All Chapters of All Is Fair In Love And Blood: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

{Ragna’s POV}The night before Selection smelled like rain and nerves.Well, mostly nerves.Girls across the Werewolf Reigns were probably doing the same thing I was doing— lying awake in their beds, staring at the ceiling, praying that tomorrow the elders would say the word ‘fertile’.Because if the elders did, your life changed overnight.Men suddenly notice you…Men suddenly want to marry you; make you their High bonds…Men suddenly treated you like something valuable instead of something cheap and miserable.But if the elders didn’t say the words fertile, well…That is what the Arena was for.The Arena sat at the center of Velka like a giant stone heart, pumping blood and glory through the kingdom. Every citizen loved it. The men loved the violence and the fortunate female beside them as wives loved the fighters brave enough to survive it.And the girls like me?We learned very early that the Arena existed in case we turned out to be useless— wombless, I mean. Meanwhile, male wolv

{Ragna’s POV}The Blood Gate opened with a long, dragging groan that sounded less like machinery and more like something being forced into agreement.Which felt appropriate, considering what it was about to witness.Light spilled into the tunnel first, sharp and the noise followed a heartbeat later, thick and layered in a way that didn’t bother separating itself into individual voices. It came all at once, pressing into the stone, filling the space, settling somewhere deep in my chest like it had been waiting for me specifically.I had heard what the Arena sounded like before, but standing here was… different.“Move.”The Iron Warden didn’t shove me. She juist tapped my shoulder with enough impatience to make it clear that hesitation was not tolerated, so I stepped forward before she could upgrade the suggestion into something less polite.And then I was through…The first thing I noticed when my feet touched the ground was the sand— red, darker up close, less like decoration and more

{Ragna’s POV}For a moment, I thought about stepping inside.Not to shout. Not to cry. Not even to ask questions.Just… to stand there and let them see me. Let him see what he’d chosen… and let her see what she’d taken.She had mentioned earlier that she had seen me with my lowbond; Darian, outside the Arena and I had missed the warning label in that. Clueless and dumb me hadn’t known that that was the time this cruel attempt had been born. My chest tightened now at the thought, my fingers curling slowly into my palms as something sharp pressed up against my ribs— anger, pain, or something uglier that didn’t have a clean name.Inside, Selene laughed, soft and comfortable like nothing at all was wrong with her actions. With that, my breath grew heavy, and for one reckless second, I almost moved.Almost.Then I exhaled slowly and stepped back… because there were ways to handle things like this. And I wasn’t about to be the girl who fought over a man.Not even one I cherished.Not even

{Ragna’s POV}The crowd’s noise multiplied in response to me dislocating Selene’s jaw.She didn’t rise immediately so they started the countdown. “ONE.”“TWO…”"THREE."It was supposed to be a relief hearing the countdown, but I wasn’t satisfied or convinced— not until Selene started convulsing a second later.With this, I settled my rage and stared while the crowd’s voices grew wilder. They lived for brutality. And I had definitely damaged other things in Selene's body but I didn’t give two shits. Me not killing her is mercy beyond anything. I took one step forward as the count got to TEN, and then the crowd exploded in roars.I had finally won, but that wasn’t my focus as I stood over her now, my chest heaving with blood dripping steadily from my chin and arms. I gazed upon her battered body with disgust.“I had mercy on you today,” I said to her now, my voice rough but steady.“Don’t expect it again.”**I stood alone on the sand now, my breath becoming calm but my muscles still

{Ragna's POV}I was panting. I was panting really heavily but I didn’t seem to know why. But then that wasn’t my focus. Voices pooled all around me and the ground seemed to be trembling, but none of that was my concern. My mother was, so I threw my gaze to her and rushed to her now, pulling her into a tight hug first. But then I broke it and ran my gaze over her body. I adjusted her clothes from where it had nearly been ripped off to expose her nakedness. I then checked her body for bruises, and I was hurrying before the four wardens or the Arena master would get to me. Nonetheless, my mother was my priority in this moment, so I needed to know that she was safe, even if it was the last thing I would do before I died.“Mother. Are you okay?” I asked her now, cupping her face in my palms. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She was shaken and it broke me that it had gotten to this. The Arena kept roaring around me so that I knew I would soon be snatched away. With