Before Chad even understood what was happening, his world flipped.
Vivian’s grip tightened on his shirt, her heel hooked under his legs, and then,
BAM!
His body slammed into the pit floor.
Air burst from his lungs as pain rushed up his spine. He lay there stunned, confused, unable to think for several seconds. His mind was a scrambled mess of fear and shock.
It all happened too fast.
One moment he was celebrating, lost in the euphoria of his winning streak, and the next, he was being hurled into the very arena he had spent the entire evening watching from a safe distance.
His heart hammered. The lights above the pit blurred as he blinked.
And then a memory stabbed through him.
A flashback. Being grabbed before. Being dragged. Being beaten. Moments he tried so hard to bury surged back like a tide crashing over him.
Only recently had he started regaining confidence, after everything with Max, after feeling useful again. Perhaps somewhere along the way, he gained too much confidence. Enough that he let his guard down.
Enough that he never saw this coming.
He forced himself onto shaky legs and stumbled backwards until he reached Wolf and Joe. Instinctively, he pressed himself between them, like a child hiding behind older brothers.
"What did you do?" Wolf demanded, eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean ’what did I do’?" Chad shouted back, voice cracking in panic. "That woman, she’s crazy! She just threw me down here out of nowhere!"
Wolf frowned. "Come on. You must’ve done something . Did you insult her, say something rude? Why would she throw you down here?"
Wolf wasn’t asking out of curiosity, he was worried. Deeply worried.
They were supposed to be done. They were supposed to be going home soon, their role finished.
But Chad being tossed into the pit with them?
That meant one thing:
Vivian had noticed. Maybe not the truth, but enough to suspect them.
Wolf’s stomach tightened.
"Look, I’m telling you I did nothing!" Chad insisted, rubbing his bruised back. "I was just celebrating the win. I bet everything, and we didn’t lose a single bet! We made a killing, it was a good job done!"
Wolf stared at him. Of course.
That was why she threw him in.
Whether or not she actually thought Chad was working with them didn’t matter anymore. In her mind, he was a problem, a loose end. And now she was shoving him into the same box as the two fighters who had just cost her so much money.
She didn’t want him up there. She wanted him down here, punished with them.
Wolf clenched his fists.
"What are you doing!" Wolf shouted upward at Vivian. "Are you really trying to make us fight your clients now too?!"
He projected his voice so the crowd would hear.
If he could turn the spectators’ opinions, even slightly, it might pressure Vivian.
He needed the public on their side.
If something happened to Chad, or to the so-called event winners, it would shatter trust in the Black Hounds’ events. Vivian couldn’t afford that... could she?
Vivian’s gaze was cold as she leaned over the railing.
"It seems some cheating has occurred between the three of you," Vivian announced loudly. "I should have known letting someone like him back in was trouble."
A murmur spread across the crowd.
"You can say what you want," she continued, "but this entire situation is very frustrating to me. And there are many ways we can recover our losses... but I’ve thought of a particularly interesting one."
Wolf’s jaw tightened.
He could feel where this was going.
"Cheating?" Wolf shouted back. "We risked our lives in these fights! We didn’t use weapons, we didn’t use equipment, we fought with our fists! If he did something, take it out on him! Why are you punishing us?!"
He jabbed a finger upward.
"Is it because you lost some money?! Is that it? Is this what you do every time someone wins big at your events? Every time things don’t go your way?!"
Voices rippled through the audience, angry, confused, whispering.
He had struck a nerve. Not just with the crowd, but with the fighters too.
Many of them knew
It soured the entire arena.
Everyone here knew Wolf was right.
Vivian straightened, expression unchanging, as she addressed the crowd with authority.
"Everyone knows I wouldn’t do such a thing without good reason," she said coolly. "I am not just a member of the Black Hounds. I am Vivian Kross. We’ve run these events for a long time because I know when someone is trouble, and how to deal with them."
Her voice sliced through the murmurs.
Wolf’s instincts screamed. They needed to leave. Now.
He tugged on Joe’s arm, then grabbed Chad by the back of his neck, pulling both of them toward the edge of the pit. They’d made the money. There was no reason to stay any longer. This place had just turned dangerous.
But Vivian wasn’t done.
"I had orders to get rid of that flashy bastard if he caused any problems," Vivian said, pointing a sharp finger toward Chad. "And it’s clear he was up to something. They told me if he causes trouble, I’m free to get rid of him, and he’s giving me a headache. So I say he is causing problems."
Chad’s face drained of color.
Wolf didn’t waste time.
He spun around, dragging Joe and Chad with him, heading toward the side of the pit where they could climb out.
They needed to jump.
They needed to escape now.
And then Vivian made her final move.
"Ten million!" she shouted.
The entire rooftop fell silent.
Vivian smirked and leaned forward, her voice booming from the speakers.
"A ten million dollar bounty on the heads of all three of them!" she declared. "Anyone who can make sure they don’t leave, will be awarded ten million!"
The crowd went still. Then, like a spark hitting gasoline, It erupted. Shouts. Scraping chairs.Bodies lunging forward. There are few things that can completely erase a person’s judgment, morality, or hesitation.
Money was one of them.