"Some rules are meant to be broken when lives hang in the balance."
Everything happened in slow motion and too fast simultaneously.
Chen's hand emerged from his jacket. Something small. Metallic. A vial.
Darius vaulted the barrier between arenas. His wolf fully in control. Moving with impossible speed.
And I understood. Not a weapon. Poison. Something to throw. Make it look like accident. Arena sabotage gone wrong.
"Elara, DOWN!" Marcus's voice. He'd seen it too.
I dropped. Rolled. Felt something whistle past where my head had been.
The vial shattered against the arena wall. Liquid splashed. Hissed. The stone where it hit began corroding immediately.
The crowd screamed. Realized this wasn't just combat. This was attempted murder.
Darius landed between me and Chen. Wolf half-shifted. Claws extended. Eyes pure gold. The Alpha heir unleashed.
"You dare," he snarled. Voice barely human. "You dare try to kill my mate in front of everyone?"
