**Valeblack's POV — The Underground, That Night**
His ribs ground together with every breath.
Marcus had wrapped them tight before the fight, but it wasn't enough. The fractures hadn't healed. Wouldn't heal if he kept fighting every three days.
"Your opponent," the scarred coordinator said. "Alexei Volkov. Forty wins. Seven kills. No mercy."
A massive wolf-bear hybrid stepped into the cage. Nine feet tall. Muscles like mountains. Claws like daggers.
"That's not a wolf," Valeblack said.
"Didn't say it was. Supernatural fighting. Anything goes." The coordinator smiled. "Still want to fight?"
Every instinct screamed no. His ribs were broken. His body was exhausted. He couldn't win this.
But he thought of Mira. Pregnant and vulnerable. Of Brielle, safe for now but not
