MasukHORACEI found the idiot at the underground parking structure three blocks from the venue.Harold was moving fast, head down, keys already in his hand, trying to reach the black sedan parked in the far corner. He didn’t hear me until I was close enough to smell the leftover whiskey on him. When he turned, the color drained from his face so fast it was almost satisfying.“Horace…” I didn’t let him finish.The first hit took him across the mouth and sent him stumbling back into a concrete pillar. Blood immediately welled from his split lip. He swung wildly in return. I caught the punch, twisted, and drove my knee into his ribs hard enough to feel something give. “You tried to drug her,” I said, shaking with the effort of not ending it right there. “You tried to kill my her. You tried to kill my pup.”Harold spat blood onto the concrete and tried to laugh. It came out wet. “She was never yours to begin with…”I hit him again. The back of his head cracked against the pillar. He droppe
HAROLDEverything was gone.Horace leaked it all. Every dirty deal. Every bribe. Every illegal shipment and forged contract my father had ever touched. I still didn’t know how he got his hands on half of it, I didn't even know about most of them but the files were out there now public, irreversible, and burning through the pack like wildfire. The council called an emergency meeting the same night the story broke. I sat in the back of the hall and watched the whole thing turn from awkward to ugly.It started out funny. One of the older council members cleared his throat too many times and tried to read the charges in a voice that kept cracking. Someone in the second row snorted when the list of companies came up. Another muttered that at least the alpha had been creative. For a few minutes it felt like a bad comedy sketch. Well, until the general stood. “The alpha is supposed to protect this pack,” he said, voice flat and hard. “Not steal from it. Not use us as cover for his own p
HORACE The transfusion happened. The surgery followed. Hours later a different doctor came out and told us the bleeding had been controlled. The rare blood had taken. Tiffany was stable.Valentina exhaled like she had been holding her breath the entire time. I pulled her into my arms right there in the corridor, burying my face in her hair. “I love your kindness,” I murmured. “Even after everything she’s done to you, you still worried about her.”“Sometimes we have to look out for each other, right?” Valentina’s voice was soft against my chest. “Do you want to go home?” She shook her head. “Harold won’t come back. She has no one else right now.”“Then we stay.” Azriel’s voice cut in from behind us. “Seems you didn’t get my text.”I turned. My father stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable. My mother joined him a moment later, a cotton ball taped to the inside of her elbow.I braced myself for the lecture I had been expecting for days. The dangers of ma
HORACEThe post game charity gala filled the grand ballroom with light and noise.Crystal chandeliers threw sparkles across the marble floors. A live band played smooth jazz beneath the constant clink of glasses and low laughter. Waiters slipped between groups with trays of champagne and small, perfect bites of food. The room was full of Sponsors, Teammates and even Charity board members hovered near the silent auction tables, already calculating the night’s donations. None of it held my attention for more than a second. Valentina stood beside me in a black dress that should have made her glow under the lights. Instead she looked pale. Too pale. The color had drained from her cheeks, and her fingers felt cool and slightly damp inside mine. Was it fatigue?I leaned closer so only she could hear me. “Are you okay, love?” She gave me a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Just the crash after the game. Too much adrenaline, too many people. I’ll be fine once I sit for a minute.”
VALENTINA Despite that unpredicted setback, by the end of the first period we were up by two. I have Harold the fuck you sign when he stared at me again. My turn to gloat.Between periods, Horace skated over to the boards, helmet off, breathing hard. “You’re good?” he asked, eyes scanning my face. “I’m good. Go back and focus.”He nodded once and skated back. The second period grew uglier. Harold’s team kept playing dirty. I could see clearly from the stand that they kept intentionally doing it but no one was stopping or cautioning. Did they get bribed?I watched the late hits, sticks too high, bodies crashing into the boards harder than necessary. Horace answered every one of them easily but I was still worried he might crash out. The crowd roared every time he laid a clean, devastating check.I kept my eyes moving between the ice when a familiar figure caught my vision. It can't possibly be... Horace said he sent her away. Didn't he?I took a brave breathe and looked towards an a
VALENTINAWhen the roads finally cleared, we left the Toval estate behind. Despite my insistence, Horace didn't turn back to say goodbye to either one of them. The drive back to the city felt strangely quiet. Horace kept one hand on the wheel and the other on my thigh the entire way, his thumb tracing slow circles over my jeans like he was trying to seduce me. He probably was but there was no way I was letting him make us pull over to have sex in the car. The thought was hot though. I leaned my head against the window and watched the trees blur past, still half lost in the soft haze of the last few days. Days spent in sex and good and conversations I wish we'd had way sooner. It felt so dreamy. The mark on my neck pulsed warmly whenever he glanced at me, as if it refused to let either of us forget what we had become. Mates. My smile deepened.The penthouse felt different when we walked in. Familiar, yes, but quieter somehow. Well aside the maids and Marco who got out to greet
HORACE Once we were inside, I started the engine and drove like a total maniac, peeling out of the estate gates as the tires screeched against the pavement and the speed climbed way too fast on the dark winding roads. My hands gripped the wheel tight enough to turn my knuckles white because eve
VALENTINAThe mansion stood like a fortress of glass and steel in the heart of New York City. I had barely stepped out of my cab when the front doors swung open."Valentina!"Zuria, my best friend, came charging toward me. I dropped my bags as she threw her arms around me, pulling me into a hug tha
VALENTINAI was pacing in tight, frantic circles in the center of my room, my chest heaving. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the video of Harold and the flash of the car crash. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping me standing."Calm down, my lady. You shouldn’t stress," Tulia whispered, her
VALENTINAAll my life I had lived for a single vision, the day I’d finally pack my bags and move in with my everything. My boyfriend. My mate. In a world that felt constantly tilted off its axis, he was the only thing the Moon Goddess had ever gotten right.But I couldn't let myself daydream yet. N







