Chapter 7 - An accident

After handing a sobbing Emily to her mum, Cassy sprinted to collect a token. Something within her wanted to stay with the hurt wolf, but she didn’t have the time. She’d have to deal with visiting her after the race instead. The token was a small gold nugget pressed into a rough circle and printed with the number 35. It should’ve been a relief that only 34 others had collected their token so far, but Cassy knew most of the women were already running too far behind to complete the race in time. If she didn’t haul ass, she’d be one of them. 

Token in hand, she raced back to the rocky cliffside and started up its challenging gradient. Without Emily’s weight she was moving faster, but climbing up the rocks took far longer than running down them. From the mountain’s base, the path looked impossible to climb with the packhouse a mere speck above her. The sheer magnitude of task ahead and her aching lungs tried to tell her to stop, to give in, but she dug deep and began the climb. 

She was only halfway up, with legs burning like they were full of fire, when the first cheers roared from above. The first contestant must’ve finished. Others were coming into Cassy’s view, still climbing the rocks, bounding up the hidden paths or clambering over difficult spots. She followed an old route, one she could’ve done with her eyes shut if she wasn’t keeping a close eye on the wolves around her. Katie wasn’t in sight, but that didn’t mean one of her lackies wouldn’t try and win her favour by knocking Cassy’s balance.

The drop would be steep from so high, and she’d earn more than a broken arm if she fell.

Still, she kept pushing.

Higher and higher.

Past other contestants who had slowed down in the home stretch.

And finally, her fingers clawed at the edge of the flat rock they had started the race from. She dragged herself over it, rolling to her back and looking at the sky with wild exhilaration and her body heaved with her efforts. 

“Did... I... Make... It?” Cassy asked a wolf nearby who had caught her breath.

“Yes, Hun, well done. There’s still ten minutes to go.”

Relief flooded her, she was still in the competition. She still had a chance to win Zac back.

“Who made... It to the... High Guard?” 

“Only nine wolves so far. No one wants to risk it while they’re tired.”

That perked up Cassy’s attention, a fresh wave of adrenaline coursing through her. She jumped to her feet with newfound strength. “There’s still an advantage going?”

“Yeah girl, go get it if you want it.”

Before the wolf could start to point towards the packhouse, Cassy was off again. The tired mutterings and whispers of the group who didn’t dare the extra challenge springing up behind her. She didn’t stop to listen. She didn’t care what they thought. She had to make the top ten and she’d get every advantage she could. 

The cliffside rock might’ve been a dangerous route to the base of the mountain, but it wasn’t the most dangerous part of the pack. That lay in the rocks surrounding the packhouse that peeled away from the mountain’s sides that formed the outer walls of the building. Rarely did anyone pass these rocks. The packhouse was built as it was to be the last stronghold should the pack come under attack and those rocks were the last line of defence against enemies that tried to break through. They were small, sharp, barely allowing enough space for careful feet to pass, let alone quick feet.

Cassy moved as fast as she dared, pressing herself to the slipper rocky wall as if the mountain itself would catch her before she could fall. She stepped over dagger points of jagged rocks and shuffled across thin ledges that made her certain no large male warrior could ever walk. It was no wonder why most of the woman who had completed the race didn’t want to test their luck further. The path to the back of the packhouse was difficult. Getting there through the intricate cave system in the building’s belly was a far easier route. 

Still, she kept moving, kept chipping away at the distance between her and that advantage, knowing time was ticking down. 

Finally, the rocks flattened, letting her break out into a sprint as she rounded the last corner. Her face split into a grin as she joined the group standing on the small platform outside the packhouse’s hidden back door, each High guard holding a token with a woman at their side. They formed a semi-circle at the platform’s edge, a step away from the sheer drop behind them. 

Cassy scoured the group, looking for Zac, feeling a spike of anger when she spotted Katie at his side. Her face was twisted into a half annoyed, half smug picture that made Cassy sure the bitch didn’t think she’d make it. But she had. All she needed to do was hand off her token to a free High Guard member. But they were all taken. 

It was Zac who nodded her in the right direction, his eyes flickering to the wolf to his left with no woman at his side. If it bothered Alpha Jason that his Unit had been chosen by the women before him, he didn’t let it show in his expression, but it was odd. All they had been told was that there would be an advantage, logic would suggest, if the advantage was graded, it would either be by first to arrive or whoever gave their token to the highest-ranking wolf. Yet none of the women dared to give theirs to Alpha Jason.

Well, Cassy didn’t care.

She ran to him and smiled wide as she pressed the token into his palm just as a loud bell rang clear over the mountain side. She had done it. Not only had she completed the race to progress to the next trial, but she had gained an advantage. Suddenly, reaching the top ten didn’t seem so daunting. 

“Congratulations, Cassandra.”

Cassy jerked from her glee at Alpha Jason’s low rumble and watched his eyebrow lift at the sight of the blood on her exposed midriff. She had no doubt her mother, or another Ash Mount wolf, would’ve told him about Emily, but interest seemed to spark in his gaze. It turned to something else as his eyes wandered to her hand, still placed over his. 

Cassy yanked it away, rubbing the tingles that spread there. “Thank you, Alpha, but just Cassy is fine.”

She thought she saw a small smirk play at the edge of his lips, but was certain it was just the fatigue catching up to her. 

“I prefer Cassandra.”

The comment was so unexpected she froze for the heartbeat it took him to accept her silence as an answer and turn away. The Alpha stepped forward and turned to address his High Guard and the winners of the advantage.

“Congratulation all...”

“You should’ve left her to suffer.” Katie leaned in to whisper, pulling Cassy’s attention off Alpha Jason. “Maybe then you could’ve claimed your precious boy toy.”

Her good mood evaporated immediately. “Fuck off, Katie.”

The woman gave a breathy laugh. “But don’t you want to hear how sad Zac was when you didn’t show up with your token? Maybe now he’ll see what a better mate looks like.”

Cassy whipped her head around, looking to Zac, who was engrossed in his Alpha’s speech. He didn’t look annoyed or angry or anything really. He stood tall and proud, not looking her way, but not looking at Katie either. She was about to say as much when her attention refocused on the woman, and she realised her mistake. Cassy only managed a sharp intake of breath before Katie took full advantage of the group’s distraction and leaned into her, pushing over the edge of the cliff.