29

Hearing Cassy say she would never be a Bay was a blow to my ego that I didn't expect. It felt like she was rejecting a part of me, my heritage, and what I thought we were building together.

This was an important conversation we should've already had. I'd always just assumed she would take my name. It was a given, right? I guess I was wrong. It was one of many important conversations I was starting to regret not having.

We had damn near a year before she was marked to have them all. Yet, we spent most of it either rubbing against each other or fighting over so many stupid things I couldn't even name anymore. It wasn't for lack of trying, at least a few times. But try telling a 17-year-old female alpha to calm down enough for those types of things. I was fighting an uphill battle from the start, and I knew I would be right from the moment I heard her voice on the first day.

"What do you mean you won't be a Bay?" I demanded.

Cassy crossed her arms, looking defiant as she leaned agai