"Gasps ripped through the arena like a storm."

My whispered refusal still hung in the charged air, fragile as spun glass yet unyielding as forged steel, and the entire arena seemed to break apart around it.

"No..."

The word echoed with devastating finality, and the crowd reeled as if struck by physical force. Disbelief cascaded through the assembled wolves in waves of sharp gasps, frantic whispers, and shocked cries that rose toward the silver moon above. Students stumbled backward, their ...