It takes all my strength to leash my wolf, because it’s the first time I’ve had too much time to actually think about it. Violet’s being beaten once again by Idun, only this time, there’s no message. There’s no meaning. There’s no purpose.

“I think it’d be better if I could see it. Not knowing is driving my wolf into a frenzy,” I confess, glancing over at Zuela.

His lips thin, and he takes his sword out, placing it in his lap, before offering me my phone.

“I see one stray hair, and I’m stabbing you,” he warns me.

“You can try,” I mutter, quickly pulling up Idun TV.

The stadium lights flash on, just as the sun gets too low to illuminate the whole field. It almost spotlights the action below.

Idun is smirking at Damien and Arion, who are blocking her path to Violet.

Violet’s on the ground, struggling to get up, her body so broken she can’t pop the bones in fast enough.

Arion’s eyes are fully fucking red, and his fangs are bared. I’ve never seen him bare his fangs at Idun, unless it was for show. His claws are extended, and his entire body is vibrating with obvious fury.

Damien’s eyes are white—something he rarely allows to happen. His black claws are just as sharp and ready to be used. Idun sways, a small grin forming on her lips.

“Trying to turn me on, lover?” she quips.

He hisses, alongside Arion, as the two of them take a step toward her. Violet begs them to get back, and she begs Anna to knock them out. Anna sits beside her, mocking a yawn.

“Sorry. You got your ass kicked too hard. Clearly you need some help,” Anna tells her. “Also, I can’t do it anymore. They’ve grown immune. I told you it wasn’t going to work for too long on them.”

Tears gather in Violet’s eyes, as she struggles to pull herself to her knees. She cries out when something on her body pops, and I almost slide out of my seat after moving out too far out on the edge.

Talbot and Zuela have both put their heads closer, staring on with me.

“Leave them alone. You know it’s me you want to hurt,” Violet calls out, her breaths labored, as she snaps her knee back into place.

Suddenly, another body steps in front of Violet.

“Fucking dumb vampire,” Talbot says on a cringe and an exhale, covering his eyes, when he realizes it’s Shera. “I thought she had more sense than that.”

The foolish vampire beta is fully trembling, swallowing hard, and holding her head up high. She’s also packing four guns that are strapped to her legs. She’s not bothering to reach for one, since she’d be dead before her finger even got on the trigger.

“Shera, you’re fired if you don’t get back on the sideline!” Violet shouts.

Shera nods. “I’m putting in my notice anyway. You’re too much fucking trouble,” Shera informs her.

“Isn’t that darling. This new generation is absolutely adorable, honestly. Arion, your heart should be too small to be so sentimental,” she says, gesturing at Shera.

Arion’s so close to attacking that I’ve already started dreading the moment she’ll kill him right in front of Violet.

“She baits the poor girl. Violet’s trying so hard to counter Idun, which is something we’ve all failed to do too many times, even with all our experience,” Zuela says, scrubbing a hand over his face. “The damn girl is too brassy for her position,” he adds, sounding regretful.

“Hurry the fuck up!” I shout to the pilot.

“This is as fast as she goes,” Zuela tells me, just as Arion finally loses that thread of sanity and foolishly launches himself at Idun.

I barely see the surprise on her face, before she grins and charges.

I don’t know how it happens.

I don’t know where she comes from.

Just as Arion and Damien are about to collide with Idun, Violet is suddenly there. Idun crashes into her, and I jerk in my seat, feeling sympathy pain for Violet—

My own eyes widen when Idun’s body folds in on itself, as though it has just slammed into a brick wall. Her entire body is jarred, before it bounces off Violet, followed by the sound of bones crunching and effectively echoing through the air.

The entire stadium has gone eerily silent.

So has the damn chopper, sans the numerous working mechanisms. Even the two knights, who aren’t piloting the helicopter, have started watching with us.

Talbot’s breaths are too heavy next to me, as he watches with the same shock and admitted horror.

Idun slides across the ground, her body lifeless for a brief second. Violet’s eyes lose the purple, and she blinks over at the sideline, her jaw grinding.

The camera doesn’t show who she’s looking at, unfortunately, because the distraction is brief. Idun’s bones quickly pop back into place, and she easily pushes back up to her feet.

“That place is about to be a battlefield, and she’ll never live with the guilt of getting those omegas and betas killed, let alone what will happen to all of us,” Zuela says, exhaling a harsh breath.

“This is where alliances shift. We’re about to learn where we stand with our families. Where do you stand, Zuela?” I ask him, as Idun continues to crack a few bones into place, her back still turned.

The ominous calm before the storm.

Everyone in the stadium is still silent.

Damien snags Violet at the waist, and in the next instant, his hand is on her head. Her eyes slam shut, and she goes lifeless in his arms.

He turns and darts away, carrying her with him. Arion is hot on his heels, the two of them working in perfect unison, as though they planned for Violet to go too far.

Or else their monsters are working on full instinct and protecting their chosen mate from the closest threat the best way they can when they’re outnumbered and not ready for a fight.

“I predicted that the Monster Olympics were a terrible idea,” Talbot interjects, sitting back in his seat.

Idun runs her fingers through her hair, straightens her bra, and turns to face the direction they just went.

“It was just a matter of time before it escalated. Every pup has to learn its place. She’s too new a monster, and she’s not lived in our society,” Zuela carries on. “They can run. For now. Idun’s about to kill half the stadium. If they—”

Thunder rumbles as though the universe has good timing for once. The Neoprys scatter like roaches, as the next rumble of thunder rattles the camera.

“The lightning will lead Idun right to Violet. She gets struck twice as often as a typical Neopry,” I say almost too quietly, my body still frozen in some shock at the dramatic turn of events.

“Right now, Idun’s going to collect herself, and she’s going to use the lightning as an excuse to do it. It’s been a long time since someone, other than the four of you, have physically challenged her. She thinks it’s tacky to let the monster out as casually as you all do,” Talbot ‘predicts.’

Anna pops up in our helicopter so abruptly and unexpectedly that we all startle.

My eyes cut to Talbot, who quickly darts his gaze away from Anna, his jaw tightening. He refuses to look at me, but we both know I saw him react to her presence, unlike the knights.

Studying his tense profile, and the clearly angered look on his face for breaking composure, I listen as Anna talks.