“No. No. No—this isn’t happening.”
I walked fast. Too fast. The pine needles blurred under my feet, the scent of moss and packland stinging my nose like poison. My lungs heaved, my vision tunneled, and my body burned from the inside out. Mate. Mate? I nearly shifted from the sheer force of panic crawling under my skin. My mate bond was supposed to be a blessing. Not a punishment. Not him. “Ayla wait!” Cade’s voice called behind me but I kept walking. “Don’t follow me you badtard!!” I really shouldn’t be cursing out my Alpha but Cade wasn’t my Alpha and I’d be damned if I accept him as my mate too. My skin crawled just thinking about it. I found the edge of the burial clearing and collapsed against a tree, pressing my forehead to the bark. The cold bite of the wind did nothing to numb the chaos in my chest. The pull between us still vibrated under my skin and I could feel him. I hated it but I could feel him - his presence there with me like a thread tied tight between our souls. A thread I’d given anything to rip out. I didn’t go to the burial. Not right away. I couldn’t face Mae’s body while my blood screamed Cade’s name. So I waited. Until the lanterns dimmed. Until the howls faded. Until only the trees were left to whisper over her grave. I walked to the fresh mound of dirt with numb legs and a hollow heart. A single white lily rested on top. Mae’s favorite. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, crouching beside it. “I should’ve come back sooner. You deserved more than this.” My throat burned. My vision blurred. I brushed the damp leaves off the marker. “You were the only one who ever made me feel… seen. Safe.” My voice cracked. “And now you’re gone. And he—he’s my mate, Mae.” I pressed my hand to the soil. “Tell me this isn’t fate. Tell me it’s a mistake.” But the dead don’t answer. I didn’t need her to speak - because I knew just what I had to do. ~~~~~ I found Cade later. He was sitting on the porch of the elder’s lodge, arms resting on his knees, staring at nothing like it was the only thing keeping him upright. He looked up when I approached. I didn’t stop walking. I didn’t let him speak. “You need to reject me.” His brow furrowed. “Ayla—” “Now,” I snapped. “Before it settles in. Before it gets stronger.” He stood. “You know it doesn’t work like that.” “You owe me this.” He flinched. Good. “You tormented me. You made me feel worthless. I left my entire life behind to escape you.” “I know.” “Then do it. Say the words. Break the bond. Let me go.” “I can’t.” I laughed, but the sound was a sharp and bitter one, “You can. You just won’t.” He stepped forward. “I didn’t know. Back then. I didn’t know you’d be—” “Mine?” I spat. “Is that the part that terrifies you or excites you?” He stopped moving. “I was a scared, lonely girl, and you treated me like garbage. And now you want what? A do-over?” “I want a chance to be better,” he said quietly. “To deserve the bond. You think I haven’t paid for what I did? Every damn day I’ve regretted it. You were right to leave. I was an arrogant asshole. I know that.” “You don’t get to rewrite history because fate decided to throw us together.” “No,” he said, his voice tight, “but I get to fight for what I should’ve protected.” I turned away. “I’m not forgiving you,” I said. “You don’t get to walk back into my life and expect grace just because the universe played a cruel joke.” “I don’t expect anything.” “Good. Because count my words Cade—I will never forget what you did to me. Not in a day, not in a decade. So if you have any sense left in you, break this bond. Because every second it stays, every hour it breathes between us, I’ll remember the pain. The humiliation. The hell you put me through. And I’ll hate you for it. More and more. I won’t forget, Cade. And I swear—I’ll make sure you don’t either.” Cade’s face twisted and he opened his mouth to say something - but before he could speak something hummed between us, unavoidable. Trying to pull us together like an invisible chain and suddenly my anger was gone. The hatred was gone - replaced by the ache to throw myself at him and have him wrap those arms around me. To breathe in his husky scent. “Do you feel it too?” Cade gasped out. He must be feeling the urge like I was and also fighting it with every strength he has like I was too. I shuddered “Yes.” “And you still want me to reject you?” “Yes.” He nodded slowly. “It’ll hurt. For both of us.” “I’ve survived worse.” “Do you even want to know what it means?” “No.” “Ayla.” “What?” “If I reject you… I lose the chance to ever find another mate.” I blinked. “Good.” He exhaled a laugh that didn’t hold any amusement. “You really hate me that much.” “Yes,” I said. But it didn’t sound as convincing as it should have. “I can’t do it yet,” he said finally. “Not until I’ve earned the right to. Or proven that I’m not the same person you left behind.” I stood. “You don’t get to decide when to let me go.” And that’s when a voice cut through the air behind me. “Ayla?” I froze. I knew that voice. I turned slowly and my heart skipped when I saw Daniel standing at the base of the stairs, rain dripping from his jacket, his hair flattened to his forehead. His chest heaved like he’d run all the way from the edge of the forest. “What—what are you doing here?” I breathed. Better question would be how the hell did he get here? “I followed you.” His eyes flicked between me and Cade, sharp with confusion. “I… I realized I was an idiot to walk away. