Chapter 1 - A change of plans

The crescent moon had just passed its peak when Cassy arrived at the arranged meeting spot. The Ash Mount packhouse was built into the mountainside, its base giving way to rough rock formations that jutted out in a cliff that overlooked the pack. It was a demanding structure that boasted a strong fortress, but those who had grown up on those rocks could navigate them with ease. Cassy had met Zac on those rocks as a newly initiated Ash Mount pup, and spent her youth playing there with him and Alex, climbing and racing on their dangerous edge. She knew every safe footing, every sharp point and every quiet spot where she could meet her secret boyfriend. 

Zac stood on a flatter area of the rocks, his back to her as he watched over the sleeping pack. He was early, typical really. Cassy was a little early herself; her nerves had twisted her too tight in bed while she waited for 01:00am, so she had decided to just go, even if it meant waiting in the cold alone. 

Though the packhouse did a good job of blocking most of the icy mountain winds from ravishing the pack, there were still a few areas that felt their blunt force. It was why she had chosen that spot. No one would see them meeting there, especially now it was past midnight. The chilly breeze pushed against her, testing her balance, but someone would have to push her to throw her off those rocks. Still, it did make her pull her jacket tighter around her body and grip the strap of her bag in a firm fist. 

Zac was tense. His shoulders were lifted, back stiff and his arms jerked occasionally at his sides, as if they were eager to do something. Usually that tension would melt away under her touch, but when she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her forehead between his shoulder blades, he wound even tighter. Like a cord holding an unbearable weight. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked, noticing for the first time that he didn’t have a bag with him. “We’re still leaving right?”

He had promised her. They had planned this since they were little more than pre-teens sharing their first kiss on those very rocks. 

“Cass, I...”

Her stomach dropped so hard she had to pull away, but Zac was a warrior and far quicker than her. He turned and grabbed her arm before she could move, keeping her tight to his chest. It was hard to resist when his familiar warmth wrapped around her, protecting her from the cold. 

“You know I love you...” 

Here it comes, the ‘but’. Cassy had worried over that ‘but’ ever since they had made the plans to run.

But we have nowhere to go.

But I can’t just leave my family.

But you’re not good enough to be with me.

“But Alpha Jason made me Beta tonight. They’re going to announce it tomorrow at the start of the Trials.”

Well, she wasn’t expecting that.

Sure, Zac was a strong warrior and cousin to the Alpha, but it wasn’t like they were close. She didn’t even think they liked each other, but she supposed Alpha Jason wasn’t close with anyone really. He hadn’t been since he was a pup and stopped leaving the packhouse unless he was training. But to be a part of the Alpha’s unit, let alone to be chosen as the Beta, was a high honour. A high honour that would make their secret romance even harder to keep. It wouldn’t befit a Beta to have an outsider at his side.

“So, you are choosing a title over me.” Cassy set her jaw and hardened her voice as if it would stop him from seeing how the news sounded like betrayal. Many in the pack weren’t welcoming to her. They tolerated her because of her mum, but never truly accepted either of them as pack members. But to hear him choose pack loyalty over her after all those years... Well, it hurt.

Zac cupped her cheek and drew her stubborn gaze to his. “Don’t do that. You know I love you.” 

He pressed his lips to hers as he had done so many times before. As always, she melted under their touch. A familiar sense of peace drew into her at his affection, reassuring her his words were true. Though his kiss was swift and sweet, it lingered as he pulled away. Not far, just enough to allow him to speak.

“There is a way we can still be together.”

Cassy stiffened; her response as immediate as a reflex. “No.”

“But it’s your birthday, Cass. We can finally find out if this, if we’re, fated. Don’t you want to know?” 

She should’ve known that he’d want to test their bond. Even chosen mates tested their compatibility before marking each other. They didn’t have to be fated to have a strong bond, but if their wolves rejected each other’s scent, being mates was out of the question.

His forehead pressed to hers with a plea that her heart answered. Goddess, yes, she wanted to know if they were fated. Now she was twenty-five, the power to know if he was destined to be hers fell to their pheromones. A simple lax of control would release her scent and then they’d know. 

It was tempting, but she couldn’t do it. She always had to keep a tight lock on her pheromones. One slip-up and they would reveal the secret she had held for years. 

“Zac, I can’t...”

“You mean you don’t want to.” His eyes closed, not in defeat but in determination. “Please, Cass. Whatever you are hiding, trust me with it. I’ll protect you. You know I will.”

