Valen didn’t just want to kick Cassian’s ass. He wanted to do it with an audience, cameras, and probably a fucking marching band if he could manage it.
The training court was packed. Every wolf in the stronghold had shown up for the bloodbath, eyes gleaming like they’d bought tickets to the world’s most violent reality show.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I muttered as the guards dragged me forward, “welcome to Toxic Masculinity: The Live Experience.”
“Shut up, Omega,” one of them hissed, fingers digging into my arms hard enough to leave bruises.
“Creative. Did you workshop that insult, or was it off the cuff?”
Cassian stood in the center, shirtless and swaying slightly on his feet. The wolfsbane was still fucking with his system—I could see it in the way his left shoulder dipped, the careful way he moved like his bones were made of glass.
“This is your mistake,” he said, voice carrying across the sand. “Not mine.”
Valen smiled like a shark who’d just spotted a bleeding seal. “She was never yours.”
“Yeah? Well, she was never yours either, dipshit,” I called out, earning another painful jerk from my captors.
The crowd was loving this. Wolves lined the edges like they were at a gladiator match, all bared teeth and hungry eyes. Not one of them looked remotely uncomfortable watching two men fight over me like I was a piece of property.
“Let me go!” I thrashed against the guards’ grip. “You cowards! You’re really gonna let this psycho—”
One of them shoved me hard enough that I stumbled. “Keep your mouth shut.”
“Or what? You’ll make me watch your boss get his ass handed to him? Oh no, the horror.”
Cassian’s eyes found mine across the court. His lips parted like he wanted to say something, but the words never came.
Valen drew his sword with theatrical flair, spinning it once like he was auditioning for a medieval boy band. “Let’s give them a show.”
Cassian just exhaled—slow, controlled—and drew his own blade.
The moment steel met steel, sparks exploded like angry fireflies. Cassian was good—really fucking good—but the poison had turned him into a slightly drunk version of himself. Still deadly, just… off.
Valen was fast, cocky, and completely convinced he was the protagonist of this story. He ducked low, going for Cassian’s ribs.
Cassian twisted away, but not quite fast enough. Valen’s blade bit into his arm, blood spraying across the sand.
“Cassian!” The scream tore out of my throat before I could stop it.
He didn’t even flinch. Just adjusted his grip and brought his sword crashing down like he was trying to split Valen in half.
“You’re weak,” Valen taunted, dancing around him. “Wounded. You can’t even protect her.”
“I’m sorry,” I yelled. “Are we having a therapy session or a sword fight? Because this is getting confusing.”
Cassian’s chest rose and fell with growing effort, but his voice stayed level. “Keep talking. It won’t save you.”
“You shouldn’t have touched her,” Valen hissed. “You think claiming her means something? That she won’t bleed for it?”
Then Cassian looked at me.
Just one glance.
And the world exploded.
Not literally—though it felt like it. Something burst inside my chest, golden and violent and ancient. Like lightning had decided to take up permanent residence in my ribcage.
“What the fuck—” I gasped, knees buckling.
The entire court went dead silent.
Cassian’s sword lowered, his face going pale. “No…” His voice cracked like breaking glass. “Not you.”
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Because I knew what this was, even if my brain was screaming that it was impossible.
The bond.
The mythical, legendary, once-in-a-lifetime soul-deep connection that most wolves spent their entire lives hoping for.
And it had picked me. The Omega who’d tried to poison her own mate.
Because apparently, my life was a cosmic joke.
“This can’t be,” Cassian rasped, hand hovering over his chest like he could rip the feeling out. “It can’t be her.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I wheezed.
It wasn’t love. Not yet. It was something bigger and scarier and completely fucking inconvenient. Like having a live wire attached directly to my soul.
“What is that?” someone whispered from the crowd.
Valen turned toward me, and his smile was pure poison. “Of course. Of course the bond chose you.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly fill out an application,” I said, still trying to catch my breath.
“But now it’s yours,” he snarled. “And when he dies, you’re mine again. No matter what you feel.”
The certainty in his voice made my skin crawl. Like he’d already planned exactly how this would end.
“I’ll never be yours,” I spat.
He stepped toward me, hand raised like he might actually hit me in front of everyone.
The guards yanked me back hard enough to wrench my shoulders. “Time to go, Omega.”
“Wait—” I twisted in their grip, eyes locked on Cassian. “Don’t you fucking dare die on me. Not when I just figured out you’re stuck with me forever.”
His mouth almost curved into a smile. Almost.
Then they dragged me away, and I spent the entire walk back to my cell wondering if soulmates were supposed to meet by attempted murder.
