Horse Stance

"Kaelen you coward!" I shouted, my voice cutting through the wind, "Come out here and face me like a man!" Soon after, his ranks began to part. "Selene, my love." He said with a small smile. "Am I safe to assume this is your oh so terrible attempt at surrender?" I gave a smile of my own. "Oh, darling no. I just wanted you to take one long look at my face. I want to have the chance to look you in the eyes when I say this: this here is the last face you're going to see before you die." With that, I turned my horse and headed behind my banners. “Prepare the lines,” I called, ready for the war to begin. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Blurb: On the night Selene was to be crowned Luna, her fated mate, the Alpha she had loved since childhood, publicly chose another. Before the entire pack, he marked a foreign princess, casting Selene aside as “unworthy.” Betrayed, humiliated and stripped of her son, Selene swore she would avenge. When a rival Alpha, Draven of the Shadowfangs, offers her his hand, Selene accepts... not for love, but for revenge. Their union is dangerous, defiant, and forbidden… yet the fire between them is undeniable. Now Selene is no longer the abandoned mate. She's a rising queen, torn between a cursed bond to the man who betrayed her and the intoxicating passion of the enemy who would burn the world for her. But war is coming. The mate bond aches, the Moon Goddess herself schemes against her, and her son is trapped in the hands of her ruthless ex. To survive, Selene must shatter destiny itself… even if it means defying gods, breaking bonds, and destroying the Alpha who once claimed her. This isn’t fate. This is war.

Under my parents' request, I work as the finance officer in my childhood friend, Julius Sanford's company. But the moment he goes on a business trip, the new intern, Lizzie Dalton, rushes into my office and demands that I process her reimbursements. As I stare at the pile of receipts that come from luxury stores, all I feel is shock. "Lizzie, I can only use the company's funds to reimburse business expenses. Why are you asking me for reimbursements when all you did was buy clothes and bags of your own?" But as soon as my words fall, Lizzie splashes a cup of coffee at me instantly. "I'm the lady boss of this company! The company's funds are my funds too! Don't think you can just reject my receipts just because you know my husband!" I do my best to suppress my fury as I dig out the company's policy and reiterate, "No, I seriously cannot do that. The company's cash flow must be reflected in the books." Seeing as I refuse to yield to her no matter what, Lizzie calls Julius on the phone and begins whining to him. "Babe, since when do I need to ask your childhood friend for approval if I want to buy something I like for myself? Or could it be that she's acting so assertively because you two are secretly having an affair?" Julius panics and tells Lizzie that he has nothing to do with me. After that, he quickly releases an announcement on the company group just so he can defend Lizzie. "Lizzie Dalton is my wife! She's the second boss of this company other than me!" After that, Julius tags me in the group. "Hey, finance! You're not my mom here! I don't like you, so please stay out of my private matters! "I'd like nothing more than to let my own wife spend my own money! If you don't like that, you can pack up and leave!" Once Julius makes his stance clear, I change my tune and reimburse Lizzie the expenses she's claimed. But one week later, Julius finds himself staring at the list of debts that's 33 feet long when he returns from his business trip.