Chapter 04

“Your what?” said Dane, incredulous.

“Mate,” said Cara, staring at Lucas in shock.

Dane felt like the ground beneath him was shaking, as though at any minute it would crack and send him plummeting downwards. Everything was falling apart.

Not only was he not appointed Beta, he was so far down the ranking he was a nobody. To top it all off, the love of his life had finally found her mate, and it was the guy who’d screwed him over.

Dane ran a hand over his shaved head. If he had longer hair, he’d be tugging it in frustration. 

Lucas took a step towards Cara with his hand outstretched and took her hands in his. The sparks of the mate-bond rushed over their skin, leaving a pleasurable electric sensation. Cara gasped, she hadn’t expected the feeling to be so strong. 

“I...this...it’s too much,” she said as she yanked her hands out of Lucas’ grip.

Lucas watched with confusion as she turned on her heel and fled. That scent, her scent, it was so familiar. He was positive he’d smelt it before, but surely if he had, his wolf would have recognised his mate. He turned back to Dane, eager to clear the air about his position in the pack, when he noticed Dane’s scent.

It suddenly hit him. That’s why Cara smelt so familiar. He had, in fact, smelt her on numerous occasions - but it was always mixed with the scent of the man standing in front of him. 

“You and Cara…” he began, not really sure what to say or how to say it.

“Yes,” replied Dane icily. “Me and Cara.”

Shit, thought Lucas. Things just took an even sharper turn south. He needed Dane on his side. Building his warrior army and strengthening the pack was a key part of his plan, and Dane was the best person for the job.

“Look, Dane, I know things may not have gone the way we agreed today, but at least let me explain.”

“Not now. I need to make sure Cara’s ok.”

“Sure,” he conceded, although wasn’t thrilled at the idea of Dane consoling Cara. His fists clenched and his jaw ticked at the thought of it.

Dane nodded at Lucas and turned to chase after Cara. He knew her well and knew she’d have headed straight home. Their home. The thought sent a pang of panic through him. How much longer was it going to be their home? How long until she left him for that schemer, Lucas? 

He and Cara had always talked about this moment, when one of them found their mate, and he’d thought he would be totally fine with it. The Moon Goddess paired Cara with Lucas for a reason. But now the time had finally come, he realised it wasn’t going to be so easy. He wasn’t prepared to let Cara go.

Cara looked up, stunned, as Dane entered their house. She’d already changed out of her tight dress and heels and was instead in sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt, her long brown hair thrown up in a messy bun.

She could tell from Dane’s pinched expression and the way he hovered in the entryway that his emotions were just as messy as her own were.

“What the hell, Dane, I have a mate? I didn’t think either of us would ever find our mates.”

He walked over to the couch and sat down beside her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. Normally this was all she needed to feel safe and secure - why wasn’t it helping now?

“Neither did I,” he said simply, not knowing what to say to her. 

“And not just any mate, the fucking Alpha. Are you serious? Me, the pack’s Luna?” she laughed shakily.

“Hmm, yeah,” he returned her laugh, weakly. “Who would have thought?”

“Is that all you’re going to say?” she asked, her tone of voice raising slightly.

She had so many overwhelming thoughts and feelings clashing in her mind, and yet he was just sitting there giving generic answers, as though they were talking about the weather. He showed more emotion watching the damn news on TV each night.

“What do you want me to say?” he replied. 

She knew that tone. It held a small warning, but she wasn’t in the mood to heed it. In the back of her mind, she knew she was being unreasonable, but she just couldn’t help it.

“Um, I don’t know. Maybe that you’re happy for me. Or maybe, ‘don’t be silly babe, you’ll make an amazing Luna.’ Literally anything other than what you just said.”

“So you’re accepting him then? Just like that? Not even a thought about me or our eight years together, or the fact that if you didn’t meet him today, you’d be wearing my mark tomorrow morning?”

Cara bowed her head as the guilt hit her. She had loved this man sitting next to her since high school, they’d been together through everything. From the moment she’d met him, she wanted nothing more than to wear his mark, be his mate. Be his. 

She had just had it within her reach, but now… now he was reduced to nothing. He was shoved down the pack ranking, and instead of holding the envious status of the Beta’s mate, she was also nothing if she stayed with him.

She had spent too many years being looked down on for her Omega status, and her hands started to tremble as she thought of going back to that working-class way of life.

“Dane! Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?” she screeched, as she stood up and stalked across the room.

“I don’t know what you expect me to say,” he replied. “You want me to sit here and tell you I’m happy that you’re mates with that arsehole?”

“I thought you were friends with him? That’s why we hatched this little plan of ours with him.”

“You saw how well that went today. He completely fucked me. And now he gets you as a cherry on top. And you want me to be happy about it?”

Dane could feel his composure slipping and he didn’t like it. He was used to being in control of every situation, but today everything was spiralling.

“And now I get to choose between an Alpha and a...oh, I’m sorry, do you even have a title anymore?”

Her breath left her in a whoosh as Dane quickly closed the distance between them and gripped her throat tightly. He pushed her back against the wall forcefully, pressing his forehead to hers and locking eyes.

“You’re mine,” he grit out. “Title or not, you’re mine.”

He noticed the moment her eyes flickered from fear to lust. She was so predictable. He loosened his grip and moved his hand from her throat to the back of her neck, and kissed her roughly. She was already tearing at his clothes to get to him.

* * *

Lucas hadn’t been able to settle after meeting Cara. His wolf, Lando, was champing at the bit to claim his mate and was making it impossible for Lucas to hold a conversation with anyone at The Commons. 

He knew he should probably give his mate the space she’d clearly asked for, but the thought of Dane being there with her only made things worse. He’d mingled with the crowd and covertly gotten the low-down on their relationship from some of the former Cape Point Pack members. To his dismay, it was much worse than he expected.

With Lando so on edge, he decided to leave Beta Thomas in charge of the fanfare and track Cara down.

As he approached the quaint little cottage house, his lip curled up into a sly grin as he heard raised voices. He didn’t know what kind of person it made him, but he was happy the two lovebirds were fighting, and he perversely hoped it was because of him.

He lifted his fist to knock on the door, but paused mid-air. The angry shouting had been replaced by banging and crashing and...moaning? Yep, definitely moaning, he thought. 

Black fur began protruding from his arms as Lando tried to force him to shift. He wanted nothing more than to break down the door and leave Dane lying in a pool of blood for touching his mate.

Taking a few deep breaths, Lucas regained control of his wolf and quickly left. He would have to think the situation over carefully before doing anything impulsive and possibly ruining his chances with Cara.

Lying in bed later that night, Dane couldn’t help but run his hands over Cara’s pert behind as she lay with her head on his chest.

“I meant what I said earlier,” he said, his voice low and husky. “You’re mine. I want you to reject him.”

She lifted her head and propped herself up on her side to look at him. She wondered if he even knew what he was asking of her.

“Dane, I don’t want to leave you either, but how can I reject him? It would be like rejecting the Moon Goddess herself. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to withstand that kind of pain.”

“You are. We’ll do it together, just like we’ve done everything together up to this point. Look at what he just did to me. I don’t trust him, Cara. How could you even trust someone like that?”

As Cara drifted off to sleep in his arms, Dane lay awake, restless. He vowed there and then, he would do whatever it took to keep her away from Lucas and give her the life she deserved.

He knew he would need to play a ruthless game to regain his title and his rightful position in the pack. It was a game in which he saw only one winner, and many losers, but he wouldn’t let anybody stand in his way. 

Then, he would finally claim Cara as his chosen mate.