Tiffany’s POV


    “Cat got your tongue? No response? Poor Ana, you needed to be taken down a peg. After Seth pissed me off, I was happy to do it,” I told Ana.


    It was pissing me off that she wasn’t replying to my taunts. She should be full-on crying by now, just like she did back in school. She’s not supposed to be looking at me like I’m the one with the problem. Tonight, she’s going to learn a hard lesson. One I’m sure she’ll remember until the day she dies. I must have hit a nerve, because she’s angry enough to speak now.


    “You think that I acted like I was better than everyone? When did I do that? You’re the one who thought you were above everyone else. You’re projecting your own behavior and emotions onto me.


    His wolf didn’t just im Violet with a guttural, “Mine!”, he sent themand surging through the newly forged pack link, a raw wave of dominance that crashed over the room.


    Every knee hit the ground at once, bowing in submission not just to ric’s power but to the sacred bond they had just witnessed.


    “She’s goddess-touched!” one of them shouted from the back.


    “Goddess-blessed!” another echoed.


    “The goddess has visited the North Pack!”


    Various praises rang out, echoing across the warehouse.


    The North Pack might not be as deeply religious as the East, but they were still werewolves who respected tradition. And right now, the sight of three mating runes zing across Violet’s body struck them with overwhelming awe.


    But one person was not awed.


    Zara’s face twisted with pure horror, unable to process what she was seeing.


    “No,” she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. Then louder, “No!” Her voice broke into a scream. “I will not ept this!” There was no way in hell she would ept Violet as a daughter-inw.


    “She’s a witch!” Zara snarled, pointing a finger at Violet. “She’s a fucking witch! Those runes are fake! She’s fooling you all!”


    From the wild look in Zara’s eyes, it was clear she hadpletely lost her grip on reality.


    Everyone else thought so too. There was no way to fake a matebond. To suggest a fake matebond was sphemy, a direct insult to the goddess herself.


    Zara seemed to realize this as her gaze swept over each person, seeing only disbelief and silent condemnation staring back at her.


    The realization hit her like a physical blow.


    “You traitors,” she hissed, lips curling into a vicious snarl.


    Then her expression hardened into cold resolve. “Fine. I’ll handle this myself.”


    She took a threatening step forward, but ric immediately yanked Violet behind him, his lips curving back into a warning snarl that promised blood.


    Zara barely made it three strides before her entire body went rigid. She convulsed violently and copsed to the ground.


    Every gaze swung to Ace.


    He stood over their fallen Luna, clutching a baton that hummed with crackling electricity.


    The warehouse fell into utter silence. No one moved, nor spoke.


    For a long moment, they simply stared at Ace. Ace stared back at them, then cleared his throat and forced authority into his voice. “Take the Luna out of here! Lock her up!”


    For a tense second, he thought no one would obey. Then a guard stepped forward, scooped Zara over his shoulder, and carried her out.


    Ace let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. For once, he actually felt proud of himself.


    His gaze drifted to ric and Violet—but he quickly looked away, not wanting to provoke his brother’s matebond-fueled rage.


    And in that moment, Ace wondered why he had hated his brother so much. Seeing everything unfold, he realized maybe ric hadn’t had the perfect life he had always imagined. Maybe his brother had been fighting his own battles all along.


    Just when the ce seemed to calm, a thunderous roar shattered the peace.


    A massive, seven-foot form of Griffin barreled into the warehouse, and guards scattered like frightened rabbits at the sight.


    “Down, boy!” Violet rushed forward before Griffin could rip through them. Judging by the blood already smeared across his chest, she might have been toote.


    The Beast’s brown eyes locked on her. He sniffed the air, his massive body tense.


    Then, shockingly, the deadly snarl melted into a wide, almost puppy-like grin of delight.


    In the next breath, his monstrous form shrank and shifted, revealing Griffin himself, grinning like a madman.


    “Wee to the circle of the bond, ric Storm.”


    “Electricity!” Violet shouted.


    “What?”


    She pointed at the panel. “What if we shock him? Give him a massive jolt, enough to wake him up. His body’s been hijacked by those drugs, right? What if we override them and force his brain to reset?”


    Ace’s mouth fell open, then his face lit up with excitement. “That actually makes sense!” He rushed to the panel, eyes scanning the machinery like a man seeing treasure. “The drugs my mother gave him are chemical inhibitors. They suppress neural activity and disrupt his wolf bond. A high-voltage surge could flood his system, forcing his neurons to fire properly again.”


    “So,” Violet said, “it’s like jump-starting a dead battery. The drugs are the virus, and the electricity is the reboot.”


    “Oh, absolutely,” Ace said, almost breathless. “Good thing ric’s body is already adapted to channel lightning. If anyone can survive this, it’s him.” He face-palmed dramatically. “Why didn’t I think of this earlier? Nice one, Oscar,” he praised.


    Violet found herself blushing. She might not be a genius like ric, but she wasn’t stupid either.


    Ace flicked several switches on the control panel. One by one, industrial lights zed to life overhead, revealing the full scale of the warehouse. Rows of towering metal racks stretched into the distance, stacked with crates marked with various symbols.


    ric froze mid-giggle, squinting up at the sudden brightness. “Pretty lights,” he whispered, then began pping like a delighted child.


