A Queen's Rise From The Flames

Episode 4

Dancing With Danger

Darbie POV

I stared blankly at the man in front of me, trying to comprehend just what I did to him to deserve anything he was just saying to me. Hell, if that's the way we were going to do it then I didn't deserve to be threatened by all 3 men.

All I did was save Tiffany from getting eaten. Ha….

"Your papers are forged, your bloodline registry is a blank slate, and under Section 4 of the Academy Code, I own your schedule until I decide your sentence."

Oh. He was still talking. I really wanted to ask why exactly they were onto me. I was doing all I can to survive so why…? But then again, raising my voice at someone like him was literally becoming toast so that wasn't an option.

I stared at the official dossier on the book cart, my mind racing a mile a minute. If he handed this over to the High Council, it wouldn't just be expulsion. For an unranked wolf to infiltrate the Alpha Academy with a falsified identity, the punishment was undebatable. Execution.

"I don't expect you to understand the law, Darbie," Kaelen continued. "But you will understand your new reality. You have a choice. I can call the enforcers right now, or you can become useful to me."

I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat, forcing myself to look into his unyielding eyes. "Useful how, Alpha Kaelen?"

"Jax," he said flatly, the name dripping with disapproval. "He thrives on destabilizing this academy. He runs illegal operations right under our noses, and I want them dismantled. You will monitor Jax’s illegal underground movements for me. You will report every location, every contact, and every transaction."

I felt the air leave my lungs. "You want me to spy on an apex Alpha? What, are you going to throw me in a cage full of sharks next? Betrayal equals death for people like me! Do you really want me to die?"

"I want you to survive," Kaelen corrected coldly. "Refuse, and the Council gets your file. Fail to deliver accurate intelligence, and I will personally see you executed under the treason code. You have twenty-four hours to give me your first report."

With that, he picked up the dossier, turned on his heel, and walked away, leaving me freezing there.

Fuck. What do I do?

I was caught in a brutal vise grip. Squeezed from both sides, I had Jax’s dangerous games pulling me in one direction, and Kaelen’s cold ultimatums pushing me from the other. My invisible life was officially over. The quiet safety I had fought so hard to maintain for years had evaporated in less than forty-eight hours.

I had no choice but to honor Jax's demand that night. If I blew him off, he would realize I was hiding something else, or worse, he might tip off Kaelen earlier than expected. I had to play the part of his "lucky charm" while simultaneously acting as Kaelen's spy.

Oh, dear. Story of my life.

†††

When midnight struck, I slipped out of my isolated dorm and followed his instructions, walking straight down inside the winding tunnels beneath the academy transit system.

The further down I went, the louder the air became. The rhythmic thumping of bass and the deafening roaring of hundreds of wolves vibrated through the walls.

I pulled my dark hood lower over my face, trying to blend into the shadows of the underground fighting rings. The air down here was thick with the scent of stale sweat, cheap alcohol, and blood.

"Look who made it," a smooth, mocking voice whispered right by my ear.

Before I could jump, a arm draped casually over my shoulders, pulling me firmly against a hard chest. Jax grinned down at me, his eyes flashing in the dim, red neon lighting of the tunnel. He didn't wait for my greeting; he just steered me through the dense, shouting crowd toward a raised, private VIP box that overlooked the cage in the center of the subterranean cavern.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint me, little mouse," Jax chuckled, sliding into a seat and pulling me down onto the armrest beside him. "Keep your eyes on the ring. Tonight's matches are going to be unforgettable."

I scanned the room, keeping my face hidden under my hood, desperately memorizing the faces of the high-ranking students and syndicate members betting stacks of cash at the edges of the ring. This was exactly what Kaelen wanted, right?

But as I watched the fighters prep, my stomach twisted. The tension in the air wasn't normal at all. It felt poisonous in away I couldn't exactly explain.

The night took a lethal turn just as the main event was about to begin.

A piercing sirens rang through the cavern, but it wasn't the academy guards. The security doors leading out of the tunnels slammed shut with a deafening crash, locking everyone inside.

Holy s**t….

The lights suddenly cut out, plunging the arena into darkness before a single, blinding white spotlight snapped onto the center cage.

"What the hell is this?" Jax muttered, his lazy posture instantly vanishing as he stood up, his Alpha aura flaring in sudden irritation.

The ringmaster’s voice boomed over the speakers, but it wasn't the usual announcer. It sounded distorted and hostile. "Attention, Bloodmoon elite. A rival faction has just taken control of the grid. Your champions have been neutralized in the back rooms. To celebrate our takeover, we are declaring an immediate change to the rules."

A collective murmur of panic ripples through the crowd.

"Tonight, it's open season!" the announcer roared. "Random dfrom the crowd! A deathmatch to satisfy the real predators!"

Jax cursed under his breath, reaching for his phone, but the signal was dead. "Darbie, stay behind me," he ordered, his playful demeanor replaced by a ruthless, protective instinct. "They sabotaged the matches. We're breaking out of here."

But the rival faction's guards were already on the move. Before Jax could even step out of the VIP box to protect his me, three heavily armed enforcers lunged forward, intentionally throwing smoke canisters into our box to create a blinding, coughing distraction.

I was shoved hard from behind. Hands grabbed the fabric of my cloak, ripping me away from the platform.

"Hey! Get your hands off her!" Jax’s roar echoed through the smoke, followed by the sound of bones snapping as he engaged the attackers, but this wasn't the kind of situation he could handle all on his own.

I was dragged down the wooden steps, my feet skidding against the floor. The faction guards didn't care who I was. They just needed a body to throw into the cage to satisfy the screaming, blood-hungry crowd. They shoved me forward, tearing my hood back as they shoved me directly through the open gate of the cage.

I stumbled, crashing onto the dirt floor of the arena.

I scrambled to my feet, turning back to the door, but it was already too late. The gates slammed shut with a clang, the locks sliding into place with a sound that felt like a death sentence.

The crowd’s roaring reached a deafening, psychotic pitch.

I turned around slowly, my breath catching in my throat as the spotlight shifted to the opposite side of the cage. Emerging from the shadows was a monster.

It was a blood-drunk executioner wolf—a beast twice the size of a standard rogue, its fur matted with dried gore, its jaw dripping with a chemical stimulant that made its eyes glow a sickening, rabid red. It was a creature designed for one specific purpose: to tear Alphas apart piece by piece.

Every bone in my body screamed to run. I…I couldn't do this.

The executioner wolf locked its rabid eyes onto my fragile, unshifted form, letting out a low, earth-shaking growl that rattled the bars. This thing had zero issues with deleting me from existence.

I can't…. I looked around for any possible escape route. There was none. I swallowed. Is this how we die?

No, my wolf deadpanned somewhere in my consciousness. This is how we show people not to mess with us.