A slow, sly smile crept up Thorne's face. "I guess we make exceptions for whom and why we bet. So what do you say, Alpha Val?"

"No," Val said, refusing the offer from Thorne. He looked at Thorne with a serious face, his blue eyes piercing into Thorne's amber ones. "The fight is a fight. A business deal is a business deal. They are not the same thing."

But Thorne's smile didn't fade; as a matter of fact, it actually grew wider. Other Alphas were already coming back from their break.

"That is ...