Alpha Supre. The most feared wolf in ridian Territory for thirty years.
He looked like death walking.
His body was massive. Muscles carved from decades of violence. Scars crisscrossing his skin like a roadmap of brutality. His red-gold eyes found mine across the arena. Cold. Calculating. Completely devoid of paternal feeling.
To him, I wasn’t his son right now.
I was just another enemy to destroy.
"WOLVES OF BLOOD CROWN!"
The announcer’s voice echoed off the stone walls. An elder. One of the council mbers who would officiate this challenge.
"Today we witness a sacred rite! A challenge for the position of Alpha Supre! The challenger—Kael Blood Crown! The defender—Magnus Blood Crown!"
The crowd roared. Howled. Stamped their feet against the stone benches.
"By ancient law, this challenge will be fought until death or submission! There will be no interference! No rcy! No quarter!"
I flexed my fingers. Felt my claws beginning to erge.
"WOLVES! SHIFT!"
My father moved first.
His transformation was violent. Explosive. Bones cracking like gunshots. Muscles tearing and reforming. In seconds, the man was gone.
In his place stood a monster.
His wolf was massive. Blood-red fur that seed to absorb the light. Teeth like daggers. Eyes that burned with ancient malice. Tyrant. The beast that had terrorized our pack for three decades.
I let Fenrir loose.
The shift took faster than ever before. Pain and power rged into sothing transcendent. My human form dissolved. My wolf erupted.
Black fur. Golden eyes. Jaws that could crush bone.
We faced each other across the arena. Two apex predators. Father and son. Alpha and challenger.
*Ready?* Fenrir asked.
*No.*
*Good. Neither is he.*
Magnus charged.
He was faster than I expected. Three hundred pounds of muscle and fury, closing the distance in heartbeats. His jaws snapped at my throat.
I twisted. Felt his teeth graze my shoulder. Fire exploded across my skin.
First blood. His.
I didn’t have ti to celebrate. He was already spinning. Coming at again. Relentless. Brutal.
This wasn’t a fight. This was a execution attempt.
I dodged. Ducked. Tried to find an opening. There wasn’t one. He was too experienced. Too precise. Every move I made, he countered. Every attack I attempted, he deflected.
His claws raked across my flank. Pain scread through my nervous system.
*Focus!* Fenrir snarled. *Stop defending! ATTACK!*
I lunged. My teeth found his shoulder. Bit down. Tasted blood.
Magnus roared. His massive body twisted. His back legs ca up. Claws caught my belly.
I released him. Stumbled back. Blood dripped from my stomach. Not deep. But not shallow either.
The crowd was going insane. Their howls filled the arena like a living thing.
Magnus circled . Slowly now. Patient. He knew he’d wounded . Knew he just had to wait for to weaken.
*He’s playing with us,* Fenrir growled.
I knew. I could see it in his eyes. That cruel amusent. He was enjoying this. Enjoying watching his own son bleed.
Just like he enjoyed watching my mother bleed.
Just like he enjoyed breaking Lucian.
Just like he’d enjoyed every mont of terror he’d inflicted on this family.
Sothing inside snapped.
Not broke. Snapped. Like a chain finally giving way.
I charged.
Not with strategy. Not with caution. With pure, undiluted rage.
My body slamd into his. We went down in a tangle of fur and fangs. I bit everything I could reach. His neck. His ear. His shoulder. I didn’t care about defense anymore. Didn’t care about technique.
I just wanted to hurt him.
Magnus’s claws tore into my back. I felt skin ripping. Felt blood flowing. Didn’t stop.
My teeth found his throat.
He threw off before I could close my jaws. I hit the ground hard. Rolled. Ca up on shaky legs.
We were both bleeding now. Both panting. Both damaged.
Good.
*Again,* Fenrir demanded.
Again.
I attacked. He t head-on. We collided like thunderstorms. Claws and teeth and fury. The arena floor turned red beneath our feet.
He caught my foreleg. Twisted. I felt sothing crack.
Pain. Blinding, white-hot pain.
I howled. Tried to pull free. Couldn’t.
His jaws closed on my neck.
This was it. This was how I died.
*NO!*
Fenrir surged forward with strength I didn’t know we had. My back legs kicked out. Connected with his belly.
Magnus’s grip loosened for just a second.
I tore free. Felt skin ripping. Felt blood pouring down my neck. But I was free.
I spun. My injured leg scread in protest. I ignored it.
He was off-balance. Just for a mont. Just long enough.
I threw myself at him.
My full weight crashed into his side. He staggered. Fell.
I was on him before he could recover.
My jaws found his throat again. This ti, I didn’t hesitate.
I bit down.
His blood filled my mouth. Hot. Copper. The taste of victory.
Magnus thrashed beneath . His claws raked at my sides. My back. My face. Pain exploded everywhere.
I didn’t let go.
*Harder,* Fenrir growled. *HARDER!*
I clamped down with everything I had. Felt his flesh giving way beneath my teeth. Felt his struggles getting weaker.
He was choking. Drowning in his own blood.
"ENOUGH!"
The voice cut through my rage. Sharp. Commanding. One of the elders.
I didn’t stop.
"KAEL BLOOD CROWN! THE CHALLENGE IS DECIDED! RELEASE HIM!"
My jaws were locked. Every instinct scread to finish it. To end him. To make sure he never hurt anyone again.
*Kael.* Fenrir’s voice was calr now. *He’s done. We won.*
I looked down at my father.
Magnus Blood Crown. The terror of our pack. The monster who had haunted my nightmares for twenty-five years.
He was broken beneath . Bleeding. Barely breathing. His red eyes were glazed with sothing I’d never seen there before.
Defeat.
I released him.
Stepped back on shaking legs. My whole body was screaming. The injured foreleg wouldn’t support my weight. I was bleeding from a dozen wounds. Maybe more.
But I was standing.
He wasn’t.
"THE CHALLENGE IS COMPLETE!" The elder’s voice rang out across the suddenly silent arena. "MAGNUS BLOOD CROWN HAS BEEN DEFEATED! KAEL BLOOD CROWN IS THE NEW ALPHA SUPRE!"
The crowd exploded.
Howls. Roars. The thunder of thousands of wolves celebrating their new leader.
I barely heard any of it.
The shift took . Slower this ti. Painful. My human form returned in pieces. Bruised. Bloody. Broken.
But alive.
I collapsed to my knees in the center of the arena. The stone was cold beneath my naked skin. My blood pooled around . Mixed with my father’s.
I’d done it.
After twenty-five years of fear and silence and submission, I’d finally done it.
Hands grabbed . Lifted up. Soone wrapped a cloak around my shoulders. Voices shouted. Commanded. dical attention. Healers. The new Alpha needed help.
I let them carry . Too exhausted to resist. Too overwheld to process.
The last thing I saw before consciousness faded was my father being dragged away. Alive. Barely. He would survive. The healers would make sure of it.
But he would never be Alpha again.
He would never hurt my mother again.
He would never control my life again.
I closed my eyes.
And for the first ti in my entire existence, I felt free.
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