Aiden’s POV: I was locked in and ready, slammed the gas, and the car exploded forward. Raelyn, though—she had the edge. Her turns were sharper, her line work flawless. I had steadiness on my side, though. I wasn’t trailing her by much. We kept a tight distance, maybe 6 feet at most. I could even make out her smirking through her window. Just as I was about to accelerate, her expression changed. Panic flashed across her face—and then she yelled. "Aiden!" I clicked the communication system and asked, "What happened?" "I’m out of gas! I’m going fast—this thing could shut down any second!" My gut clenched. Damn it. On a course this twisty, at this kind of speed? If her car stalled, there was no way she’d hold the line. It’d whip right out of control. It’d flip. Hard. The g-forces would hurl her out of the vehicle. And what’s waiting below? Nothing but sharp, uneven rock and crumbling cliffside. If that happens, there’s no way she’s walking away from it. I let off the gas just a bit and pulled in close behind her. Right away, I saw it—fuel was leaking steadily from the rear of her car, a slick little trail spelling disaster. "Don’t panic. Hold on!" I gunned it, pushed forward a few yards until we were side-by-side. "Jump over—now!" I shouted. Raelyn gave a nod, one hand gripping the wheel while the other unclipped her seatbelt. She tried to rise, but the winding canyon road whipped her car again, forcing her to grab the wheel and steady it."Keep it together! You’ve got this!" I called out. She clenched the wheel, stabilized the line—then moved. She stepped across to the passenger side, braced herself on the window edge, and launched. The force of her jump slammed her into my chest like a cannonball. She hit hard—so hard I let out a grunt from the impact. "You okay?" she asked, looking up at me, breathless, worried. I shook my head lightly—not as a no, but more of a ‘don’t worry about me’. I slowly eased off the gas. The engine calmed, and the speed dropped to something normal again. The car, bone dry on fuel, suddenly stalled—then flipped through the air like a ragdoll. It spiraled off the track and slammed into the mountain face, crumpling into a mess of scrap metal. I drove Raelyn back to base slowly, keeping things steady. Adrian came running the moment we rolled in. "What the heck happened? I heard something blow up from the southwest—was that a car?" I helped Raelyn out of the car and shrugged. "Not sure. It just ran out of gas out of nowhere." Then I told him to get someone to take care of what was left of the wreck. Raelyn stared out at the distant mountain curves. "I don’t think this was an accident." I nodded. I was thinking the same thing. This course was handled by professionals. It got checked daily—no way a random fuel leak slipped through the cracks. So the real question was, who did it? I brought Raelyn to the security room to check the footage. But when we pulled it up, all the video from the previous day was gone. "Someone wiped this on purpose," Raelyn muttered, frowning at the screen. To keep things from escalating, I suggested we regroup at the Eclipse Pack villa and figure out the next steps from there. "Alright. I’m gonna hit the bathroom first," Raelyn said with a nod, then headed off down the hall.Raelyn’s POV: Inside the restroom, I pulled out my phone and dialed Jackson. "Check the surveillance near Death Canyon—especially the entrance. I want a list of everyone who's been around there the past two days. Anyone sketchy, anyone sneaking around—I want their faces." Once I gave him the rundown, I met back up with Aiden and we left. When we got back to the Eclipse Pack villa, I noticed balloons going up. A quick ask around confirmed it—tomorrow was Adrian’s eighteenth birthday. I paused to think it over, then decided to head to the mall and pick out a gift. What would that little devil even want? Well, the kid lives for racing—might as well get him a full racing suit. But after combing through the racks, nothing felt right. So I asked the clerk straight up for the rarest, most high-end racing suit they had in stock. The clerk checked with the manager and returned a moment later, holding the most expensive racing suit in the store. But before I could even touch it, a hand reached in and snatched it right out of her grip. "I’ll take this one. Bag it for me," a sharp voice cut in. Of course—it was Taylor. The clerk looked flustered. "Ms. Taylor, this customer was looking at it first..." Taylor didn’t even bother looking my way. "I said I want it. What part of that don’t you understand?" "But—" "But what?" Taylor snapped. "This whole mall belongs to the Midnight Pack. If you like having a job, I suggest you shut up and do what you're told." The clerk froze, clearly intimidated, glancing at me like he didn’t know what to do. I looked at Taylor, more tired than angry. "I was here first. Ms. Taylor, don’t tell me you’re really that desperate to take something out of someone else’s hands." She curled her lip into a cold smirk. "So what if you were here first, Raelyn? If I want it, I get it. End of story." I didn’t have the energy to spar with her any longer. I let go of the suit and asked calmly, "Ms. Taylor, are you really that set on this one?" Taylor stared at me smugly. "What’s the issue? My family owns this mall. I’ll take whatever I want." "If it means that much to you, I’ll graciously let Ms. Taylor have it," I said with a light smile. She can keep the racing suit—but I’m going to shatter that ego of hers real soon. I pulled out my phone and called Louis, my Beta. "Hey. Remember that one-of-a-kind, limited-edition race car I was eyeing? The only one on the entire werewolf continent? Buy it. I’m giving it as a gift."