>The meeting had been a success.It was expected.I never failed.Alpha Daniels ran a tough bargain. But I found a common ground to make everything work.Spike had howled at me throughout the meeting, despite the mental block I had to put up for him. It had only dimmed his voice in my head.He wanted to me drop everything and go to Zoe. He craved contact with her wolf, which was only possible to begin if we were close, as close as sex.I walked towards my car, exhausted, “Jacob, clear my schedule for the rest of the day. I am going to my loft. And make sure no one disturbs me.”“Yes, sir.” That’s what I like to hear.I got into my car and nodded at the driver to take me home.On the way, I scoured the social media for Zoe.I knew if I didn’t Spike won’t even let me sleep in peace. Plus, I was curious to know about whom the Moon Goddess had chosen for me.I found her socials. She did not have a loud online personality.I liked that about her for some reason.In most of

>Maisie had spent the whole day before the race to go shopping and get me a full parlor treatment because apparently, I had been neglecting myself of late.The Races started early in the morning so we had to wake up even earlier.I groaned as I felt Maisie pull the covers off of me and I rolled over.“Come on! It’s the big day! Let’s go save Uncle Simmons, girl!” She said, when I didn’t move she threatened, “Don’t make me use the tried and true method of water spray. I don’t want to dry my pillows.” Yes, I had stayed over at her place.Everything back home reminded me of John, his cheating and shameless ways, his frauds, and his stupid offers and deals. Maisie had informed Aunt Julie to not wait for me and I was grateful to still have some people in my life who still cared.“Okay, Okay! I’m up! No need for the big guns!” I groaned again but stayed up stretching anyway.Once we were both showered, she showed me what she had picked for me.It was an elegant white backless

>I won, but at what cost?The moment I had picked her scent Spike had been going insane in my head. For once, I had expected to be free on my horse but no, she had to follow me here too. Was she really following me? Or was I wanting her to?I wanted to focus on the race. I had never lost one. But I felt surprisingly jumpy this time. My second chance mate was in the audience.Spike howled. He wanted us to win, not for the pride of it, but for her. He wanted to put on a show. I had to take special care to keep him in check.And still, I lost control. The moment I saw her watching me from the stands, Spike took over. He did the unthinkable. Blowing her a kiss in front of so many packs. It was a momentary lapse of control that I did not know how to fix. I was unsure if I wanted to.My heart was stuck on Claire. But, my head and Spike, knew Zoe was the one for us. How was supposed to make a decision?I walked back to my magnificent horse after taking a work call from my se

>I did not speak the whole way back. My face was too hot, my heart was about to explode from what it had just experienced, and my head was too busy knitting scenarios that I wasn’t sure would ever come true.Maisie had seen me walk away and might’ve thought my mood was John’s fault or all my other troubles. Thankfully she had just hugged me and drove me home with a, “I’m sorry today didn’t turn out the way we had hoped. We’ll talk more whenever you are ready.”She had dropped me home and went back to hers.I had told Aunt Julie to take the day off, there was not much to do in the house with everything else going on. She had taken quite a lot of persuasion to go for a walk and get some fresh air.I had spent the rest of the day researching about all of the rest of the council members to keep my mind off of the horse-riding lesson and to refocus on helping my Dad.I had made tons of notes on which council member was not suited for my Dad’s case and why. Even though they all

> “Didn’t know Alpha Coucilor Shaw is a brand ambassador of all types of candles.” I smirked. I was grateful but didn’t know how to say thank you for the light, without sounding cheezy. “I can’t help myself when there is a damsel in distress.” He shrugged, returning my smirk. “Really? Or maybe you just like to show off your candle-collecting hobby to your house guests.” I commented, trying not to smile at the silliness of it all. “Hmm, that would require a lot of house guests, and I, just got my first in a long time.” He spoke slowly. His voice deepened with each step he took towards me. My body tingled with anticipation. “First in a long time?” I asked in the same low tone. It was like speaking louder would break the bubble that had just formed. Suddenly there was a bright flash of lightning in the sky that lit up the whole room for a few seconds. I knew what was next. It made me immediately close my eyes as tightly as I could and plug my fingers in my ears. Xa