(Jason POV)Sunday morning, I was in the gym working out when Aaron walked in and joined me. Josephine told both of us to find outlets for our stress, but neither of us were particularly creative, so we increased the number of workouts we did each day and called it good.I could tell Aaron wanted to talk about something, but it seemed like all of our conversations lately had to do with Josephine’s wedding or Cassie, and I really didn’t want to talk about either of those things right now.Finally, to break the ice, I asked him how his meeting with Alpha Ryan went. He told me it went well, but it was an interesting night.“Interesting how?”Aaron didn’t say anything. “If me asking you anything else is going to trigger another conversation about Cassie or about Josephine’s wedding, please can we save it for later. I need to be in a better headspace to talk about Cassie, and if I am asked one more question about flower arrangements, table linens, or dresses, I might shoot myself.”“Wh
(Cassie POV) Monday morning, I woke to a text on my phone. “Hey, beautiful. You up?” I groaned and smiled all at the same time. “I am up now. :) Why are you up so early?” It was only 6:00 a.m. “I had to get up early so I could be at your place by 8:00 a.m.” What? My place? By 8:00 a.m.? Had I made plans with Danny while I was drunk that I forgot about? I jumped out of bed, and looked around my apartment. I had dirty clothes laying everywhere; I had unwashed dishes in the sink; and I wasn’t sure where my two vibrators were other than I knew they weren’t hidden away. (Don’t judge; I may not have had sex in a while but I’m not a saint and the werewolf sex drive isn’t limited to male wolves.) I wracked my brain and was sure we hadn't made plans, so I texted back. “What? You are coming here? In two hours?” “Of course. You told me that you are moving back to the pack, and I want to be there to help you.” “In two weeks, after Megan’s wedding. Not today.” “Yeah, well I
(Danny POV) On paper, this has been a rough year for me. My mate, Kammie, left me about nine months ago. We had been together for a little over two years at that point. I should have been upset when she left, but honestly, I was relieved. Being with her never really felt right. I guess it hadn’t really felt right for her, either, given that she never let me mark her. Honestly, I never really wanted to mark her. Mating with her was fun –there is no comparison between sex with sparks and sex without sparks—but neither my wolf nor I ever felt a strong desire to sink our teeth into her. I’ve never heard of anyone else holding off on the marking process as long as Kammie and I did. When Kammie came to me and said she missed her family back home, I knew there was more to the story. It took her a while, but she eventually confessed that it wasn’t just her family that she missed. She had been in a long-term relationship with another wolf when we met each other by chance in the airp
(Jason's POV) It has now been a full week since I have seen or talked to Cassie. My wolf has been going completely nuts, demanding that I go and see her. I knew Aaron was right that I should have gone to her immediately, especially after my failed attempt to apologize last Monday made her think I had plans to reject her. The only reason I didn't reach out to her earlier was that I was scared if I saw her I would mess things up more. It seemed like that was the only thing I was good at with her; messing up. We had agreed to meet in two weeks, but we hadn't agreed on a specific time or place, and that timing fell dangerously close to the weddings. Or, more accurately, the wedding. Josephine and Alpha Blake's wedding was postponed, yet again, because after the invitations were mailed out, it was discovered that the wedding date had been listed as 2024 instead of 2023. I expected everyone to blow up in anger when the mistake was made, and I expected Aaron to send me on any number of e
(Cassie POV)Once the movers were situated, Danny led me to his SUV and we headed towards the lake. I asked Danny about my car, but he promised that the movers would take that to my parents’ house as well.I was largely silent during our drive. I knew I had to tell Danny about Jason, but I felt embarrassed and ashamed. Admitting that Jason was going to reject me was like admitting that everything my parents had said about me while growing up was true. The only thing that made me feel less awkward about the situation was knowing that Danny had recently been rejected by his mate too. So maybe, just maybe, he would understand.Periodically, Danny would glance over at me and smile. About twenty minutes in, he grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I’m not sure what is worrying you, Cassie, but you are with me now. Everything will be fine.”I smiled back at him. It felt good to feel wanted and taken care of. So good, in fact, that maybe I would hold off on confessing to him all my deep,
(Jason POV) As soon as I got back to the packhouse, I immediately went to find Josephine. I knew I needed her advice, now more than ever. I quickly located her in the alpha suite’s living room, along with Aaron and Alpha Blake. “Josephine, can I talk to you for a few minutes?” I asked. She raised an eyebrow at me. “What about?” I could tell she was still a bit irritated with me. “I want to talk about what I need to do to get Cassie back.” Alpha Blake growled, and Aaron began to look a little uncomfortable. “I thought I told you that you would have to fix your mate issues on your own this time,” Alpha Blake reminded me. “You did, Alpha, and I apologize for asking Josephine for help, but I've realized that I really am an idiot when it comes to females and Cassie specifically. I don't want to keep making mistakes. Josephine is one of the only females I trust to give good advice on this sort of thing.” Josephine’s face immediately brightened. “I’ve been waiting for you to sta
(Cassie POV) On Tuesday morning, I woke up at my parents’ house, in my childhood bed in my childhood room. I sighed at the realization that I was back. This was a place I once promised myself I would never return, and yet here I was. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up in bed and looked around the room, intending to formulate a plan on what to unpack first. I noticed that were a few boxes, but not nearly as many as I had expected to see. Curious, I got up and started to look through what was there. I realized that most of my clothes were not. How had I missed that last night? Oh, yeah. I had been a little distracted. After a very interesting day with Danny, he dropped me off at my parents’ house. He made sure to walk me inside the house, where he gave me a huge hug and kiss on the cheek in front of my parents. He also chatted with them for a few minutes, until he darted off after explaining that he had some important business to take care of over dinner. As soon as Danny left, my
(Danny POV)My father has wanted to take over the territory held by the Blue Moon pack for years. He had been eying Alpha Aaron’s takeover of the pack as the ideal time to strike and make that desire a reality.I personally don’t know what my father thinks is so special about Blue Moon’s territory. I’ve always been partial to what we have here at White Howlers. But, my father usually gets what he wants, and as long as he’s happy, I don’t really care.Thanks to my indifference about my father’s plans, I haven’t paid much attention to what he has been doing or the strategies that he has been employing. Until now. It turns out that one of his strategies included getting several Blue Moon guards on our payroll, and those guards proved immensely valuable in terms of figuring out what has been going on with Cassie lately.From what the guards reported, Blue Moon’s future beta is Cassie’s (first) mate. However, their mateship had a very rocky start. Jason, the future beta, slept with