PUCK ME, GENTLY

ALEX It’s been five years since I left the Ragriz pack and my hometown altogether, that’s about long enough to forget the shame that had led to my decision to leave everything behind. But the sound of my knee popping will forever haunt me. One second I was spinning past the defense. The next, a solid wall of muscle named Reid Maddox rammed me so hard into the boards, the lights flickered. I remember the silence in the rink being louder than the impact. And after that, the whispers started.“She doesn’t even have a wolf.”“Why’d they let her out there in the first place?”“Replacement for Vicky Deveraux.”“Russo’s daughter? Please. They just felt sorry for her.”My pack members were monsters!They didn’t care that I had been rammed to shit by a rival team mate, they cared that a wolf-less girl had made it to the championship. They never acknowledged my years of training, how hard my father made sure, even without my wolf, I could replace any of his team members if it was needed.

ALEX I’ll never forget the look on Valen Deveraux’s face when I make my decision. But I don’t even have time to see it through the blur in my own eyes, or to register it before Reid starts tugging me away."Come on," he mutters smugly. Pain throbs where he holds me, and I hate that I don’t pull away. I hate that I don’t fight.I look back once.Then again.Valen doesn’t move.He doesn’t even look back at me."You're not going to cry, are you?" Reid huffs, half-amused.I don't answer.What would I even say?At this point in my life, it almost feels safer to be in my enemy’s pack than to be in a home where all my packmates do is scorn me. Where my lover says nothing, where my father stays silent, like I’m not his only daughter. Like I don't exist beyond the talent I bring to the game.He promised he’ll never force me to return to the pack against my will, but I’m back in town and the first person he sends my way is the Alpha of the pack.How ironic. And Reid. I don’t ask why he’s

ALEXA dagger whistles past my face.I barely duck in time as it slams into the wall behind me with a violent thunk, the hilt still vibrating from the impact.“The fuck?” I breathe out, heart slamming against my ribs.My entire body is quivering from shock. I spin around, back hitting the wall, scanning the hallway. It is still as empty as it had been a minute ago. And an hour again, and the entire time I’ve been roaming like a stray. But this time I hear giggling.Girlish giggles. It’s the third time today. These weird-ass noises down the halls, flickering lights, that gut-deep feeling like someone’s watching me. I’m starting to lose my damn mind in here.Seventy-two hours.I’ve counted. Three fucking days. That’s how long I’ve been in this overdecorated, haunted-ass mansion with zero sign of my so-called “mate.”Am I Reid’s guest? His prisoner? A Luna? I don’t know, and nobody else seems to either. The maids won’t look me in the eye when they attend to me and they don’t know wh

REIDThe first buzz goes off.Then, the second.And the third.Alexandra’s chest is heaving like I just tortured her by standing up. Truth is, I’m hard. Uncomfortably so. My cock’s straining against my pants like it’s got a mind of its own. It wants what it wants. And right now, it wants her bent over the fucking bed. The smell of her arousal fills the room and my wolf’s thrashing under my skin like he’ll tear out of me if I don’t do something about her.Mark her.Mate her.Fuck her. Rip that oversized shirt off her body. Tug aside those little panties, bury my cock in her and not stop until she quivers beneath me. I glance at the phone on the vanity. One look is all I need.Urgent.I scoop it into my pocket without answering.Then I look at Alexandra. She’s quivering in bed, lips parted, surprisingly, not from fear. “Don’t wander the halls,” I warn, in a growl now. “I won’t say it again.”I don’t wait for a response, I just turn and leave, having a gnawing feeling