The Arena novel Chapter 27

I sent Bastian to the human town to find out about our financials. I need to go after Troy. I got the intel, and my trackers begin identifying the places where they had last seen him. I start tracking the sightings and see that, once again, they are in a circular format.

Fuck! There’s another arena. With Bastian gone, I can’t afford to attack the arena yet, but I need to make sure that I’m right. I get a group of warriors together, and I tell Galen that he’s in charge. I make a plan to get additional intel and let the warriors know what we’re doing and what the plan is.

“This is a reconnaissance mission only. I’m not leaving the pack vulnerable without Bastian here. No offense, Galen.”

“None taken.”

“With Troy still out there, any action against me will give him an opportunity to attack, so until Bastian returns, we will just get whatever information we can.”

“With all due respect, Alpha, doesn’t that mean some shifters will die?”

I clench my teeth. That’s exactly what it means, and it doesn’t sit well with me, but I can’t guarantee that the dragons will be there again this time. I have to put my pack first.

“It’s a possibility. But if we don’t wait, it’s definite. We need to know what we’re walking into before we attack. These aren’t your everyday hunters. These people know exactly how to take us down and incapacitate us. I won’t risk any of you or our pack. Not for a battle we don’t yet know if we can win.”

The next day, we leave. It takes us three days to travel to the new arena. I realize immediately that this one is not a new arena. This one is as old, or older than the one that I was in. So, there was always more than one.

We find a place to make camp for the night. The next day, I send out scouts to watch and find the entrances. It’s another day before they return and give the coordinates. After everyone goes to sleep, I decide to watch the entrance closest to the forest where we are camping. I don’t know what pulls me to go and watch, but I do.

Late into the night, I see him. He’s big, heavy, and he knows where he’s going. He’s too big to be a Keeper. He’s a shifter. Maybe he’s here to help someone he cares about, or maybe he’s like me, wanting to destroy the next arena.

I watch as he ducks into the entrance. It’s over an hour before he re-emerges. The breeze has shifted. It’s putting me directly downwind from the shifter, and the minute I smell his scent, I stiffen. “Ishir,” I murmur.

My hands clench, and I have to hold the snarl that tries to rip from my mouth. He’s here again, casing the arena. I watch as he heads away, running back into the forest.

I take deep breaths until I calm myself down. Then, I sit and contemplate my next steps. Ishir is here at another arena. I know he was at the last arena because the little kestrel told me he was there before me, and he attacked just over a week later. Ishir seemed to know the dragons, and maybe he needed that time to convince them to help him fight. He’ll be back. Soon. And I already know that where Ishir goes, Tana goes. My mate will be here when Ishir returns, and I need to be here, too. This time, I won’t let her get away.

Before my warriors wake, I decide to go into the underground so I can see who and what type of shifters they have here. I immediately realize that this is a hardcore arena. All of the shifters are predators. I’m shocked that there are so many.

“Well, if it isn’t old fucking home’s week,” a familiar voice says.

I turn and walk to the cage. I’m shocked. “Zaiden?”

“First Ishir and now you. I’m guessing since you didn’t come with him before that you are no longer friends and aren’t working together?”

“How the hell did you get caught again?”

“Not sure, but my entire pride is here, except for the one that found Ishir and sent him on the hunt to find us.”

“What did Ishir say to you?” I ask.

He turns his head and looks at me sadly. “You know, I didn’t understand before. But we’ve been here for months now, and I get it. I know Ishir didn’t have a choice, just as I and my pride don’t have a choice.”

“What Tana told you was right. No one leaves here without dying. Or at least that’s how it used to be. Did Ishir say anything about dragons?”