    “Good thing this is W-B,” Ace said quickly. “W-A holds the really vtile stuff. I was careful with my little scale bombing. They know that too, which is why they’ll be busy putting out the fire before it esctes. Hopefully, this works, and we get the hell out of here.” He ripped open a sidepartment and began twisting thick copper cables into a rough conduit.


    Meanwhile, Violet went to get ric. “Come, ric.”


    ric didn’t protest. He followed her excitedly, like a little kid.


    Ace said, “Although ric’s immune to electricity, flooding his system with it will still hurt.”


    “ric can take it. He’s strong,” Violet replied firmly.


    Ace nodded.


    Violet dragged ric toward the cleared space where Ace had kicked crates aside. She crouched in front of him and instructed softly, “You won’t move from this spot, okay?”


    ric nodded, then asked, “Will you stay with me?”


    Violet nodded with a reassuring smile.


    Ace attached one cable to the live panel and held the other above ric’s chest. “Once Iplete the circuit, there’s no going back. You have to let go of him immediately,” he warned, eyeing their intertwined hands.


    “Do it,” Violet said, her voice steady.


    Ace hesitated for just a heartbeat, then counted down. “Five… four… three… two… Move now!” hemanded, mming the cable down, fully expecting Oscar to move away.


    But Violet didn’t move a muscle.


    When Ace realized what she’d done, it was already toote.


    The effect was instantaneous. ric’s body arched violently, a guttural scream tearing from his throat. Sparks raced across his skin, glowing patterns crawling beneath his flesh like veins of light and traveling straight into Violet, binding the two of them in a dangerous, unbreakable connection.


    “Oscar!” Ace yelled, panicking. He reached for the controls to shut it off, but Violet’s thunderous voice stopped him.


    “Don’t!”


    Ace froze, utterly stunned. What the hell was going on? How was Oscar immune to electricity? No werewolf was—except his brother. He had brushed off their first encounter as luck, but this was something else entirely. This was impossible.


    Violet gritted her teeth, muscles straining as she fought to hold on. ric’s eyes rolled back, then snapped open, glowing with wild, unrestrained lightning. The ground beneath them trembled as his power surged, threatening to rip the warehouse apart.


    “Almost there!” Violet shouted through the storm of energy. “One more surge should do it!”


    Ace, shaken but desperate, frantically adjusted the controls. Goddess help him, he was going to need the longest vacation of his life after this nightmare.


    He mmed the final lever.


    Every light in the warehouse burst in a blinding shower as ric absorbed not just the charge in the room, but the entire North Pack’s electrical grid. For one terrifying moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.


    Then, just as suddenly, it was over.


    ric and Violet copsed to the floor, limp and gasping, while Ace stood frozen, unable to process what he was seeing.


    Oscar was gone and in his ce was Violet.


    Ace’s brain stuttered to a halt. One moment, Oscar had been standing there, and the next, Violet. Was it Violet all along?


    Wait. Wasn’t Violet supposed to be human?


    Ace’s throat worked, but no sound came out. His mind spun wildly, trying to make sense of the chaos. It was safe to say, he was seconds away frompletely losing it.


    And then, as if things weren’t already insane enough, the next words he heard were:


    “Mine!”


    Followed immediately by another guttural, possessive, “Mine!”


    Ace froze. What the actual hell?


    His head turned slowly, painfully slow, like someone about to witness a horror they could never unsee.


    ric’s lips mmed into Violet’s. The two of them devoured each other in a frenzy, kissing so fiercely it was more like a collision than an embrace. Their hands wed at clothes, ripping fabric with desperate urgency.<fne7a3> Th? link to the orig?n of this information r?sts ?n find~novel</fne7a3>


    Ace’s expression crumbled into pure horror.


    Goddess save him.


    If this was punishment for not saving his brother earlier, then he was sorry. He was so, so sorry.


    But watching his brother have sex? Absolutely not.


    Ace whipped his head away and bolted, sprinting blindly until he turned a corner and pressed his back to a crate, his chest heaving. He squeezed his eyes shut, wishing he could block out reality.


    But there was no escape.


    His cursed werewolf hearing made sure he caught everything from the wet sound of their lips locking, to the sharp tear of fabric, and finally, ric’s deep, strangled groan as he buried himself inside Violet’s waiting heat.


    Ace pped his hands over his ears, groaning in despair. This was a living nightmare.


    From the other side of the warehouse, Violet had her legs locked around ric’s waist, her back pressed against a stack of crates. ric moved with feral hunger, thrusting into her as it he couldn’t get enough.


    The matebond had ignited, and there was no stopping it now.


    Suddenly, the warehouse doors burst open as Zara stormed in with a squad of guards, only to freeze.


    For a moment, the entire world seemed to stop. Zara’s face went pale, her eyes wide with disbelief. “No…” The word left her lips in a whisper.


    Violet’s head turned toward her, and her lips pulled back into a sinister smile. Immediately, her sharp, gleaming fangs descended, a promise of violence and defiance.


    “No!” Zara screamed, realizing what she was about to do.


    But it was toote.


    Violet sank her teeth into ric’s neck and drank his blood.


    ric’s roar of pain and pleasure echoed through the warehouse. His own teeth sharpened in response, his instincts overwhelming thought, and he bit down on Violet’s shoulder.


    Their blood mingled, and their bond locked.


    The matebond was sealed. Forever.