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” “Daniel—” “I’m not giving up,” he said. “I don’t care what world you come from. I love you, Ayla. I still want us.” My heart punched against my ribs. Cade stood beside me now, shoulders tight, jaw locked. “Who the hell are you?” He growled and Daniel shifted his gaze to him. “I’m Daniel. Ayla’s fiancé. Who are YOU?” Cade slowly looked at me, his gaze darkening before he bared his teeth at Daniel, “Fiancé my ass!”I couldn’t breathe.Daniel was here. Daniel—my Daniel—with rain dripping from his jacket and desperation etched into every line of his face. “I’m sorry - who are you?” Daniel asked again and Cade grinned although his smile didn’t reach his eyes.“I’m Ayla’s mate.” He whispered and my heart dropped.Bastard.Daniel frowned and looked at me, “your mate?”I swallowed hard. “It’s not what it sounds like.”“I think it’s exactly what it sounds like,” he said, trying to smile but failing miserably.Cade stepped forward, slow and calm, but the tension in his body was barely leashed. “She is my mate. That bond snapped into place the second I saw her.”“Don’t,” I said, glaring at him. “Dont you dare try to sabotage my life more than you’ve already done you ass wipe.”“You want me to pretend that it doesn’t matter?” Cade’s tone stayed quiet, but there was steel beneath every word. “I’ve let you run once, Ayla. I won’t let you go again.”“You don’t own me,” I snapped, loud enough to cut through
“Get up, deadweight.”Cade’s voice cracked like a whip across the training field, and every head turned toward me.I blinked through the blood trickling from my eyebrow, and pushed myself up. Slowly, shakily.Dirt caked my hands. My knees throbbed. I should’ve stayed down. But his tone— the way it sounded so arrogant and cold made something twist inside me. “Oh, come on.” He huffed like I was wasting his time. “Even pups shift better than that.”Laughter rippled through the circle of trainees. No one stepped forward. No one offered a hand. Not like they ever did.I scoffed as I tried to even out my breathing.Pack unity - they say. But for an orphaned omega like me, unity never stretched far enough.“Maybe if you focused less on hiding in the kitchens and more on training, you’d actually be useful,” Cade said, strolling toward me with lazy arrogance. He looked like every girl’s fantasy—tall, golden-haired, eyes like storm clouds, muscles coiled and confident. But even with his go
CHAPTER ONE“Did you just put chili oil on strawberries?”Daniel looked at me like I’d committed a culinary crime.I grinned, balancing the bowl in one hand as I hopped onto the kitchen counter. “It’s a thing. Sweet, spicy, tangy. Try it before you judge.”He raised a skeptical brow, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled to his elbows as he reached for a berry. “If I die, I’m haunting you.”“Don’t be dramatic.”He bit into it and paused. Then his eyes widened. “Okay, that’s… weirdly good.”I nudged his side with my knee. “Told you.”Our little apartment smelled like roasted coffee and spring rain, windows cracked open to let in the breeze. The city hummed outside—car horns, laughter, a distant siren or two. But in here? It was peace. Warm, humming, real.Daniel walked over to his laptop, pushing aside a mess of blueprints and client sketches. “Remind me again why you’re not bottling your chaos genius into a restaurant?”“Because chaos genius doesn’t pay the bills,” I said, hopping dow
(CADE’s POV)The smell of blood hit me before I stepped into the clearing.Two bodies. Ripped open. Limbs twisted at unnatural angles. The third was barely clinging to life, breathing in ragged wheezes as the medic tried to keep pressure on the wound.“Rogues again?” I asked.Riven nodded, jaw clenched. “Same claw patterns. Same north ridge. No scent trail, though. Like they’re masking themselves.”I knelt beside the younger wolf. Jonas. Eighteen. Barely out of training.His eyes found mine. “Alpha…”“Save your strength,” I said quietly.He smiled. Smiled, gods damn him. “You should’ve seen the way I blocked that first hit…”His chest shuddered, then stilled.I stood, blood soaking into my boots, and something inside me twisted. Not with shock. Not even anger.With exhaustion.How many more young wolves do I have to lose for this to be over?Later, I sat in my office with a glass of whiskey I wasn’t even drinking and a map littered with red pins.The pack was fraying. We were losing
