The Arena novel Chapter 14

"Hello, brother. I assumed you were dead." I watch as the stranger walks up. There is something familiar about him, but I don't have time to focus on what it might be.

"I don't have a brother. I'm an only child," I reply curtly.

"Well, now, that's where you're wrong." He shakes his head as if he's sad that he has to explain this to me. "I guess he never told you."

I stare him down, waiting. "You see, you and I have the same father."

"Liar!"

"No, I'm not. I'm your older half-brother."

"My father never cheated on my mother."

"You’re right about that. You see, he was with my mother. They were together until he met your mother, his fated mate.”

He begins pacing in front of me, his anger building. I subtly move in front of the open cage, instinctively wanting to protect my pack.

“But he never marked my mother. I guess he always knew he’d leave us. And he did as soon as he met your mother. As if having a fated mate is so special!”

I watch as he pulls his anger back in, forcing himself to relax before looking at me again. “And once he found her, he left us, both of us, as if we were garbage. The King of Alphas left his chosen mate and his son to start a new life with his fated mate.”

“For the longest time, I thought he’d come back. When I heard he had another child, I was excited. I thought we could be brothers, live together, grow up together. But no matter how many times my mother begged and pleaded with him to come back, to let us visit, he refused.”

“When my mother died, I reached out to him, hoping now he’d bring me in, show everyone that he had two sons, not one. But he ignored me. He didn’t care that I had no one and no way to take care of myself.”

“It was then that I realized…he didn’t love me. He didn’t care about me, not even a little,” he says, finally looking at me. “But you! You were the golden boy, the one he adored. His ‘true’ heir.” His eyes widen when he calls me the true heir, and he looks … crazy. There’s no other word for it.

“You did this,” I accuse as the reality of what happened to my parents, to my pack, to me, comes crashing down. “You brought the hunters the day of my Alpha ceremony. You are the reason that my parents are dead. The reason that I was in a supernatural fighting ring for the last year. It was you. All of it was you.”

He slaps his hands on my shoulders. “Of course it was! That asshole left me. He left my mom. He deserved everything he got.” He condescendingly taps my face. “And I couldn’t have you standing in my way. I wanted to be a good brother to you. But our father wouldn’t allow it. So, no love lost, is there, brother? What you assumed was yours is really mine. I am the first-born son of the Alpha of Alphas, and therefore, I am the new King of Alphas. You are just the brother that is getting in my way.”

He snarls the last part, reaching out to grab me. I move, swinging around and punching him in the gut, taking him by surprise. I don’t know if he got the Lycan gene, and I don’t know if he’s a fighter, but I’ve been in a fighting ring for over a year, fighting to the death. There are only two people in this world that I know might be able to defeat me in a battle, and my so-called brother isn’t one of them.

“I’m coming for you next,” I snarl before jumping into the fray and beginning the fight of my life.

This time, I’m not just fighting for myself. I’m fighting for my pack, my parents, and everyone that we lost. I hear my pack members mumbling behind me. Maybe they didn’t believe me before, but they believe me now. I am their rightful Alpha, and I am here to set them free.

Again, these wolves haven’t been adequately trained to fight. They have relied too long on their weapons and have become complacent. It’s not as easy to take this group down. There are more of them, and they have their weapons. I feel whips biting into my back and my legs, trying to bring me down. But my adrenaline is flowing, and while I know I will feel it later, I don’t feel it now.

I begin tearing them down, one by one. At some point, the group in the cage behind me comes out and begins to pick up the weapons that are left lying on the ground and fighting with me to defeat their oppressors.

More fighters come, and more are killed. We battle long into the night. Someone finds a way to open the other cages, and every abled member of my pack eventually joins the fight. When the last member of my brother’s “pack” lies dead on the ground in front of me, I turn and face my pack.

“I, Cedric Thierry, son of Augustus and Vesper, do hereby claim my right as your true Alpha. I take back this pack from the traitor who called himself my father’s son.”

A chorus of “Alpha Cedric” rings out into the early morning air as everyone in my pack kneels and submits to me as their true Alpha.

“Rise, my people. We have much work to do to bring this pack back to its former glory. But for now, find some food and a place to rest. We begin the rebuilding process tomorrow.”