There's almost a pity, seeping into existence, inside Daisy as she watches Patrick struggle to even look like he could stand. Even if Patrick miraculously bears the extraordinary pain of fractures, broken bones can't run.

The crowd is silent. So are the men on the dais. While Nate walks towards his fallen opponent. When he's close, Patrick starts to growl, whimper and cry, unable to decide which one of his spilling over emotions he wants to feel.

Evading Patrick's snapping teeth, Nate nuzzles his brother, stunning the younger boy. Nate licks Patrick's face, wiping away the tears.

Trembling from the pain, Patrick gives up and rests his face over his broken paws on the ground.

It's over.

Ross and Castino hurry and carry away a defeated and dejected Patrick.

When they had disappeared into one of the dark passageway, the crowd erupts into an uproar, congratulating their new Alpha.

Christopher ruffles the soft, furry head of his first born. "Proud of you, Nate."

After briefly letting himself enjoy the pat and the attention, Nate moves away from Christopher and looks at the crowd, on alert, expecting his next opponent.

When Nate's careful gaze goes past Daisy, solemnly probing for something in the crowd, she's confused. "What's he doing? Who is he looking for?" She asks Lily. "I don't know," Lily says. Daisy also looks around her, at the turnout of werewolves. Is someone else going to challenge Nate?

[A WEEK AGO]

Ian tosses the six feet tall, two hundred pounds weighing Gonzo out the ring. Gonzo doesn't get back up.

"He is the champion of the underground boxing," Karl says, pulling down the bouncing fence. "I have run out of men for you to practice with."

Ian laughs. It's been a while since he trained this hard. It's like getting high after months of being clean. He can't wait to go against Nate and win Raketrope.

"You still have to find someone," Ian says while climbing out of the ring. "The punching bag doesn't fight back."

Karl nods.

"Anything on Daisy?"

Karl shakes his head.

In an instant, the high from the fight fizzes out, replaced by a maddening disappointment. "How the fuck she keeps escaping?"

Karl doesn't respond. He doesn't know how Daisy is able to stay out of their radar. She must be somewhere they can't reckon.

After cleaning up, Ian crashes on his bed, exhausted. But sleep is elusive. He gets up. There's one way he could talk to her. He immediately dresses up and heads out. His men hurriedly follow him.

They don't stop until they are at Poppy's.

At the Raketrop Grounds, Daisy's alarm in her phone rings while she's at Mosilini Boutique, choosing a dress for the pre-fight celebration at the Alpha's mansion. A black dress had caught her eye.

The alarm is from Poppy's place. Daisy had programmed it to sense the GPS and wireless signals from Ian's and his men's vehicles.

Daisy checks the video feed from the CCTV across the brothel. She sees Ian holding up a white board with a phone number and what seems to be a burner phone on his other hand. He waves the phone.

Daisy grinds her teeth. Takes off her backpack and takes out one of the two spare burner phones she always keeps in the bag.

"Do you like this, mam, may I hold it for you?" The sales girl who was trailing Daisy around the boutique says.

"You know what, just pack it up. I'll take it," Daisy says before muttering to herself, "No longer in the mood to shop."

The girl happily takes away the dress to get billed and packed. She'll get a hefty commission on this one. Daisy starts dialing the number while her heart is beating so fast she's worried she's going to have a heart attack.

But, it's worth the risk. She can't forgive herself if something happens to Poppy.

Ian enters the brothel and takes a seat. All the girls and customers had already been cleared off the area. When Poppy appears from inside, Ian waves her away, too. She quickly turns around and returns to one of the "love rooms" where she was about to spread her legs for one of her favorite customers, a smalltime pack's Delta.

"What is it?" The guy asks her.

She pushes him down to the ground where he kneels. "He probably is meeting someone for work. Now..." she says and pulls up her dress well above her waist, "get me wet again, sugar."

The burner phone in Ian's hand rings. Biting back a smile, he takes it. "At last," Ian says, "You're making me wait too long, Daisy."

"I told you to fucking stay away from her if you want to keep your money."

Ian laughs while rocking back and forth on his seat. Even her voice is enough to excite him.

"I'm ready to lose all my money for you."

"Leave," Daisy says.

"Come back home."

Daisy goes quiet. "Mam, the dress is ready," the girl says. Daisy hands her one of her many credit cards.

"Dress?" Ian says. "Going to a party?"

"How can I when I'm getting hunted?"

"Now, don't be dramatic. It's just a little chase."

"Didn't feel like that in Mexico," she says through her teeth.

Ian sighs. "Why are you doing this Daisy? You know you can't keep hiding forever."

"I can and I will."

"Don't you want to see my father?" Ian says.

Daisy presses her lips tight and blinks away her tears. "Don't you fucking talk about him."

"He has gotten much worse. It's like that man has lost his will to live. Maybe he'll stop dying if you're next to him."

"Mam, your dress. Is everything okay?" The girl says when she notices Daisy crying. Daisy grabs the shopping bag and leaves the shop. "Why don't you leave me alone, Ian? What have I ever done to you?"

"You left. You fucking left me."

"Because you tried to fucking hurt me!"

"Give it a break," Ian says, "if you had just accepted me, I wouldn't have gone that far with you."

"You are not my mate, and I am not yours."

"I'll kill mine," Ian quickly says, "And yours."

Stunned by the malice in his words, Daisy stops walking.

Ian says, "Make it easy on my father, Daisy, and everyone else you care about — become mine. Because once I run out of my patience, I'll pick them off one by one, and you'll hear their scream from wherever you are in the world until you can't take it anymore. If you are not mine, you can't be anyone's."

Daisy looks ahead. She had reached the exit of the complex. She sees Nate's car pull up at front, with Nate on the driver's seat. He waves at her. He had come to pick her up. But she wasn't expecting him.

She faintly smiles. "You chose the wrong girl to chase after. I'll run you to your end. And lucky for you, that destination is right in front of me, so you won't have to wait for long after all. See you soon, Ian."

After she disconnects Ian stares at the phone. At first she was scared. He knew. But then... She was confident, he could tell.

"My end?" Ian smirks. "Even if it's my end, Daisy, I'll take you with me."

Ian receives another phone call. This time on his own phone, from Liam. "I f-found out!" Liam says, out of breath. "The guy she was with in Mexico. I found a footage of him, from the airport, soon after they landed. You might know him."

"Who is it?"

"Nate Penston, of Raketrope Grounds." 

🗳 Don't forget to vote on the chapters, guys :)