Cassy believed him. She had known him since he was a timid pup, who stood behind her when they asked the other pups to play, and had watched him grow into the fine man who stood before her now. He had sometimes brought up the unspoken wariness Cassy always held but had always respected her wish to stay silent. The words sat on her tongue once more, but she bit them back, just like she always did. She had never confided her family secret to any wolf, no matter how much she trusted them. Whenever she wanted to, she seized up, remembering that night so long ago, when her mother stole her away in the middle of the night and ran.

Zac was reliable, strong, handsome, everything she could want in a mate. And she did want him, but as a chosen mate. Fated mates were too much trouble, a daring feat that’d require her secrets in return. But being Zac’s chosen mate would be perfect. He was perfect, and being with him meant she could avoid the traditions of the Trials and keep herself far away from the Kingdom’s eye. 

Her silence only drew out the desperation within him and he released his pheromones. She flinched, waiting for her own scent to be forced free, but it didn’t happen. However, now she was of age, she smelled new undertones to the scent that had fully matured for Zac a year ago. It was cool, light and pleasant, like the air when the clouds rolled down the mountain to cover the pack. She leaned closer to inhale it and let a contented hum dance across her lips. 

“We’re very compatible.” She smiled.

“Are we fated?” Zac was watching every flicker in her expression, searching her for the answer he already knew.

If they were fated mates, his scent would’ve been irresistible to her wolf, forcing out her own pheromones and confirming their bond. Cassy felt a draw between them, enough to know they’d make a strong pair, but it wasn’t the tug of full fated mates. That didn’t matter to her, and she thought it didn’t matter to Zac. He had often joked that he’d choose her even if their wolves rejected each other, but disappointment coloured his gaze now.

Something had changed in him, and she couldn’t help but blame his new title. 

“We’re compatible.” She repeated, the words weak though she hoped they were enough.

Zac took a step back, releasing her to the cold wind. “I’m sorry, Cass, I can’t leave with you tonight.”

“But you promised.” She hated the way her voice wobbled but she had looked forward to that day for a long time. She had only waited to leave until that night at his insistence, but now she wished she hadn’t. 

“I did and I hate this, Cass, but I’m the Beta now. I have a duty to my pack and there are traditions to follow. I can’t just leave to be with a random wolf.” Cassy jerked as if he had slapped her, and he hurried to cover his words. “Not that you are a random wolf, but we’re not fated, Cass, we can’t mark each other. You know the pack’s feelings about outsiders.”

He touched her again, hands rubbing up and down her arms while keeping his distance. It felt static and forced after the brutal blow, so far from the warm embrace he had held her in moments ago. Did being fated mates mean so much to him? Enough to break promises? 

“There is one other way you could be my mate...”

Cassy sighed and turned away, clutching the strap of her bag in a tight fist. Though she had packed light for their journey, the weight had become leaden, a burden rather than a hope of freedom. 

“I’m going home.”

“Wait, Cass.” Zac’s voice was a deep lull that teased away her stubbornness and made her pause, but it wasn’t enough to stop her from shrugging off his reaching hand. “We can still be chosen mates, you just have to compete in the Trials. You’re strong and smart, more so than most of the wolves I know. Compete for me so we get the pack’s approval.”

Cassy looked at him again. She didn’t see the kindness of her childhood friend or the heat of her lover. Those parts of him had been pushed back, the Beta wolf stepping forward to address her instead. She never thought he’d put his title before her, not after so many whispered promises after nights intwined together.

Maybe it was the vain hope that he would change his mind when he saw the defeat in her eyes, or maybe it was so she could soak up his presence for what threatened to be the last time, but she let him cup her cheek. She even allowed herself a moment to lean into the touch.

“I love you, Cass. Please fight for me, for us.”

She forced the agreement to halt on her tongue, refusing to let her emotions risk years of hiding. The Trials were dangerous, especially for her, however, she also didn’t say no. She couldn’t. Not to him. 

“Just make it to the top ten, so the pack will accept you as a mate of the Alpha’s unit. Then, I’ll mark you in front of the whole pack.”

Despite the weight crushing her chest, Cassy laughed. “The whole pack? I don’t think Alpha Jason will like that.”

A wicked smile pulled at his lips, a hint of her Zac pushing its way to the surface. He snaked his arms around her and pulled her close. “I don’t care.” He rumbled, then claimed her lips under the moonlight like it would seal the words in a promise. 

A promise to claim her entirely once she earned her place at his side.