Page 49 of Filthy Royal

Roars shook the stadium: some of outrage, some of joy.

Damien had done it. He’d unseated a favorite. A Brotherhood-sponsored warrior, no less.

It was a huge triumph.

He should have been celebrating.

Except he hadn’t let go of his hold.

N’gal Verish’s green skin mottled yellow as Damien’s arm flexed around his throat, denying the fighter breath. He pressed his mouth to the gasping male’s ear and whispered something, both of their gazes locking on her.

Ice skittered through her veins.

What had Damien said? What was he doing?

The crowds’ murmurs turned to rumbles.

Damien needed to let the other Alpha go. Now.

She willed him to calm down. To regain control. But the same recklessness and ferocity in him that thrilled her worked against them now.

He was about to ruin everything.

Worse, Egan Avitus was letting him.

By now, Egan should have intervened. Fighters and trainers muttered among themselves. Called for action.

But Egan did nothing. That familiar calculating smirk in his stare as he simply watched her Alpha strangle the other male.

Because once Damien crossed the line and broke protocol by choking an opponent who’d tapped out, the Consortium would have the excuse it needed to ban him from the tournament.

She opened her mouth to warn Damien—except someone beat her to it.

“Enough!” It wasn’t Egan who gave this command. Nor her brother Luc.

It was Kadon Stormhart.

He broke from the other fighters and strode toward Damien.

Thankfully, his shout was enough to bring Damien to his senses. He shoved N’gal Verish away, just as Kadon came near.

Coughing, N’gal staggered to his feet with a snarl. “I’ll get you for this.”

“Try it.” Damien beckoned him forward.

Kadon stepped between them, hands up. “To your corners.” It wasn’t truly his place to issue such an order, but he’d always been a leader. “Skolov, you’re one stupid mistake away from getting kicked out of this tournament—and then where will you be? Out of luck, with no chance of winning the prizes you seek.”

Damien’s gaze flew to hers, his arms dropping back to his sides. His chest rose and fell fast, but he appeared to have regained control.

Stormhart had done them a great kindness.

The vise around her chest loosened.

Until she noticed Egan striding toward the mats, that familiar smirk ghosting across his face as he glanced at her and back to the fighters once more.

“Disaster averted.” Cunning glittered in his stare. “The fights will continue, no harm, no foul.” A roar went up around the room. “But as I’m sure you’ll agree,” Egan shouted over the din, “Kadon Stormhart deserves a boon.”

Dread thundered through her.

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