Chapter 185 Their In Trouble
Caden’s POV
The moment the twins pointed toward the arena floor, every man in the viewing room reacted the same way.
We moved.
Chairs scraped across the floor, boots pounded the stone steps, and the door flew open as we rushed out all at once. Years of instinct and battle training took over without anyone having to say a word. If Clarence had managed to slip a man into the arena complex, we weren’t about to give him the chance to do whatever he had come here to do.
But the second my foot hit the first stair, something in my gut twisted.
Drake stirred restlessly, not just stirred, but he actually tried to come forward and take control.
"Go back human. There's trouble." He said worriedly. His voice was low and urgent, nothing like his usual calm confidence.
I frowned slightly but kept moving with the others as we pushed down the staircase toward the arena floor.
“What’s wrong?” Coban asked quietly beside me, clearly noticing the shift in my mood.
“Drake’s uneasy,” I muttered.
Coban gave a short huff of breath.
“Good. Conan is too.”
We didn’t stop, though. None of us did. The arena floor came into view as we reached the bottom of the stairs. Warriors were still scattered around the grounds preparing for the next round of the obstacle course, and the crowd of pack members filling the stands above us created a constant roar of voices and movement.
The man the twins had pointed out was easy enough to spot now that we were closer. He stood near one of the supply crates not far from the arena entrance, looking far too calm for someone surrounded by hundreds of warriors.
Kevan slowed slightly beside me. “Is that him?”
Benjamin nodded. "Has to be. He's way too calm though." He said in confusion.
Darien’s eyes narrowed. “He’s not even trying to hide.” He scrunched up his brows and tilted his head.
That was when I noticed the wires. Thin black cords running from beneath his jacket and down along his sides. My stomach dropped.
“Bombs. This mother fucker is charged. That's a damn bomb vest. FUCK!” The words came out sharp enough that everyone around me heard it.
The man smiled from ear to ear. He wasn't a bit nervous. Not desperate either. He knew he'd get attention. That's exactly what he wanted. He smiled like someone who had already won.
Kevan swore under his breath. “Son of a Bitch!”
“He wants a spectacle,” I said quietly, the realization hitting me all at once. This wasn’t about sneaking into the arena. This wasn’t about killing one or two of us.
This was about chaos. He wanted attention. The arena packed full of witnesses. He wanted the entire pack to see it. To feel it. To remember it.
And we had run straight into it. Then it hit me, he is the distraction meant to lure us here. Fuck!
Drake tried to pushed forward again. "Go back." He said louder this time.
Coban suddenly grabbed my arm. "Caden.”
I turned toward him. Conan’s presence inside him felt just as restless as Drake.
“This feels wrong.”
“I know. That's because it is. He's the distraction." I said but before either of us could say anything else, a sudden pulse brushed across my mind.
It was weak and unsteady but unmistakable.
"Dada." I froze. That was most certainly Atlas.
For half a second I thought I had imagined it.
Seven-month-old babies didn’t mindlink. They barely babbled. But there it was again. A small flicker of awareness. Then another voice brushed clumsily against the link. And then came through.
“Dada" Cassian this time.
The sensation was faint and confused, like someone trying to push through a door they didn’t understand how to open. But beneath the uncertainty was something else. Fear.
My heart slammed into my ribs.
“What the hell!”
Coban looked at me sharply.
“What?”
“Atlas,” I said, already turning toward the staircase. “And Cassian.”
His eyes widened instantly. “What about them?”
“They just mindlinked me.”
Coban stared at me for exactly one second.
Then he grabbed my arm. “The girls.”
“And the children,” I finished as I'm already headed in that direction.
Something cold settled into my chest. "They’re in trouble.”
We both moved faster and pushed toward the staircase at the same time. Except now the arena floor was chaos. Warriors had started noticing the bomb vest. People were moving. Shouting. Security teams were closing in.
The crowd in the stands had begun to stir, bodies shifting as word spread through the arena that something was wrong. And the thick mass of people made it nearly impossible to move quickly.
“Move!” Coban snapped as he shoved through a group of warriors.
I followed right behind him, forcing my way through the crowd. “Clear the path! NOW!!!"
But the bodies kept pressing together, warriors trying to see what was happening down on the arena floor.
Drake’s agitation grew stronger with every second. “Faster.” He screamed.
“I’m trying,” I muttered under my breath.
Coban shoved someone aside. "Out of the way!”
Kevan noticed us pushing back toward the stairs. “Where the hell are you going?” He said as he rolled his eyes at us.
I didn’t even slow down. "Upstairs!”
Darien caught the urgency in my voice immediately. "What happened?”
“The twins,” Coban barked.
That was all it took. The men who heard it began forcing a path with us, but the crowd still slowed us down. Every second felt like a lifetime. Finally the staircase came into view. We took the steps two at a time, boots hammering against the stone.
Drake was practically snarling now.
“Something is wrong.” He kept repeating.
“I know,” I muttered again.
We reached the top of the stairs and rushed down the hallway toward the viewing room. The door stood at the far end. Closed. Locked from the inside. Coban grabbed the handle first and twisted it. It didn’t budge.
“Damn it.” He slammed his shoulder against the door. Nothing.
Drake suddenly went completely still.
The air in the hallway shifted. It felt strange. Heavy. Like pressure building before a storm.
“Do you feel that?” Coban asked quietly.
I nodded slowly.
The air itself seemed to thicken around us.
Then a faint glow appeared beneath the viewing room door. At first it was just a thin line of light spilling through the gap at the bottom. But it wasn’t normal light. It was gold. Bright. Warm. And growing stronger by the second.
Coban and I exchanged a confused look.
“What the hell is that?”
Before either of us could move again, the golden light flared brighter beneath the door, flooding the hallway with an eerie glow.
And everything on the other side of that door went silent.