I was sixteen when my world got turned upside down. All four of my brothers ended up in the hospital and I was forced to finish a fight for them. A dept fight. It should have ended there, everything should have ended there. But it didn't. Ten years later and that night still haunts me, for more than one reason. My brothers friends were supposed to be off limits because of this. I can't get Dallas' kiss out of my head. I can't get the way Gage looked at me before the fight scrubbed clean. Or the way Bentley hugged me as he came back from the hospital. Or the way Matthew tried to get them to change the rules for me because he didn't want to see me get hurt. It doesn't matter, though. They hurt me that night. They betrayed me and I will never forgive them, not matter how hot they've gotten. No matter how my body reacts to them. They lost the chance to get to know me that night.

Isn’t love supposed to be easy, all knowing, powerful? Don’t most people believe in soul mates, or is that now just a foreign thing? Finding the one person you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with, some fairy tale huh? Not for me. I knew it existed. I knew I would find it. I knew I wanted it. I never in a million years thought it would come in the form of something forbidden, unattainable. Yet here it was. Dangling in front of me like the apple from the Garden of Eden. I couldn’t reach out and take it. I couldn’t bask in the glory of being the one that found my soulmate. They were so rare now, it was hardly talked about. Somehow our kind evolved into not needing the mate bond, how was that even possible? ******* “It’s rare. Why would I pass it up?” His words come out so soft and gentle, my heart nearly melted. Nearly. “Rare or not, we cannot be.” My own words are stabbing daggers into my chest as I stare at him. His eyes are staring straight into my heart. He knows me. He knows this is not what I want. How we never knew we were mates until this moment, I will never understand.

“I’ll make a deal with you, Chase.” Her words rang out in the quiet kitchen and I looked over at her with a raised brow without saying a word. “ I’ll go to the Summit. I’ll put on my acting shoes this week. But,” Her eyes were staring into me now with all the intensity they had left. “if he’s not there, I announce you as Alpha at the Summit, before the elders and other Alphas. It’ll be official, and I’ll find a house with the rest of our pack. “Her eyes were searching mine for approval, which she was not going to find. I did not approve of this plan at all. “ And if he is there, you let him help.” I said, taking a sip of coffee, watching her closely. This is the most we’d talked in six months. “Deal.” And with that, she was walking back up to her room. I watched her leave and sighed softly. The Goddess was cruel on so many levels. With neither of us having our mates, sometimes the urges and frustrations got a little too intense. She was my Alpha, but above that my best friend. We had been friends since kindergarten, and it was rough to see her like this. I always thought that she would be my mate, but when I turned 18 and realized she wasn’t, I was crushed. I’m pretty sure I remember avoiding her for weeks because I got my hopes up. ******* Will Bailey find her mate at the Summit? Can he fix this broken alpha? Or will she hand the title over to her Beta because she feels unfit to carry the title?