CASSANDRAI lingered outside the meeting room door for a moment, and my heart beat ferociously in my chest. Sure enough, Marley was gone, and I took this alone time to center myself.It’d been a long time since I’d thought about the girl I’d been before the inferno.As the years had grown by, I’d allowed her to fade away into near nothingness, but the return of Asher Collins to my life had changed that entirely. Cassandra Keller, my new identity, was no match for the Alpha King, and his arrival, along with the order to return to Anemond, had a chance of tearing my life to shreds.Long ago, I’d been Cora Felix, the daughter of a Gamma wolf named Darrin Felix. I had been born into a prestigious werewolf family, exalted in the Wegalla Empire, and the Crescent Pack in particular.My father and my older brother, Ector, were well-respected warriors in our Pack. They were tough as nails and a major asset to the crown. After a chain of events, I was chosen to be Asher-the Alpha prince’s-mate
ASHEROnce the healer left, I leaned back in the armchair in Alpha Gareth’s meeting room and released a sigh. My head was aching, as if I had a million hammers pounding at it at once. I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers. It was difficult to say whether the headache was from the mysterious disease worsening or the lack of sleep. I barely got a full night’s rest these days, and it was beginning to take its toll on my entire body. It was simply too difficult to rest when there was so much plaguing my mind.And now, there was someone else to consider, someone I couldn’t get out of my head. Cassandra Keller. Even though she was gone, her name ran circles in my mind, over and over, as if it were a song rather than a name. Cassandra Keller, a nobody healer from a long-forgotten Pack on the border of Wegalla. Over the past few conversations I’d held with her, I knew there was something special about her, something weirdly familiar that drew me in in unexplainable ways. As
CASSANDRAMuch to my excitement, when Amalia brought me to my intended room, Finnick was waiting for me on the other side of my door. His little face lit up with excitement, and his normally serious gray eyes widened as he grinned at me. “Mommy!” he exclaimed, and he rushed over to meet me. I’d half-expected him to look a little rough around the edges after our encounter with the bear in the woods, but Finnick looked perfectly healthy. He threw his arms around me, and I fought back a sound of pain as he squeezed. “Careful, baby,” I said softly as tears welled in my eyes. “I’m still a little sore.”“Oh,” he realized, and he let go and took a step back. “I’m sorry.”“Don’t be,” I assured him, and then I gave him a look over. “Are you doing okay, sweetheart? I’ve been so worried about you.” “I’m better now, Mommy,” he assured me, and he gave me a tiny smile. “I was a little scared at first, but after I took a warm bath and got some new clothes, I was feeling better.”Suddenly, a stra
ASHERI stared out the window and admired the way the light entered the room. Dusk here in the Wild Crawler Pack was far more tranquil here than it was all the way out in Anemond. Out in the capital, it was nearly impossible to see the horizon amidst the tall buildings and structures. Here, there was nothing but open sky for miles. I peered out at the front lawns. Here, the grass grew tall and was a plush, emerald green. The lawns of my palace in Anemond were nothing like this. They were broad and spacious but cut meticulously short by the team of gardeners. It was almost as if wildlife was forbidden. There was no smell of pine, no fresh air…I inhaled deeply. I’d never admit it to anyone, but I would miss the fresh air here. There was something to be said for this land beside the border. There was a wildness here that didn’t exist out in Anemond, no matter how much I yearned for it. Far out on the lawn, two boys were playing ball with one another. One of them, I assumed, was the
ASHER After the boy disappeared, I released a sigh and then followed Gareth’s servant into the dining room. I wished that Finnick had joined us and explained what he meant by his words. Had Cassandra Keller really told him that I was a bad man?The idea should have enraged me and yet, I was somewhat amused. I didn’t love the idea of a child fearing me, but perhaps he’d simply twisted her words as children so often did. Either way, something about the Kellers was intriguing, and I looked forward to getting to know them once we reached Anemond. Upon my arrival, Alpha Gareth and Luna Sofia, along with their son, rose to their feet and offered me solemn bows. I inclined my head in their direction respectfully and then turned my attention back to the servant leading me through the room. A long, rectangular table sat at the center of the wood-floored room, and around us, the light from the enormous red-brick fireplace flickered. The room itself was painted a rich dark red, and a smile fo
CASSANDRA After I concluded that the pendant wasn’t in the backpack, I discarded it and looked around the room I’d been confined to. There was a stack of boxes in the far corner I hadn’t noticed when I’d first arrived. I rushed over to them and wasted no time. I rummaged through the closest one, and once I finished rooting through it, I moved on to the next. I continued this way for nearly an hour. In the process of searching my belongings, a pair of servants took turns delivering more boxes. With every one, I prayed to the Moon Goddess that the pendant had just gotten misplaced in a pocket or bag, and when it wasn’t in any of the spots, my frustration grew. Finally, the servants stopped arriving, and I began to give up. My mother’s necklace wasn’t here. Thankfully, one thing was certain- the pendant hadn’t been found by the Alpha King’s guards. If it had, things wouldn’t be nearly as quiet as they were now. If my true identity had been revealed, Asher Collins would have been cr
CASSANDRARayden suddenly grabbed my hand, and when I whipped around to stare at him, his eyes bore into mine intensely, so much that my heart began to race.“Let me go with you, Cassy,” he insisted, and his eyes grew sorrowful, as if he was a young boy who’d lost something he couldn’t recover again. “Please.”My eyes widened as I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening.“Rayden…” I uttered.As Rayden stared at me with his large brown eyes, a feeling swept through me along with understanding. Asher’s earlier words in the meeting room played through my mind. The Alpha King had quipped that the prince of the Wild Crawlers fancied me. At the time, his words had been a massive shock, but as I stood here in the garden, I began to suspect that Asher may have been right.But I didn’t want to believe it.At the time, I never could have imagined that Rayden could see me like that. I’d always been something of a friend to him, as well as a healer. Just as I’d done with countless others
ASHER“You don’t understand!” Cassandra shouted, and then suddenly, she broke into a fit of heavy sobs. The healer’s knees buckled slightly as she cried, and her chest heaved as she fought to breathe. Her copper hair fell into her face and her cheeks flushed pink.I stood there, completely stunned and unsure of what to do.For the briefest of seconds, she reminded me of Cora.Cora had once said the exact same phrase to me once many years ago when she thought I’d lost a pendant she once gave me.It had been the first time I’d been allowed to join the Crescent Pack’s hunting group, and furthermore, the first time I’d been allowed to enter the hunting zone of the forest in Anemond. I’d admittedly been a little nervous, but Cora was absolutely terrified. She was always looking out for my well-being and cared so deeply for me, which meant the world.I remembered putting on a brave face, but that wasn’t enough for Cora. So, one day, she came over to my house and presented me with a pendant.