The Arena novel Chapter 77

When Tana dropped me off, I had one goal in mind. Kill Troy. However, as soon as I got out of the fire and could see, I realized that the hunters were going after the pups. I immediately jumped in, protecting them, killing the hunters so my pack members could get them away.

The rest of the pack that isn’t still underground begins fighting alongside me. The pack will always fight to protect its own, but when it comes to our pups, we’re fierce.

I make sure the group with the pups gets away safely before focusing on the group of hunters that is following my pack out of the underground. I can see the she-wolves that were captured are exhausted and starving, but they are fighting. It makes me so proud of my pack, proud to be their Alpha.

As I’m fighting, I hear a dragon scream, and I look up to see Kaylani, who has taken a harpoon to the wing. It looks like she flew in front of Kenna and took the harpoon to protect my daughter. That’s twice Kaylani has saved my family. I don’t know if I can ever repay her, but I’ll do anything I can to show her how grateful I am.

A moment later, I hear Avani’s roar and see the arena walls begin to shake. “Make sure everyone is out from underground,” I shout to my pack members. We had certain members assigned to search and rescue while others would focus on fighting. We need to make sure that every supernatural is out of the underground before it collapses on itself.

I see Tana fly to Kaylani, trying to help her. But before I can rush over to help, I hear him.

“Well, well, well, little brother. We meet again. This time, you and your dragons won’t survive. I’ve made sure of it. And you, little brother, will finally be the thorn that I pluck from my side.”

“Troy,” I snarl his name. “You die today!”

“You’ll find I’m not so easy to kill, Cedric.”

“You’re a lot easier to kill when you’re not hiding behind others, you coward.”

That gets a reaction. He snarls at me. “I am no coward.”

“You’re a coward who sells out his own, and for what? A few dollars? Do you think they care about you? They’ve been using you. Using you to get to us. Tana told me you aren’t even the brains of the operation; some human scientist is. What did you have to give him so he would let you live, Troy? Your blood? Your DNA? Your very soul?”

“Shut up! I’m in charge here. I’ve always been in charge.”

“Keep telling yourself that. You’re nothing more than a tool. A means to an end for the humans to kill us all.”

“What you don’t seem to realize, Troy, is that I’m a dragon rider. That means that I share my mate’s strengths. I share her fire.” I pull a fireball into my hand and throw it at him. While he doesn’t catch on fire, the heat from my fire against his armor burns his body, causing him to scream in agony. I can smell his skin cooking from here.

“I share her ability to heal, and I have taken on some of her dragon’s strength. No serum created in a laboratory will ever give you the advantages that I have from being the fire dragon’s rider. It’s time you realized who the true leader of the packs is,” I say, and I beat him back until he falls to his knees.

His eyes widen and it’s only now, at the end, that he realizes that he is nothing compared to me.

I stand over him, my sword raised above my head. “I, Cedric Thierry, Royal Alpha Lycan King, dragon rider of Tana, the fire dragon, father of Kenna, the fire dragon, and Liekki, Prince and future Alpha of all wolfpacks, sentence you, Troy, to death for your crimes against me, my pack, and the supernatural community.”

“Cedric, no …”

His voice is cut off as my sword separates his head from his body. I roar my defiance and my victory over Troy as his head rolls away and his body slumps to the ground.

When I’m done, I turn, ready to finish this battle once and for all.