Chapter 1: Fractured Fantasies
Cassie had finally made it to the hospital. This wasn’t at all how she’d imagined her eighteenth birthday.
That morning, Cassie had awoken with a longing in her chest. Her mate was out there, and her wolf was rearing to seek them out from the moment she opened her eyes.
Cassie rarely let herself long for anything. She was an Omega, after all, and a poor one at that. Longing for a better life would be foolish in her circumstances. But today was different. Today Cassie would get her fairytale ending.
Cassie’s plans had gone awry, however, right after her classes had ended. She caught wind that her brother had collapsed during his school’s science convention.
There was no question of where her loyalties lay. Charlie’s situation was dire, and her Prince Charming would have to wait. They would have their whole lives together.
But Charlie… She wasn’t sure how much time she had left with him. And she had vowed to not waste a second of it. Not since Chalrie had turned ten and they learned of the brain tumor that threatened his life.
Her heart was thumping in her chest when she burst through the reception room doors and pounced on the first nurse that passed by.
“Charlie Mason.” Cassie gripped the woman’s wrist, urgency in her voice. “Is he here?”
The nurse looked her over, up and down, before rolling her eyes with an irritated sigh. “Second floor, third door. Make it snappy.”
Cassie kept her mouth shut and bolted up the stairs to the left of her. She was more than used to the bursque, curt treatment that all lowly Omegas in the pack received.
She paused outside the third door, her hand hovering over the doorknob. The door was slightly ajar, and she could hear her mother’s voice inside, murmuring quietly.
Cassie felt her chest tighten, and her stomach twisted itself into knots as she stepped inside.
Her brother was an angel, a genius in his own right, but life had dealt him a bad hand from the get-go. He had been gifted in science and academics from a young age, impressive for an Omega. But his brain tumour diagnosis at the tender age of ten put a stop to that.
Her parents tried to put on a brave face for her and Charlie’s sake. But Cassie was well aware of how dire the situation was. Sometimes she could hear her mother crying at night.
Cassie took a deep breath. The sinking feeling in her stomach had never truly left her. She was haunted by the perpetual fear that any day with her brother could be the last.
“Charlie?!” She stepped into the room.
Cassie’s mother, Melody, looked up from where she stood beside the bed. Before she could speak, a cry of surprise came from under the hospital bed covers.
“Cassie?! What are you doing here? Where’s your mate?”
Charlie sat up in bed with tousled hair, frowning at her for ditching her plans. His indignance was marred by the fact that he was covered all over with wires, his heart rate beeping steadily on a machine behind him.
“What happened? Did you hit your head?” Cassie went over to him, giving him a brief hug.
“Gosh Cass, I’m fine,” Charlie pretended to fend her off, although she could see he was pleased at her presence.
“He wanted to finish his presentation at the science fair,” their mother said with a sigh.
Cassie shook her head at Charlie. “Next time, please tell someone if you’re feeling light-headed,” she gently admonished her brother.
“Okay, fine, I promise,” he softly grumbled, before looking up at her in concern.
“Wait, what about your mate? Did you find him?”
Cassie blushed. “Don’t you worry about me and my mate. I’m sure I’ll bump into him.”
“No,” Charlie interrupted her. He grabbed her hand, suddenly serious as he leaned toward her intently. “Don’t put your life on hold for me, Cass. Go find your mate.”
“But I -” Cassie looked over to her mother for backup. Melody merely shrugged her shoulders with a small, sad smile.
Charlie cut her off, pointing one determined finger toward the door. “Off with you!”
Once she was free of the stifling atmosphere of the hospital, Cassie made her way to the nearest Starbucks and ordered a coffee.
Just when she had finally let her shoulders relax a little, a shrill voice behind her set the hairs standing on the back of her neck.
“Well, if it isn’t Cassie Mason. What are you doing here, mutt?”
Cassie held her breath as she huddled over her coffee. She hoped that, by some miracle, the speaker would overlook her.
But Cassie had no such luck. She never really did, especially when it came to Tiffany Gore and her gang of pretty, vicious packmates.
The tall, tanned brunette strode over to Cassie’s side, followed by four more members of her posse. They surrounded Cassie where she sat, eyeing her like predators inspecting their prey.
Cassie knew what was coming. She was no stranger to Tiffany’s bullying tactics. She had endured it her whole life. Being both a rich and gorgeous Beta from a prestigious background, Tiffany took it upon herself to bully anyone she deemed beneath her.
Cassie, however, seemed to be one of her favorite targets, particularly because Cassie worked as a house cleaner for Tiffany’s packhouse. Cassie also didn’t fight back.
Tiffany brought her face down next to Cassie’s, crooning into her ear while the other girls snickered and laughed around them. “It’s after class hours, Cassie. You’re supposed to be back home doing my laundry.”
“I’ll do double the chores later,” Cassie whispered, keeping her head down. “It’s just that… Today is pretty important. I’m looking for my mate.”
Tiffany’s shriek of evil delight had Cassie wanting to cover her ears. “Your mate?! How adorable!”
Suddenly, she gripped Cassie’s hair, tugging painfully and forcing her head back. Cassie clawed at her hand, trying desperately not to get dragged out of her seat.
“The thing is, Cassie,” Tiffany tapped a manicured finger to her chin, her other hand twisted in Cassie’s curling blonde locks, “you’re a filthy little Omega without a cent to her name.”
She dragged Cassie to her feet, forcing her to look the supermodel shifter in the eyes. “What makes you think anyone’s ever gonna want you as their mate?”
“The - the mating bond…” Cassie whispered, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes.
