Cassie's life is turned upside down when her mate, Mason, abandons her for a woman named Kara. Cassie is feeling betrayed and left out. At her lowest, Alpha Xander from the rival Shadowfang Pack offers her a contract marriage proposal: He marries him to join their packs, unite the packs, and battle dangerous rogue werewolves. Cassie, though hesitant, agrees, hoping to find a new sense of belonging. Cassie finds out the secret of her parent's mysterious deaths and uncovers a dark conspiracy to destroy the packs. Mason's secret baby adds another layer of suspense and complication to her new life. Cassie has mixed feelings about Mason and a weird feeling for Xander, too. Cassie must choose between her past and her future once Mason's secret is revealed. Find out what her choice would be!
Chapter 1 Mason's Cold Betrayal and the Shattering of My World
Mason, my mate, stood there before me, and I felt frozen, like the world had ended. The one person I thought I could always count on. His eyes, cold and vacant, met mine as he spoke, each word a sharp blade piercing my heart.
He said, flat, "I'm sorry, Cassie." "But Kara is my true mate. 'She's the one I'm supposed to be with.'"
I couldn't breathe. My mind couldn't keep up; I tried to understand what he was saying. How could this be happening? If even Mason, my most trusted mate, could betray me like this, who else would be capable of such a thing? After everything we'd been through, after everything we'd shared... He just threw it all away.
"I don't understand," I whispered, shaking my voice." We've been together for years. I believed we were supposed to be. "You can't just... leave me for her,"
His jaw clenched, and his face remained stern. "I'm sorry, Cassie. It's not my choice. It's fate. 'I'm supposed to be with Kara,' he repeated.
I wanted to scream, shake him, make him look at me, and see everything we had built together. I stood there, frozen, in the pack's den, suffocating.
I pleaded with him to take it back, to tell me this was all just a mistake. "You're just confused. You've been with me for so long. "Don't you feel anything for me anymore?"
Mason took a deep breath, ran a hand through his hair, and his gaze flicked to the floor. "I've tried, Cassie. But I can't keep pretending. Kara is my true mate. She's who I'm meant to be with," he said.
He still hit me with his words like a punch to the gut. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. I had given him everything. With my heart, with my soul. It all meant nothing now.
"Is this really happening?" I could barely form the words I whispered. "Mason, please. Don't do this."
He said nothing more, though. He just turned away, his back facing me now, his body language clear: He was done with me.
I broke my heart in a way I didn't think was possible. I had always known mates were forever, but that felt like everything I believed in was a lie.
I choked out, "Don't just walk away from me."
My knees trembled, and I was stumbling backward, away from Mason, away from everything before I knew it. The pack gathered behind him, in the den, watching him. None of them stepped forward, however. None of them came to comfort me.
They all stood there, silently choosing Mason's side.
"Cassie..." Behind me, Xander's voice was soft. He had been quiet through the whole thing, but now he was standing close by, his eyes full of concern. "Perhaps you should take a moment." This... this isn't easy."
I stared at him, my throat tight with feelings I couldn't express. My everything, my mate, had just chosen another woman. I was utterly alone in a room full of people.
The pain was unbearable. I believed I could handle anything life threw at me, but this? This was something else. It was so sharp and all-consuming that I thought I might suffocate from it. I couldn't bring myself to look at Mason. I couldn't look at the pack that had just turned its back on me.
"Why?" I barely could form the words and whispered again. "Why did you do this?"
Mason didn't respond. He just walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the den.
I was shattered and left standing there.
And I felt like I was sinking into a black hole, and there was no way out. The world felt unreal. Like none of it made sense. Why would Mason do this to me? How did everything we had built, everything I thought we had, mean so little to him?
I wanted to run. To escape. But where would I go? Mason and his new mate had turned the pack against me. They didn't care about me. They couldn't. They would have stopped him if they did. If they were here, they would've prevented this from happening.
"Cassie..." Xander's voice was too close, too close. I didn't want to turn around, but could feel his presence beside me. I couldn't.
He said sorry in a soft but firm tone. "I know this is hard. But you're not alone. I'm here for you."
I nodded weakly, numb. His words were kind, but they didn't help the pain. Nothing could right now. It wasn't when the one person I trusted more than anyone had just betrayed me in front of everyone I cared about.
I wanted to scream. To make it all stop. I want to rewind time to when Mason was mine. The pack was a family, and everything was okay. But I couldn't. I couldn't go back.
"I just... "I need to be alone for a while," I said, struggling to speak.
I didn't wait for Xander to respond; I turned on my heel and ran. I pushed past pack members who barely looked up and ran as fast as my legs could. It stung more than I could have imagined.
I ran towards the woods. They were calling me. The cold air, the silence, the trees. No one could see me cry; it was the only place I could.
I needed space. I needed time. To breathe, think, and understand why this was happening to me.
The more I ran, the tighter my chest got and the harder it was to breathe. I didn't know if I was running from Mason, my pack, or myself. The ache in my chest, growing with every step, told me I was running from something far more considerable than him.
I ran until the tears made my vision blurry, and my legs felt like they might collapse. I finally slowed down and stood still in the clearing near the lake, trembling.
What now?
Now that everything I knew has been shattered, what should I do? How could I stay in the pack that had just turned its back on me?
Standing there, trying to make sense of everything, I felt utterly lost. But there was nothing. No answers. Only the sound of my broken heart and the rustling of the surrounding trees.
Would I remain in the pack that betrayed me, or would I leave everything behind and start over?
I didn't know. I couldn't say.
I knew the pain was unbearable.
I was, indeed, ultimately, alone for the first time in my life.
Should I go back? Or is it time to leave this pack for good?
Chapter 1 Mason's Cold Betrayal and the Shattering of My World
21/11/2024
Chapter 2 Alpha Xander's Proposal and the Shocking Offer I Can't Refuse
21/11/2024
Chapter 3 A New Beginning in Shadowfang Pack, But Old Wounds Remain
21/11/2024
Chapter 4 The Truth Behind My Parents' Death and the Conspiracy
21/11/2024
Chapter 5 Kara's Threats and the Emotional War Within Me
21/11/2024
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