168 Chapter 168

168 Chapter 168

Seraphina’s POV T

The gym smelled like sweat, blood, and something that might have been fear.

I stood in the doorway at 5:55 AM, my stomach churning with equal parts terror and desperate determination. This was it. My first day of

training for underground fighting.

The space was nothing like the pack training facility. No clean mats, no organized equipment, no cheerful teammates encouraging each

other. Just concrete floors stained with God knows what, heavy bags hanging from rusted chains, and a boxing ring that looked like it

had seen actual deaths.

“You’re early,” Rico’s voice came from behind me. “Good. Shows discipline.”

I turned to face him. He looked different in workout clothes–leaner, harder, more dangerous. Like he could actually teach someone how

to hurt people.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Coming.” He checked his watch. “You’ll meet the team at six. Fair warning–they’re not gonna be happy about you.”


“Why not?”

“Because you’re a woman. And because you’re taking up space they think belongs to them.” His expression was matter–of–fact. “They’re

gonna test you. Push you. Try to make you quit.”

My hands clenched into fists. “I won’t quit.”

“We’ll see.”

At exactly six AM, they started arriving.

Men. All men. Big, brutal–looking men with cauliflower ears and scarred knuckles and eyes that had seen too much violence. They looked

at me like I was a joke. An insult.

“The fuck is this?” The first one through the door was massive–easily six–foot–four, built like a tank. His nose had been broken so many

times it barely looked human anymore. “We running a daycare now, Rico?”

“Flint, meet Sera. Sera, meet Flint.” Rico’s voice was calm. “She’s training with us.”

Flint’s laugh was harsh and ugly. “Training? You serious? She looks like a stiff wind would break her.”

More men filed in. Eight total, not counting Rico. All of them staring at me with varying degrees of amusement and contempt.


“Maybe she’s lost,” another one said. His accent was thick, Eastern European maybe. Scars crisscrossed his shaved head like a road map.

“Yoga studio is three blocks down, little girl.

Heat flooded my cheeks. “I’m not lost.”

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168 Chapter 168

will be,” Flint said, cracking his knuckles with sounds

sharp and commanding. “Alright, ladies. Enough chatting. Time to

The warm–up was brutal.

my arms gave out. Sprints across the gym floor until

men watched me struggle with barely concealed

on, princess!” Flint shouted as I collapsed after my third set

myself up. Did


“Pathetic,” someone muttered.

Until the warm–up was finally over

announced. “Flint, you’re

was

pack training facility, Marcus, my former trainer–had been tough but fair. He’d pushed us hard

wanted us to fail.

This Flint was different.

with no mercy

think about blocking.

air left my lungs in a rush. I stumbled backward,

Rico shouted from somewhere far away.

didn’t wait for me to recover. He closed the distance with two steps and drove his fist

knuckles connected with my forearms hard enough to make


swept my

the concrete floor so hard I saw stars. Before I could move,

“Tap out,” he growled.

breathe. Couldn’t think.

“TAP OUT!”

twice. He released me immediately and stood up, leaving me gasping on the

seconds,” someone said. “New

through the gym.

“Get up,” Rico ordered.

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168 Chapter 168

couldn’t. My

“I said GET UP!”

made me move. I rolled onto my side, then my hands and knees,

my throat where Flint’s forearm had

“Again,” Rico said.

“What?”

“You heard me. Again.”

thirty seconds before Flint had me in a

I

round, I was barely conscious. Blood dripped from my nose. My right eye was swelling shut. Every breath

was stabbing my ribs.

“Enough,” Rico finally called.

collapsed to my knees, grateful it

for a first day,” Flint said, and there might have been the tiniest

next three weeks were

I dragged myself to the gym at six AM. Every morning,

I got

kept

knocking

open constantly.”

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