로그인POV: VINEThe lobby of the social club was a nightmare of marble and polished brass, but nothing was as hard or as cold as the look Ace didn't give me.He didn't say a damn word in reply to Bluey’s jab about the captaincy. He just stood there, his jaw locked into a rigid line of steel, and then he did the one thing I didn't think he was capable of. He reached out and hauled Rose toward him by the waist, his hand sliding over the exposed skin of her back with a sickeningly possessive possessiveness."Sorry, babe," Ace said, his voice dropping into this smooth, calm, boyfriend-like register that felt like a serrated knife dragging across my nerves. "Can't stop him from being a man-child. I'm sure you're hungry. Let's get in, yeah?"I stood there like a statue, my throat tight as I swallowed the lump of bile rising there. I stepped aside, giving them a wide berth, and as they walked past me, I held my breath, waiting for the flicker of recognition. A glance. A glare. Anything.He didn't
POV: ACE"I don't know, Jaxon," I said, my voice sounding hollow even to my own ears. I stared at him, the weight of the last twenty-four hours pressing down on my shoulders like a physical mountain. "I don't have the fucking answers. When I did have the answers, when I knew exactly what to do to protect the people around me, you didn't take my advice. You chose this path, and now the consequences are written in your own blood."Jaxon was vibrating with fear, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the squat rack. "But it's Clyde. How am I supposed to just... walk away from her? How am I supposed to tell her that I’m actually bound to her sister by a triple bond that’s slowly killing us both? She’s going to think I’m a monster.""Right now, there is only one path that keeps you both breathing," I said, my tone flat and stripped of any sympathy. It was the survival of the pack, the cold logic my father had hammered into me since I was a pup. "End what hasn't even started with Clyd
POV: ACEThe basement of the Callahan estate was a fucking tomb.I was on my knees, my wrists suspended by thick, heavy-duty chains bolted into the concrete walls on either side of me. The cold iron bit into my skin, but it was nothing compared to the fire currently consuming my back. Every time the lash came down, the jagged leather strips tore into the muscle, painting the floor beneath me with a fresh, wet slick of crimson.CRACK.Another whip landed, deeper than the last, slicing through the already shredded skin of my shoulder blades. I didn't wince. I didn't even make a sound. I just stared at the concrete floor, my jaw locked so hard I could feel my molars grinding together, turning my soul into a block of black, impenetrable ice.I was here because I hadn't made the announcement. I had walked out of that boardroom, ignored every single one of my father’s instructions, and essentially spat in his face. To top it all off, I’d turned the playoffs into a personal, ego-driven blood
POV: VINEThe notification burned into my retinas. Laila’s death reopened. My sister, who had been dead and buried for years, was now the center of a new police inquiry because people in Stone Hill Valley were dropping like flies with the exact same symptoms.I didn't think. I just acted.My fingers were trembling so violently I almost dropped the phone, but I managed to navigate to the old contact entry I had saved years ago, back when I still believed in family loyalty. Officer Miller. The detective who had been assigned to the case before he was suddenly removed and reassigned to a desk job in the city.I hit call. It rang three times before he picked up."Officer Miller?" I asked, my voice barely holding together."Who's this?" He sounded tired, older than I remembered."It's Vine. Laila’s sister."There was a long, uncomfortable silence on the other end. "Look, kid. I can’t talk to you. I really can't.""Miller, the news is reporting that cases are spiking again. Similar causes o
POV: VINEI was back in my room, buried under a mountain of blankets that smelled like stale laundry and grief. The Vampire Diaries was playing on my laptop for the third time this week—a desperate, pathetic attempt to drown out the noise in my own head. Every time the screen flickered, I expected to see Ace’s face, or the memory of him punching Bluey into a bloody pulp.My phone buzzed against the duvet, the screen lighting up.Bluey: Hey, V. You still alive?I let out a shaky breath and swiped to unlock it.Me: Barely. Trying to pretend the world doesn't exist. Why?Bluey: 🥱 Just checking. Are you going to be okay? I feel bad about the whole scene. 🤡I stared at the screen, a real, genuine laugh bubbling up from my chest for the first time in twenty-four hours.Me: Did you just use a clown emoji? You are such a fucking dinosaur, Bluey. It’s 2026. Get with the program.Bluey: I literally don't know what the other ones do. That one looked like it was laughing. Is it not? 🫠Me: That
POV: ACEThe fake-haired bastard was still kissing her cheek when the last thread of my goddamn sanity snapped right in half.I didn't think. I didn't care about the scouts, the board members watching from the glass boxes, or the fact that my father’s lethal warning was still echoing in the back of my skull. I skidded across the ice, my blades throwing a sheet of white crystals against the base of the stands as I tore the gate open and hurled myself up the wooden stairs.I grabbed Bluey by the collar of his pristine jersey, ripping his large frame completely away from Vine, and landed a brutal, bone-crushing punch right across his jaw.The crowded arena let out a collective, deafening "Ooooohh!" as the force of the blow sent him crashing down against the wooden benches.I didn't stop. The red mist took over completely. I lunged after him, my knees pinning his chest into the wood as I kept punching, raining down blow after blow into his face. My knuckles split against his skin, the h
VineI scrambled into the first dark space I could find. It was a narrow closet that reeked of dust, but then again....it was literally the only hiding place I could find. I held my breath until my lungs felt like they were going to pop any minute from now. My heart was a drum against my ribs, anx
Vine "Alright everyone, let's quiet it down so you all can get the best entertainment for the night." John spread out his arms as if basking in his long awaited glory. It took quiet some seconds but what followed after was a hall so quiet, even a
Vine"We want you to stop covering up for her." A lady from the red house spoke and I turned to them.Then a guy in navy blue mask pointed at me and reinforced."She fought at a an alumni legacy meeting, do you know what that means?"
CHAPTER 51AceSarah: How has life been lately?Ace: Dry as hellSarah: The sport doesn't excite you anymore?Ace: Not as much as it used toSarah: So tell me Ace, are you seeing anyone at the moment?Ace: NoSarah: The girl you're seeing, do you feel the need to protect her.Ace: I didn't tell you







