Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother - Chapter 193

Chapter 193: Chapter 193
Damien’s POV

I took another drink.

The whiskey burned going down. Didn’t help. Nothing helped lately.

Around me, the crowd roared like animals. Screaming. Betting. Losing their minds over two people beating the shit out of each other.

I stared at my phone screen, trying to focus on the email from Adrian’s teacher. Something about a science fair. Something I should probably care about.

“You’re missing it!” Lucas shouted over the noise.

“Missing what?” I didn’t look up.

“The fight! This is the main event!”

“Great.”

The crowd’s volume spiked. More screaming. Someone must’ve landed a good hit.

I scrolled to the next email. Budget reports. Thrilling.

My wolf stirred uneasily beneath my skin.

*What?* I asked Alex.

No answer. Just that restless feeling. Like something was wrong.

I took another drink. Longer this time.

“Oh shit!” Lucas grabbed my arm. “Did you see that?”

“No.”

“I can’t see their faces clearly, but he just—holy fuck, that had to hurt!”

The crowd was going insane now. Chanting something I couldn’t make out. The noise pressed against my skull like a vise.

I needed to leave. This whole thing was a waste of time.

“Lucas.” I set my glass down. “This was a mistake.”

“What? No! The fight just started!”

“I don’t care about the fight.” I stood up, pocketing my phone. “I care about finding actual solutions to our problems. Not watching humans destroy each other for entertainment.”

Lucas’s face fell. “But you said—”

“I said I’d watch. I watched. It’s boring.” I started moving toward the aisle. “I’m leaving.”

“Damien, wait—”

A sickening thud cut through the crowd noise. Followed by an eerie silence.

Then the referee’s voice: “ONE!”

I paused despite myself. Someone was down. Hard.

“TWO!”

The crowd had gone from screaming to something else. Anticipation. Bloodlust. Waiting for the kill shot.

“THREE!”

My chest tightened for no reason. That weird unease from before was back. Stronger now.

*Something’s wrong,* Alex insisted.

*Nothing’s wrong. Let’s go.*

“FOUR!”

But I couldn’t move. My feet were rooted to the spot. My eyes fixed on the ring even though I couldn’t see much from back here. Just shapes. Shadows.

“FIVE!”

Lucas was on his feet now too, leaning forward. “Come on,” he muttered. “Get up. Get up.”

“SIX!”

The silence in the warehouse was deafening. Hundreds of people holding their breath as one.

“SEVEN!”

My hands clenched into fists. Why the hell did I care? This wasn’t my fight. Wasn’t my problem.

But that feeling in my chest—that wrongness—it was getting worse.

“EIGHT!”

*We need to go,* Alex said urgently. *Now.*

*Why?*

*I don’t know. Something’s wrong. Something’s—*

“NINE!”

Movement in the ring. Small. Barely there.

The crowd gasped.

“She’s moving!” Lucas shouted. “Holy shit, she’s actually moving!”

She. The woman fighter.

The one Lucas had been so excited about. The human who was supposed to be so incredible.

Currently getting destroyed in front of hundreds of people.

“TEN—” The referee stopped. “She’s up! She’s up!”

The warehouse erupted.

People were on their feet, screaming, throwing money in the air. The noise was deafening. Overwhelming.

And that feeling in my chest? It exploded.

Pure, undiluted panic flooded my system.

I didn’t know why. Didn’t understand it. But every instinct I had was screaming at me that something was terribly, catastrophically wrong.

“Damien?” Lucas looked at me, concerned. “You okay?”

“We need to leave.” My voice came out rough. Wrong. “Right now.”

“But the fight—”

“I don’t give a fuck about the fight!” The words exploded out of me. “This whole thing was a stupid idea. Recruiting from human fight circuits? Are you insane?”

Lucas blinked, taken aback by my sudden fury.

“These people are desperate,” I continued, my voice getting louder. “Broken. They fight because they have nothing else. You think that makes them good candidates for pack work?”

Lucas scrambled to follow. “Just wait. Let me explain—”

“There’s nothing to explain!” I turned on him, and he actually stepped back. “You wanted me to see talented fighters? Fine. I saw them. I’m not impressed. End of discussion.”

“But she—”

“I don’t care about *she*!” My voice cracked on the word. “I don’t care about any of them! This was a waste of time and I’m done!”

The crowd’s roar swelled again. Louder. More violent.

Someone in the ring must’ve landed another hit.

That panic in my chest twisted tighter. My wolf was clawing at my insides, desperate to get out.

I turned toward the exit, needing to get out of this place before I lost control completely.

“Damien, please.” Lucas caught my arm. “Just watch for five more minutes. If you still want to leave after that, we’ll go.”

“No.”

“Five minutes!”

“I said no!” I yanked my arm free. “I’m not watching some human woman get beaten to death for your entertainment! This whole idea was fucked from the start and I—”

A sound cut through my rant.

Not a scream. Not a shout.

A growl.

Low. Feral. Filled with pain and rage and something else I couldn’t name.

Coming from the ring.

My entire body went rigid.

“Did you hear that?” Lucas whispered.

I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.