Then, his eyes snapped upward.
A sharp, lethal green glare locked directly onto Roxy’s gray eyes, cutting through the sea of terrified students packed onto the bleachers.
Caden froze mid-stride in the center of the pit.
His burning eyes locked onto her posture.
She wasn’t hiding behind the crowded shoulders around her; she stood in plain sight, hands shoved coolly into the pockets of her skirt, surveying his sweat-sheened back and the dirt clinging to his skin as if watching a routine play.
A low, dry roar rumbled deep in Caden’s throat.
He flicked the blood from his knuckles, kicked up a cloud of dirt, and turned his entire body toward her section of the bleachers.
Inside his mind, his inner wolf **Volcano** snarled with bloodthirsty excitement: *(That’s the human!…
Look at how she stares right at us without so much as a flinch!
There isn’t a single trace of that delicious panic we see in the omegas.
She’s challenging us with those eyes, Caden…
Damn her human pride, I want to see how this little flame holds up under our boots!)* Caden ran the back of his hand over his heavy jaw.
He took slow, crushing steps across the stone floor barefoot, like a wild beast unburdened by rules ignoring the male groaning at his feet who was desperately trying to crawl out of his line of sight.
Panicked hushes broke out among the students standing near Roxy: “Don’t look him in the eye…” “Caden shows no mercy when he’s in the pit!” “He’s the most savage Alpha here…
He’ll rip her pride to shreds if she gets down on his level.” Roxy didn’t spare them a single glance, nor did she step back from the freezing stone ledge.
She tilted her head, a dry, cutting smile settling on her lips as she watched him approach the edge of the pit right beneath her section.
They held each other’s stare in a heavy, suffocating silence that choked out the arena’s noise.
Roxy lifted her left eyebrow with cool amusement.
Her voice calm, steady, and sharp cut through the arena’s ambient roar with effortless clarity: “You sure love beating up on people weaker than you, Caden…” She leaned over the stone railing slightly.
“…or is this the only entertainment the academy could put together before the banquet?” The muscles in Caden’s jaw locked tight.
A dark spark flared in his green eyes as **Volcano** roared savagely inside his head: *(You hear her?!…
She’s mocking our strength!
Drag her into this arena and show her what real destruction looks like!)* Caden raised a dirt-stained index finger, pointing directly at her, his thick veins bulging under his skin.
His voice rose raw, gravelly, and laced with absolute danger: “The weak get crushed underfoot, human…” He took a step closer to the wall beneath her, his glare burning into hers.
“…and strength around here isn’t entertainment.
It’s the only law I stamp my name on.” Roxy let out a dry, low laugh that sliced through the tense silence of the arena like a blade.
She tilted her head back slightly before resting her forearms against the freezing stone wall.
Sweeping her gray gaze down over Caden’s massive, imposing frame, her eyes overflowed with absolute disdain.
“Anyway…” She leaned down, her voice calm, composed, and dripping with provocation.
“…your little entertainment show was a bit boring.” The students packed into the bleachers froze solid.
A heavy, suffocating hush blanketed the arena so dense you could almost hear the rustle of the wind against the stone arches.
No one in the history of the academy had ever dared direct such sharp, unapologetic mockery at its most brutal Alpha.
The thick muscles of Caden’s neck snapped taut.
His emerald eyes flared with a scorching heat while **Volcano** roared inside his head in a tempest of rage and disbelief: *(Boring?!
She calls our fighting boring while standing safely in the bleachers?!
This human is overstepping every single boundary, Caden!
Rip that arrogant smile right off her face!)* Caden took a heavy step forward, kicking up a cloud of dust beneath his bare feet.
He raised his head, his razor-sharp glare locking onto her icy face.
His voice scraped out raw, gravelly, and heavy with promise: “Boredom is cured with blood, human…” He clenched his earth-stained fist, the veins in his forearm bulging.
“…and anyone who thinks strength is a boring show just needs to be dragged into the center to taste the heat of the ring for themselves.” Roxy tilted her head to the side, her expression completely untroubled.
“Do you want me to come down to the pit?” Her tone remained smooth, measured, and dripping with defiance.
Caden narrowed his burning green eyes, a sharp, dangerous smirk twisting his lips.
“Yes…” He rasped, his voice gravelly and dark.
“…maybe that way you’ll finally feel some excitement.” The corner of Roxy’s mouth hitched into a ruthless, mocking smile.
She met his ferocious glare with an unyielding, icy composure before firing off her words with dry, razor-sharp sarcasm that echoed clearly through the silent arena: “I’m a human, Caden…” She lowered her voice slightly, letting the words sting.
“…and humans watch animals fight.” Air caught in the throats of the surrounding students.
A suffocating stillness fell over the bleachers, choking off their very breath.
Not a single soul had ever unleashed an insult of this magnitude with this much cold audacity at the castle’s most savage Alpha.
Caden’s neck muscles strained to their limit.
A wild fire consumed his eyes as **Volcano** raged inside his mind, his inner beast wild with shock and unadulterated fury: *(Animals?!
She calls us animals while hiding behind that stone ledge?!
This female doesn’t have a single drop of fear in her veins, Caden!
She is provoking the monster inside us in cold blood!)* Caden slammed another heavy step into the dirt, dust swirling around his ankles.
He lifted his head, his lethal gaze pinned to her regal features, his voice dropping into a dark, guttural threat: “The animals you’re watching, human…” He leaned up toward her, his breath hot against the cold air.
“…are the very ones with the fangs to shred that cold pride of yours at any given moment.”