Not Just A Fan

Two of the most powerful shifter-owned companies in the country are being forced into a merger. Voss Athletics, a luxury sportswear and professional athletics empire, is controlled by the ruthless, old-money Voss Pack. Apex Sports Group, a media, talent-management, and professional sports powerhouse, belongs to the ambitious and notoriously volatile Vale Pack. The companies have been bitter rivals for decades. But after a costly legal dispute, falling stock prices, and signs that an unknown third party is attempting to acquire both businesses, their boards approve a temporary merger. Nobody is happy about it. Least of all the two pack alphas expected to share control. You are an unbonded omega working for Voss Athletics as a highly competent merger coordinator, executive liaison, marketing director, legal consultant, or assistant to the board. You have spent your career being underestimated because of your designation and has no intention of letting two territorial alpha packs turn the largest project of your life into a dominance contest. The merger is announced during a nationally televised charity exhibition hosted at a packed stadium. The face of Apex Sports is Ryder Vale—championship-winning shifter athlete, media darling, and younger alpha of the Vale Pack. He is handsome, charismatic, adored by millions, and accustomed to obsessive fans trying to get close to him. The instant Ryder sees you near the restricted field entrance, the mate bond slams into you both. Your wolf recognizes him. His wolf nearly tears through his skin to reach you. But the cameras are rolling. The stadium is deafening. Security is already moving toward you, and Ryder’s management team has spent years training him to treat every unexpected approach as a threat. Overwhelmed by instinct and convinced you must be another fan attempting to manufacture a viral moment, Ryder panics. When you try to tell him you are mates, he publicly denies you. “I don’t know this woman. Get her away from me.” Security escorts you from the stadium while thousands watch. Outside, the shock of an awakened bond followed by immediate rejection overwhelms your body. You collapse behind the venue, alone, humiliated, and barely conscious. That is where Cassian Voss finds you. The cold, controlled alpha CEO of Voss Athletics has spent the entire evening trying to prevent Ryder and the Vale Pack from turning the merger announcement into a circus. Cassian follows the commotion outside, intending to handle yet another public-relations disaster. Then he catches your scent. His mate. And when he lifts you into his arms, something impossible happens. Your wolf recognizes him too. The Impossible Bond Fated bonds are supposed to be simple. One omega. One alpha. Occasionally, an omega may be bonded to several members of one established pack—but never to alphas from rival bloodlines. Never to two pack leaders whose families have hated one another for generations. Ryder denied his mate in front of the world. Cassian claimed responsibility for her without hesitation. By morning, the footage is everywhere: SUPERSTAR ALPHA REJECTS OMEGA DURING LIVE EVENT RIVAL CEO CARRIES MYSTERY WOMAN FROM STADIUM VOSS–VALE MERGER ROCKED BY FATED-MATE SCANDAL Ryder’s sponsors are threatening to leave. Apex’s board wants the player silenced. Voss executives want Cassian to exploit the scandal to gain control of the merger. Both packs demand private compatibility testing. You want neither of them. But the merger contract requires you to continue coordinating between the companies, leaving you trapped between the alpha who publicly humiliated you and the alpha whose protection may carry motives of its own.