Chase.

Rose I sat back against my headboard with a huff. My pack had gone off to a huge battle last night and no one - no one - had given me an update. And on top of that, the entire battle stemmed around one of my closest friends. One of my closest friends who had been held hostage for weeks at this point. Sure, I was more or less assigned to be her friend at first, but she had quickly proven to be a friend, not an assignment. I was looking forward to her being our luna. Lya was kind, and honest, and she would be good for the pack. I don’t think anyone expected the strongest alpha in all of North America to be mated to a werewolf who didn’t realize she was a werewolf. But they worked. They worked really well. Jealousy was not my thing. I mean, I was jealous, but not that the new girl got the guy. I didn’t want the guy. I wanted the bond. It was probably silly to be bemoaning something like that. Twenty-one wasn’t exactly on the old side of still looking for your mate, but it felt lik

I wasn’t planning on being out tonight. My replacement was getting here sometime this evening, and I wanted to be around to debrief them before I took off. My wolf, Freyja, had been pestering me to go for a run, but I had finally gotten her to quiet down and settle for running when we got home. I had picked up on some rumblings about rogues a bit too close to town, though, so I kept my ears perked. But, when I caught wind of Gamma Derek calling off patrols in a particular area, I knew I had to go. It was just my luck that there would be some sort of development right as I was supposed to be leaving town. I grumbled to myself as I shifted, letting Freyja come forward and take us to the area of the border that patrols had been told to vacate. We hunkered down behind some foliage on the forest floor, doing our best to obscure the light blonde coat. The trace scents of a rogue were present, but quite far off yet. The Gamma’s scent was present, and much closer. I wanted to go closer to

Rose I paced my studio apartment frantically, trying desperately to organize my thoughts. There was one singular word swirling around in my head, and I would give anything to make it go away. Rejection. Just the thought of it made my wolf whimper. He knew, right? He had to know. How could he not? I sank down on the edge of my bed, barely noticing that I was rocking back and forth. I couldn’t do anything to stop the strangled sob that found its way out of my throat. Freyja tried to reach out and provide whatever comfort she could, but there wasn’t much she could do when she herself was curled up in a ball, heartbroken that our mate sent us away in such a way. I struggled to my feet and made my way out of the complex, sprinting down all the short cuts - skirting behind the training complex, cutting across the field, over to the path through the woods that led to the packhouse. I made it there in possibly record time, bursting through the patio doors and began pacing the kitchen.

I kept my head down as I followed Cody and my mate - Liam, I had learned - out of the office. As soon as we were in the hall, though, Cody rounded on me, shoving me into the wall. “What the hell was that, Rose? Huh?” he snapped. “I-I-I’m sorry!” I gasped, “I swear, I didn’t-” His wolf surfaced, growling in my face. “I saw how torn up you were when you got back. I know you saw something, and I know you lied to me about needing to go up there myself.” Tears stung my eyes as spittle flew. “You’re fucking lucky we had someone up there to pick up the pieces. What the fuck do you think this looks like for your future as a scout here?” I closed my eyes and let out a sob. I didn’t know how to put into words what happened up there, but I wished I could. Anything to repair my name. I barely noticed when Cody was pulled away. It was a musical voice that pulled me back into the room. “It wasn’t her fault,” my mate growled. “Not her fault?” Cody demanded. “She fuckin’ baled up there, an

Suffice it to say, I did not get any sleep. Twenty one years old, and that was my first kiss. It was implied that was not how I expected it to go. Sure, call me pathetic, I hadn’t ever had a boyfriend or a kiss or even held hands, but I just didn’t see the point. If I had known, however, that my mate would be someone like him I probably would have had a different outlook. I didn’t know what had come over me. I had never been that brash in my life. But, I had also never been that hurt and angry. Who did he think he was, rejecting his fated mate? He knew there were no second chances, right? For either of us. Who did he think he was, wrecking my future, not just his own? But, I was done. I was done being a doormat, I was done going along with what everyone else told me, I was done letting life happen to me. Something in me had snapped, and I refused to be that girl anymore. If I wanted something, I had every right to go get it. Especially if that thing was already mine. My lips