Yasmyn's POV
The arena smelled like iron and dust and that was what I noticed at first.
Not the crowd pressing against the stone railings. Not the banners snapping in the wind. Not even the weight of the crown resting against my temples like a question waiting to be answered.
Just iron and dust.
The scent of old blood soaked into sand.
Appropriate, I guess . Queens were not chosen in silk halls. They were chosen in places like this .
Across the arena, Alpha Cassian rolled his shoulders once, the movement slow and deliberate. He was taller than me by nearly a foot , built like someone who had spent his entire life preparing for fights exactly like this one .
His reputation had arrived long before he had. Undefeated in combat. Loyal to no one but strength. The kind of Alpha who be
