The Arena novel Chapter 1

Tana is a fire dragon, one of only four Elemental Dragons left in the world. For nearly a year, she has battled in the Arena, a supernatural gladiator fighting ring where you must fight to the death. Most die in their first competition. Others survive a couple of weeks. Only a few have survived as long as she has. Tana hid her true identity from everyone. If they knew what she was, her fate would be worse than the Arena.

Cedric, an Alpha werewolf, believed his pack would quickly rescue him and the other shifters after their capture by hunters. Left to fend for himself in the Arena, Cedric meets Tana. Together, they form a powerful bond and help each other survive. Cedric is convinced that Tana is his fated mate, assuming she's an Alpha werewolf to have survived so long.

When they finally get a chance to escape, Cedric claims Tana as his mate, marking her in a night of passion. Only when he sinks his teeth into her neck, he feels a power like never before, and he realizes she is no werewolf. Confused and angry at what he considers a betrayal, Cedric leaves, only to return to find her gone the next morning.

One night of passion was all it took for Tana to become pregnant. Rejected by her mate, she forges a new life in the city for herself and her child, steering clear of werewolf packs in the hopes of avoiding Cedric's presence. But, unbeknownst to her, he has been hunting for Tana since the night he left her.

What will happen when their businesses bring them back together, and he finds that Tana now has a daughter? Will he accept her? Or will he reject her again, leaving their bond shattered forever?

The deafening cheers of the spectators echo through the arena, chanting in support of their favorite contestant. Up there, the air is clean, and the aroma of food makes my stomach growl. Yet, down here, under the arena, we are only fed when we win. You'd think our captors would want to keep us all healthy and well-fed. After all, they brought us here as modern-day gladiators. But sadly, that's not how it works.

Here, only the strongest survive, and I am one of the strongest.

My name is Tana, and I am one of the last Elemental Dragons in existence. There are only four of us left. One for air, one for water, one for earth, and me, the one for fire. My captors are unaware of my true identity, a secret I guard fiercely. We're not allowed to shift in the arena anyway. We must fight in our human form, which inadvertently helps me protect my secret.

The ones who imprison us do not care about our well-being. Supernaturals are easy to find, if not so easy to capture. Very few survive the first week in the arena, but there is a never-ending supply of fighters coming through the doors every week.

I've lost count of my time here; perhaps a year or more has passed. Our jailors deliberately keep us weak so we cannot stage an uprising and get out of here. Yet, few endure long enough to even consider it. Every battle is to the death. If you don't kill your opponent, the Commander of the arena will kill you himself and claim the other as the victor. I've never seen it, but we can hear everything from under the arena.

Cedric is fighting now. He's been here nearly as long as I have. It's only through our survival that we've become something like friends. We're the two that have lasted the longest; because of that, we look out for each other.

He is an Alpha werewolf. I know this because I can smell the wolf on him, and his aura is strong. He thinks I am also an Alpha werewolf because I've hidden my scent, and only someone that strong could survive here. The only other survivor of comparable tenure is a tiger shifter, but he's a loner and has no interest in creating connections with us.

I'm standing at the gates when Cedric is brought back, battered and bruised. We always are after a fight. Based on the burns, I’d guess he was fighting against a warlock or a faery. I hope to catch his eye as they drag him past me, but it looks like he's unconscious. If I'm back quickly enough, I can help heal him. I've done it before when he's been injured badly. It's part of how we've bonded. He made sure my food wasn't stolen when I was unconscious, and I helped him heal.

As my match is announced, I stand at the gates, where the crowd begins chanting my name, "Tana! Tana! Tana!"

Both Cedric and I are fan favorites. The sounds of the spectator’s feet stomping on the arena floor cause the ceiling of our prison to vibrate, sending ripples through the scales beneath my skin.

The crowd's excitement increases as my competitor is released into the battleground. I only have to wait another minute, and the gate opens for me.

Slowly, I make my way to the battleground, to kill yet another supernatural.

I'm at home, in my pack. It's the day of my Alpha ceremony. Having turned 18 several months ago, my father gave me time to find my mate, but after traveling to nearly every pack in the country, I still haven't found her.

Eventually, my father relented and agreed to make me Alpha, knowing I would continue to be exposed to other packs increasing my chances of finding my mate. So, here we are, standing on the stage in front of our pack, my mother standing proudly behind us as my father begins the ceremony. Hundreds of our pack members are in attendance, as it’s rare to see the swearing-in of a new Alpha. Every pack member will swear their allegiance to me, their new Alpha.

As my father says the words, cutting my hand with the ceremonial blade, an attack begins, and the hunters emerge. They shoot arrows laced with wolfsbane and bullets made from silver. My father, myself, and all the warriors in our pack quickly shift, ready for combat. It is evident that the hunters have killed our patrols. Otherwise, the howl of alarm would have alerted us, but we had none. They planned this perfectly.

I begin to fiercely tear through the hunters. Every wolf from my pack is here, and if we manage to reach our enemies, their attempts at resistance will be no match for our superior strength and speed. The challenge, however, lay in reaching them unscathed. The onslaught of guns and arrows is making it difficult, and I see wolves falling all around me, wounded but not dead; as they shift back to their human forms.

At some point through the fighting, I realize the enemies are handcuffing the injured with silver, keeping them from healing. They think they can take my pack members for their experiments, but I won’t allow it.

With furious energy, I begin ripping the hunters apart. I hear screams and wails all around me, but one, in particular, catches my attention. I whip my head around just in time to see my mother's throat sliced by a hunter. My father is fighting several hunters, but at the moment that he feels her life slip away, he falters, and the hunters take him down. I howl a wail of pain and grief. The pack joins in and begins fighting with renewed vigor.

From the corner of my eye, I see the hunters dragging injured and unconscious wolves away. I rush forward, intending to assist, when an arrow punctures my ribs, going into my lungs. I collapse to the ground, before struggling to my feet; driven by adrenaline, I run toward the hunters, dragging our pack mates away. Another arrow hits my flank, and I yelp in pain, coughing up blood. Despite the pain, I push on, taking a few more steps before a third arrow finds its mark in my shoulder. The wolfsbane coursing through my system overwhelms me, incapacitating my body.

I jolt awake, the dream causing me to jump to my feet, snarling. I look around and realize I'm in my cage under the arena, and reality hits me. I’ve been captive for almost a year, and today, I faced off against a powerful warlock. I had severe burns all over my body. I wasn't sure I was going to win. I'm actually surprised that I'm still alive.

I turn and see Tana sitting at the bars that separate our cells. Her hand is in my cell. I look down at my body. She healed me again. It's not the first time. I don't know how she does it, but she is a powerful she-wolf. The most powerful she-wolf I've ever met.

After calming myself, I look at her and see that she has deep claw marks going from her shoulder to her hip. She was scheduled to fight after me today, and from the looks of it, she also barely won her fight. I run to the bars, taking her hand.