Alex headed down the back hallway towards Zac's room. He knocked before he walked in, "Boss wants to see you, now." 

He's become a bit of an errand boy for Shaw when it comes to Zac. Their little incident on the club floor scared him, but he liked the extra money in his pocket at the end of the week even more. Shaw put a few extra dollars on his paystub depending on what was asked of him. 

Alex had been talking as he walked in, not aware that he was about to put himself in the middle of something. Eyes to Zac and then to Valentine on the ground. 

"Are you okay?" Asked Alex, dropping to the floor next to Valentine. 

"I"m fine." Coughed Valentine, pushing Alex away. 

He didn't want any help because he didn't need any help. His neck was already showing signs of bruising. His face still flushed red as he slowly stood up. 

"Not the first time an asshole choked me." He spat, glancing at Zac, who was standing there proud of himself and what he had done. 

"He does have a habit of doing that to others." Commented Alex as he walked out behind Valentine, leaving Zac standing there alone. 

The two of them heard it when he punched what they assumed to be the wall after they walked out. Valentine headed to the medical room only because Alex kept insisting that he get looked at. 

"I'm fine." Stated Valentine as the Doctor flashed a light in his eyes, "I didn't even pass out this time. Just going to have a bruise, and that's it." 

Valentine wasn't as fragile as everyone thought him to be. He was pretty strong for the omega that he was. Annoyed that Alex even saw him as weak. He felt that Alex was weaker than him and he was a beta. Alex had more of an advantage when it came to the things his body could do and take, like put on muscle and hold weight. 

* * * * * 

Zac entered Shaw's office without a word, he already knew what this was going to be about, and he honestly wasn't in the mood for it. Slouching down as he took a seat, knees spread wide apart. 

Shaw looked at him for a long moment. The other guy had done a good number on him, but that didn't justify Zac losing the fight. He was supposed to win every fight. 

Taking a different approach from his norm as he started to talk. He had been thinking to himself since Valentine left his office and thinks he has a way of lighting a new fire under Zac's ass to get him back to the top and to stay there. 

Sure he could let Zac go and be done with all of this, but that meant he needed to find another alpha as good and as dumb as him. Shaw was more of a fan of how much he could pull over on Zac without him evening noticing. 

Asher as bait was so easy for him. Simple empty promises of maybes that would never become. In the one-hour slot in which he did have Asher to himself, he knew nothing was going to happen because Asher was bonded to him and only him. 

Thinking the plan he had now would be one that could work just as well with the least amount of work on his part. 

"So, I feel that I've been overlooking a few things, and I want to change that," smiled Shaw. 

Zac shifted in his seat, the conversation already heading in a different direction than he thought. 

"We both know you're my best fighter here, hands down. Last night was just a little slip, and it was a slip on my part." Shaw took the blame for the loss. "To change that, I think assigning someone just to you would be in the best interest of everyone here." 

"Assign someone to me?" Questioned Zac. 

"Yes." Shaw agreed, getting up from behind his desk, sitting on the edge. "The choices are limited, but that's fine. Valentine would be more than happy to work solely with you. Though I may need him on a few nights for staffing, otherwise he's yours." 

Zac laughed, leaning back in the chair. "I'm not so sure about that." 

"What have you done in the last half hour?" 

"It's what he's done." Zac leaned up in his chair. He wasn't going to be blamed for this. 

Shaw motioned with his hand for his goon to get Valentine. 

"You're starting to make things difficult for me, Zac." His teeth ground together as he moved to sit down again and rubbed his temples. 

The two of them sat in silence till Valentine showed up. Zac's hand was in full display on his neck. "Sir." He stated, horsley, looking at Shaw. 

"I'm going to pull you from the pits most nights and put you with Zac. As our top fighter he needs . . . he deserves extras." 

Valentine nodded his head. "Yes, Sir." 

Zac shifted in his chair to look at Valentine. Anyone else would have begged for anything but. Turning back around, "I don't want him." 

Valentine gave Shaw a look as if to say 'see he doesn't like me'. The fit for them just wasn't right. Zac didn't have an interest in him like he had with Asher. Just because he was a male omega didn't make him a replacement like Shaw was going for. 

"Well, he's yours," Shaw commented firmly, saying that was the end of the discussion.