I couldn’t breathe.Daniel was here. Daniel—my Daniel—with rain dripping from his jacket and desperation etched into every line of his face. “I’m sorry - who are you?” Daniel asked again and Cade grinned although his smile didn’t reach his eyes.“I’m Ayla’s mate.” He whispered and my heart dropped.Bastard.Daniel frowned and looked at me, “your mate?”I swallowed hard. “It’s not what it sounds like.”“I think it’s exactly what it sounds like,” he said, trying to smile but failing miserably.Cade stepped forward, slow and calm, but the tension in his body was barely leashed. “She is my mate. That bond snapped into place the second I saw her.”“Don’t,” I said, glaring at him. “Dont you dare try to sabotage my life more than you’ve already done you ass wipe.”“You want me to pretend that it doesn’t matter?” Cade’s tone stayed quiet, but there was steel beneath every word. “I’ve let you run once, Ayla. I won’t let you go again.”“You don’t own me,” I snapped, loud enough to cut through
“No. No. No—this isn’t happening.”I walked fast. Too fast. The pine needles blurred under my feet, the scent of moss and packland stinging my nose like poison. My lungs heaved, my vision tunneled, and my body burned from the inside out.Mate.Mate?I nearly shifted from the sheer force of panic crawling under my skin.My mate bond was supposed to be a blessing.Not a punishment.Not him.“Ayla wait!” Cade’s voice called behind me but I kept walking.“Don’t follow me you badtard!!”I really shouldn’t be cursing out my Alpha but Cade wasn’t my Alpha and I’d be damned if I accept him as my mate too.My skin crawled just thinking about it.I found the edge of the burial clearing and collapsed against a tree, pressing my forehead to the bark. The cold bite of the wind did nothing to numb the chaos in my chest.The pull between us still vibrated under my skin and I could feel him. I hated it but I could feel him - his presence there with me like a thread tied tight between our souls.A th
(CADE’s POV)The smell of blood hit me before I stepped into the clearing.Two bodies. Ripped open. Limbs twisted at unnatural angles. The third was barely clinging to life, breathing in ragged wheezes as the medic tried to keep pressure on the wound.“Rogues again?” I asked.Riven nodded, jaw clenched. “Same claw patterns. Same north ridge. No scent trail, though. Like they’re masking themselves.”I knelt beside the younger wolf. Jonas. Eighteen. Barely out of training.His eyes found mine. “Alpha…”“Save your strength,” I said quietly.He smiled. Smiled, gods damn him. “You should’ve seen the way I blocked that first hit…”His chest shuddered, then stilled.I stood, blood soaking into my boots, and something inside me twisted. Not with shock. Not even anger.With exhaustion.How many more young wolves do I have to lose for this to be over?Later, I sat in my office with a glass of whiskey I wasn’t even drinking and a map littered with red pins.The pack was fraying. We were losing
CHAPTER ONE“Did you just put chili oil on strawberries?”Daniel looked at me like I’d committed a culinary crime.I grinned, balancing the bowl in one hand as I hopped onto the kitchen counter. “It’s a thing. Sweet, spicy, tangy. Try it before you judge.”He raised a skeptical brow, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled to his elbows as he reached for a berry. “If I die, I’m haunting you.”“Don’t be dramatic.”He bit into it and paused. Then his eyes widened. “Okay, that’s… weirdly good.”I nudged his side with my knee. “Told you.”Our little apartment smelled like roasted coffee and spring rain, windows cracked open to let in the breeze. The city hummed outside—car horns, laughter, a distant siren or two. But in here? It was peace. Warm, humming, real.Daniel walked over to his laptop, pushing aside a mess of blueprints and client sketches. “Remind me again why you’re not bottling your chaos genius into a restaurant?”“Because chaos genius doesn’t pay the bills,” I said, hopping dow
“Get up, deadweight.”Cade’s voice cracked like a whip across the training field, and every head turned toward me.I blinked through the blood trickling from my eyebrow, and pushed myself up. Slowly, shakily.Dirt caked my hands. My knees throbbed. I should’ve stayed down. But his tone— the way it sounded so arrogant and cold made something twist inside me. “Oh, come on.” He huffed like I was wasting his time. “Even pups shift better than that.”Laughter rippled through the circle of trainees. No one stepped forward. No one offered a hand. Not like they ever did.I scoffed as I tried to even out my breathing.Pack unity - they say. But for an orphaned omega like me, unity never stretched far enough.“Maybe if you focused less on hiding in the kitchens and more on training, you’d actually be useful,” Cade said, strolling toward me with lazy arrogance. He looked like every girl’s fantasy—tall, golden-haired, eyes like storm clouds, muscles coiled and confident. But even with his go