13

The crude joke echoed through the microphone, and the entire stadium instantly erupted into a roar of booming laughter. The tension that had been building in the room shattered into pieces. Several Alphas leaned back in their seats, howling with amusement, while a few others actually fell forward, slapping their knees and shaking their heads. The waves of mockery grew louder and louder, bouncing off the high concrete walls until the noise was deafening. Down on the stage, the presenter's face twisted into a mask of pure frustration. His jaw clenched as he stared up at the mocking crowd, holding up his hands and repeatedly shouting into the microphone, trying to drown out the noise. "Silence! Order, please! Silence!"

Before the amusement could even start to fade, another loud voice bellowed from the upper stands, cutting through the chatter. "Well, maybe he should just fuck every single woman in his territory to find out!"

That second comment poured fuel on the fire. Another massive wave of laughter tore through the arena, louder than the first, with people cheering and whistling at the vulgar humor.

It took several minutes for the rowdy crowd to finally burn through their amusement. As the noise slowly died down to a low, rumbling murmur, the man at the center of the floor gripped the microphone stand with both hands, his knuckles turning stark white. He glared at the sea of faces, his eyes flashing with deep anger. "This is not a joke! This is absolutely not something to laugh about!" His voice boomed through the speakers, sharp and harsh enough to make the remaining chuckles fade away. "You all can sit up there and laugh your heads off, but I have actually seen the aftermath with my own eyes. I have walked through the ruins."

He swallowed hard, his expression darkening as a flash of real pain crossed his features. "I stood over the bodies of the people they slaughtered. An Alpha who was a very close friend of mine-a man as strong as any of you-was lying dead in a massive pool of his own blood just last week. That was the exact moment I realized this nightmare had become a reality for all of us."

He paused, letting his heavy gaze sweep across the silent VIP sections. "Fine. Go ahead and make your jokes. Keep laughing about it today. But when those killers come knocking on your front gates and burning your homes, you will remember this exact moment. You will remember that I warned every single one of you."

A sharp, demanding female voice suddenly pierced through the quiet, coming from an Alpha seated near the front row. "Fine! Then what exactly are we supposed to do about it?" She crossed her arms, leaning forward with a fierce glare. "Don't just stand there and list the problems. We already know we are in danger. We need real solutions, not just warnings!"

As the crowd started murmuring again, agreeing with her demand, my eyes began to wander across the massive stadium. I scanned the rows of seats below us, my mind barely registering the ongoing arguments. Suddenly, my gaze froze. My breath hitched in my throat as I spotted a familiar head of hair just ten seats away from our row. It was Stefan. He was sitting further down, completely unaware of our presence behind him, and Veronica was leaning against him, resting her head comfortably on his shoulder.

A cold dread washed over me. We were sitting directly behind his line of sight, just slightly higher up. All he had to do was turn his head around, glance to his left, and his eyes would lock right onto me. My heart gave a violent, painful squeeze, and then it started hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. A suffocating wave of panic crashed over me. My vision blurred at the edges, the entire stadium starting to spin around in dizzying circles, and a sudden, violent wave of nausea hit the back of my throat.

My skin flushed hot, a thick layer of cold sweat breaking out across my forehead and neck. Every piece of clothing I wore suddenly felt suffocatingly tight, and I began to gasp for air, my chest heaving as I tried to force oxygen into my lungs.

The sudden shift in my energy didn't go unnoticed. Michael's head snapped toward me, his brow furrowing into a deep, concerned frown as he stared at my pale face. "What is wrong with you?" he whispered, his voice laced with sudden alertness. "I can literally hear your heartbeat from here."

My eyes widened in sheer shock. *How on earth could he hear my heart?* The thought sent another jolt of panic through me. Stefan had never once mentioned being able to do something like that, and I had absolutely no idea that wolves possessed that kind of terrifying, hyper-sensitive hearing.

Desperate to hide my terror, I grabbed the edge of my dress, using the fabric to quickly wipe the cold sweat from my forehead and cheeks. I forced a weak, trembling smile, though my voice shook terribly. "Don't worry about it. Really. I'm completely fine."

Michael didn't buy the lie for a single second. He leaned over, bringing his lips directly to the shell of my ear, his hot breath brushing against my skin. "I can see the sheer terror in your eyes," he murmured, his tone dropping into a low, demanding growl. "Tell me right now. What is the problem?"

I squeezed my eyes shut for a brief second, my hands trembling in my lap. When I opened them, I looked toward the lower seats and swallowed the lump in my throat. "Your brother is here."