The Arena novel Chapter 34

"Who are you?" my daughter asks the werewolf standing beside us.

I really don't want to engage with this man any more than I have to. It's risky enough being in a business relationship with a werewolf, but now he's seen my daughter. If Cedric were to ever find out that I have a child, he might figure out that she's his. Werewolves are known for being possessive, and as a Lycan, he would be even more so. I have no doubt he would fight me to get her.

Bastian reaches out his hand, "Hello, young lady. My name is Bastian Dolph. What's yours?"

She turns and looks at me, waiting for me to nod that it's okay. It's not, but I don't want her to worry.

"I’m Kenna Blaze.”

“Miss Blaze, you are just as beautiful as your mother,” he says.

I see my daughter’s nose go up in the air. She has never smelled a werewolf shifter before. Bastian notices and leans in. “Werewolf,” he whispers to my daughter conspiratorially.

I watch as Jena’s eyes widen. I subtly shake my head so she doesn’t give anything away.

“Kenna, let’s let your mother finish her work so we can head home,” Palila says, coming to take her from me.

“Or maybe,” I say, like it’s the most exciting thing in the world, “we can stop for dinner on the way home.” Then, I modulate my tone. “And we were done here. Mr. Dolph was just leaving.” I say as a not-so-subtle hint.

“Yes, I was,” he says before heading toward the elevator. “I’ll be in touch very soon, Ms. Blaze.”

I wait until the elevator doors close before turning to my daughter. “Sweet girl, what’s this about?”

“I was worried, Momma.”

“Well, I’m just fine. Go to Palila and let me finish up so we can go.”

A week later, Ishir comes home from another case of tracking a human child. As soon as he walks in the door, I can tell something is on his mind, but because he doesn’t say anything, I don’t ask.

However, once Kenna is in bed, I sit down, facing him. “Spill.”

“Am I that obvious?” he asks.

“You have lots of tells,” Palila says, pouring all of us a drink before coming to sit with us.

“Such as …”

“When you’re quiet, we know something is wrong. So what is it?” Jena asks.

He takes a sip of his drink before looking at me. “Cedric is trying to reach me.”

My heart skips a beat. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t returned his calls. He hunted down my business and has been leaving messages. He says it’s urgent.”

I think about it for a moment. “Let’s call him.”

“Are you sure, Tana?”

I shrug. “Put him on speaker. We’ll all listen in.”

We wait while Ish dials the number Cedric left and hits the button for the speaker.

“Alpha Cedric.” Just hearing his voice makes my heart hurt. I steal myself for whatever is to come.

“Cedric, this is Ishir.”

“ISHIR! Finally. Is Tana with you?”

Ish looks up at me. “What do you want Cedric?” I ask.

“Tana.” I can almost see him closing his eyes as he says my name. “Tana, we need to talk, but right now, I have something important to tell you both.” There’s a pause before he continues. I look at Ishir. No matter what, we both know this is not going to be good.

“I’ve found another arena. You both need to see it, and Avani, too. It’s bad.”

“Define bad.”

“Reinforced steel, fireproof coverings, and from what I saw, four harpoon launchers.”

I look at Ish. Okay, he wasn’t exaggerating, it’s bad.

“Tell me where it is, and we’ll go take a look.”

“I’ll meet you.”

“Not necessary,” I say.

“Tana. I know you don’t want to see me, but it’s non-negotiable. I’ll meet you and take you, or I’ll figure out how to take it down myself.”

I look at Ishir. ‘We need him,’ he mouths to me.

‘No, we don’t,’ I mouth back.

“Tana, don’t be stubborn about this. There are lives at stake, and one of them could be yours if you or Avani show up unprepared,” Cedric says.

“Fine. But I can’t meet until this weekend.”

“That’s fine. I can come to you.”

We stalk carefully to an area where we can see it. Cedric wasn’t exaggerating; they are preparing for another attack.

"Shit," Ishir says.

I take it all in: the thickness of the walls, the covering around the stadium, and the harpoon launchers. Seeing them reminds me of the pain, the sound of the machine releasing the harpoon moments before the pain sliced through my body.

“They’ve built so much more already. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they are planning to start battles in the next month or so.” Cedric says.

“Yeah. That sounds right.” Ish says before turning to me. “We need Avani. Don’t fight me on it this time.”

“I won’t. We need him.”

We watch for a while before turning and heading back to the cars. “So, you and Ishir?” Cedric asks me as we run.

“Really? Like you have any right to ask me anything about my life?”

“Look, I made a huge mistake, Tana,” he says as we get close to the cars. He stops, pulling me to a stop. I feel those tingles up my arm, just like that night nearly three years ago. I shut it down. He didn’t want me until he realized that I was a dragon.

I turn to face him. “Yeah, you did. Do you regret it, Cedric?”

“Of course I do.”

“Because I’m a dragon, right?”

“What? No! I regret it because you’re my mate. I want to be with you. I freaked out, Tana. I’m sorry. I came back, and you were gone.”

“Yeah, the empty cave with nothing but the smell of our sex and the taste of your regret was a little more than I could take.”

“Please, Tana, give me another chance. I won’t let you down again.”

“You’re right. You won’t. I’ve moved on, Cedric. There’s someone else in my life now. You should move on, too.” He doesn’t need to know that the ‘other person’ is his daughter.

“Tana! You wear my mark. You’re mine!” he snarls at me.

“Wrong. You left me. Thanks for the heads-up on the arena. We’ll take it from here.” I say.

“No fucking way, Tana!”

“Bye, Cedric.” I get in Ish’s car. Ish gets in and starts it up.

“Tana!” he yells as we pull away.

“Tana!”