“Mating bond?!” Tiffany’s scornful laugh pierced Cassie’s ears. “Not even the pull of the mating bond is enough to make anyone love a mutt like you.”
Before Cassie could wrench herself away, Tiffany grabbed the still-steaming cup of coffee from the table. With a wicked grin contradictory to her beautiful features, she tilted the cup, tipping hot coffee all over Cassie’s head.
Cassie’s bloodcurdling scream was enough to pique the interest of the people outside.
The hot liquid singed red welts into her skin. Tiffany released her hold on Cassie’s hair and knocked her to her knees with one sharp kick.
That one jab was all the other girls needed to further the assault. They descended upon Cassie like vultures, kicking, punching, and mocking her.
White hot pain blanked her vision, and she prayed silently for someone to save her.
Someone. Anyone. Her mate.
Through the haze of pain as the cackling girls rained down blows upon her, Cassie glimpsed a familiar male figure at the door of the coffee shop.
Her wolf howled inside her at his presence, and she realised what was happening.
Wait… was this her long-awaited mate?
Then the man stepped into the coffee shop, eyeing the brawl with indifferent eyes. Cassie stared at him in dismay. It was Logan Heartstone, son of their pack Alpha.
He was gazing at her without a shred of kindness or recognition in his eyes.
Despite his cruelty, there was no hiding his handsomeness. He was tall, with dark curls and deep green eyes. He had money, status and power. And apparently, according to her howling wolf inside her, he was her mate.
“Mate?” she whispered, which only incurred a scornful snort from Tiffany.
“Don’t kid yourself, you little whore!” Tiffany said with disdain. “Logan isn’t here for you. He’s here to pick me up.”
“Let’s go already,” Logan said in a bored voice, barely casting a glance at Cassie writhing under Tiffany’s well-heeled foot. “C’mon Tiff, I left the car running.”
“What about her?” Tiffany spat down at a trembling Cassie.
“Who gives a fuck?” Logan yawned. “Let’s just go.”
Tiffany hesitated only for a moment before she finally took her foot off Cassie. “Yeah, whatever. We’re done here,” Tiffany muttered, and her followers trailed after her as she headed for the door.
They left Cassie on the floor in a pool of cooling coffee, bewildered. This was supposed to be the beginning of her fairytale.
Surely he could feel the bond too?
“Wait,” Cassie whispered weakly as she pushed herself onto her knees. “Wait, please.”
Logan ignored her, hurrying out of the coffee shop like he wanted to escape her presence.
“Wait!” Cassie desperately lurched across the slippery floors, half crouching at his feet as she grabbed his hand.
Sparks shot through her veins at the touch of his skin under her fingers, and Logan wrenched his hand away with a roar of frustration. “Don’t touch me, mutt! Don’t fucking touch me!”
“But…” Cassie let her hands drop as she looked up at him. Her last shred of hope dissipated at his furious glare. “But, you’re my mate.”
“Oh my god!” It was Tiffany’s turn to act disgusted, and she clung to Logan’s arm with an incredulous expression. “Her?! You’re telling me you feel the mating bond with this rat?”
Logan balled his hands into fists and lifted his face skyward with a sigh of frustration. He shrugged Tiffany off.
He reached down to grip Cassie’s forearm, yanking her to her feet and striding toward the alleyway next to the Starbucks.
“Wait in the car,” Logan ordered over his shoulder to the other she-wolves.
“Logan!” Tiffany’s scream of disapproval made Cassie wince.
“I said wait in the car!” his voice thundered over Cassie’s head, and she jumped in her skin, stumbling as she struggled to keep up with his long, storming strides.
When they were alone in the damp alley, Logan tossed Cassie aside. Her back hit the wall behind her, and she rubbed a hand over her forearm where he had grabbed her.
Cassie was terrified, ashamed of her disheveled state, and shaking in the knees at Logan’s harsh actions. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
For someone so handsome, Logan looked cruel. Cassie struggled to match this version of Logan with the poster child pre-Alpha she had heard so much about.
Up until then, Cassie had only seen him from afar.
Despite his ferocious glare, Cassie felt the mating bond stronger than ever. Her wolf strained toward him, even though he looked just about ready to bite her head off. Cassie wanted to wrap her arms around him, to bond like they were supposed to.
Instead, she lowered her head.
Logan ran a hand over his face before addressing her. “You tell no one about the bond, Mason. Do you hear me? If Tiffany asks you, tell her you were desperate to get my attention, and that’s it.”
“I don’t understand,” Cassie whispered. Her voice cracked as she spoke, and tears flowed freely down her dirty cheeks. “Don’t you feel the bond too? Don’t you want to be my mate?”
“Ha!” Logan let out a sharp, mirthless laugh. “Be mated to you? I don’t think so.”
His features settled into a conceited smirk, and he gestured toward her appearance. “Look at you. I’m the future Alpha of this pack. Do you really think I’m going to taint my appearance by shacking up with an Omega nobody?”
Logan put a finger to her lips. “No. When the time comes for me to take over, I will reject you, Cassie. And I’m going to take Tiffany as my Luna.”
How could he talk so freely of rejections when her own heart was bursting with longing for him?
Logan stepped away from her, adjusting his jacket and shoving his hands in his pockets. “Until then, you can pine over me while you do Tiffany’s laundry.”
With that, Logan turned his back on her and dipped out of the alley without a backward glance. Cassie heard his footsteps receding and the throttle of a car engine as her mate sped off, taking her bleeding heart along with him.
Cassie felt her legs buckle beneath her and slid to the floor in cold silence. Her chest ached. An empty cavity hollowed out by her apathetic other half.
She felt numb.
It took a while for the tears to come. But when they did, they fell like waterfalls.
