Chapter 24 · Claws Against Iron

Chapter 24: Claws Against Iron

"You wanted the glass cage, Calder. Here it is."

Silas Voss drops fifteen feet into the pit before I can blink, ceremonial plate already stripped off and left on the rail above, longsword live in his fist. No padding. No referee counting breaths. Just him, me, and four inches of reinforced glass holding back three hundred pack members who paid good money to watch an Alpha King carve a lesson into a night-shift nobody.

"I didn't ask for anything." I circle left, wraps already tight on my knuckles. "You're the one who couldn't let Kane score me himself."

"Kane doesn't get to score what belongs to the house." His blade flashes low, testing the distance. I slide back, boots scraping chalk off the floor. "You want the elite roll, you earn it under my steel. Not his."

"Funny. Your steel's already cheating."

Something's wrong in the air — bitter, chemical, under the hot metal smell of his sword. Wolfbane. Synthetic, cut fresh, still wet along the blade's edge.

He smiles like I just handed him the win. "Scared of a little poison, girl?"

"Scared you need it to beat me."

He comes in fast.