The Alpha Wears Number Nine

3. Deadline To Rule

Cassian

The punching bag swung back at me again, and I caught it hard with another blow. My knuckles were raw, even with the wraps, and my t-shirt was soaked down the middle. I didn’t care. I wanted it to hurt. I wanted to feel something besides the tightness in my chest.

I hit the bag again. And again. My jaw clenched, sweat sliding down my spine as I backed up, bounced on the balls of my feet, then swung again. The sound of leather meeting skin echoed off the gym walls.

Brielle. Her face kept flashing in my head. Crying. Begging. Lying.

"It was a mistake, I swear. I was drunk…"

Bullshit.

You don’t sleep with two guys by mistake. You don’t come crawling back when I was the one who gave her my time, my name, my protection.

And she spit on it.

I hit the bag again, harder this time. My shoulders burned. My heart was thudding like it wanted to escape my ribs. I was done with her. I had to be. If I didn’t walk away, I would’ve torn someone’s throat out.

I turned and wiped my face with the hem of my shirt, then kicked the bag one last time and let it swing. My breathing was heavy. I grabbed my water bottle from the bench and downed what was left.

The home gym was downstairs, cold floor, black mats, big mirrors. My usual place to disappear when everything started to pile.

Then I heard the door upstairs slam.

Footsteps. Heavy ones.

I already knew who it was.

I dropped the bottle, wiped my hands on my sweats, and turned toward the steps. Sure enough, he came down fast, all suit and pressure. My father.

Alpha Magnus Draven.

Tall, broad, the kind of man who didn’t have to shout to be feared. His face always looked like it was carved from concrete. I didn’t remember the last time he smiled.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked around the gym, then at me.

"Training again?"

I nodded once. "It’s better than punching walls."

"Good. Better use of energy."

He crossed his arms and looked at me hard.

"I heard about the girl."

My shoulders tensed. I didn’t reply.

"You ended it?"

I nodded again. "Yeah."

He sniffed, like that answer wasn't enough. "Good. She was never Alpha material. Her family’s weak. No spine. Her behavior only proved it."

He turned away and walked a few steps toward the mirror wall, then faced me again.

"That brings us to the actual problem."

I knew it. The look in his eyes. The reason he came down here instead of barking orders from his office.

"You’re eighteen. Three months from now, you take the crown. The full rites. The mark. The power of the pack officially transfers to you."

I stayed quiet. He knew my age. He set the date himself.

"And yet," he said, voice sharp, "you don’t have a mate."

There it was.

I dragged my hand through my hair, already frustrated. "I can still take the title. I don’t need a mate for that."

He laughed once. Cold. "You think the council’s going to hand you power without proof you can lead beside someone? Do you understand how many enemies we have in the outer packs? How many are waiting for a sign of weakness?"

"Not having a girl on my arm doesn’t make me weak."

"It makes you unstable. Vulnerable."

He stepped closer now, looking me straight in the face.

"You were born to rule, Cassian. You wear that number nine because of what you carry in your blood. You will take this pack to the next generation. And if you want their respect…if you want your name to hold…you need to be mated. Fast."

My heart was beating faster again. But not from the workout.

"You want me to just go find someone and lock it down? Just like that?"

His eyes narrowed. "You need someone worthy enough to stand beside you. Someone strong. Someone the council will accept."

My hands clenched into fists.

He stepped closer, voice low now. "If you don’t, the council will vote to delay your crowning. And if they delay it long enough, someone else could rise."

My stomach dropped.

He didn’t have to say who. My cousin Alec was already sniffing around. He smiled too much in front of the elders. Agreed too easily. He wanted my spot. Always had.

I swallowed hard.

My dad saw it.

"This isn’t a game anymore, son. Find someone. Be mated. Three months. Or you’ll be watching Alec take everything that should be yours."

He walked past me, back to the stairs.

"And Cassian?"

I looked up.

"Make sure she’s the right one. The pack watches everything."

Then he was gone. Just like that. No hug. No shoulder pat. No “I know this is hard.”

I stood there, jaw tight, chest tight, and stared at my reflection in the mirror.

Eighteen. Future Alpha.

And now...I had to find a girl.

Not for love. Not for anything real.

Just to keep what was already supposed to be mine.

I stayed there in the gym for a long time after he left.

The silence pressed down harder than my father’s words. My chest rose and fell slowly as I stood in front of the mirror, staring at myself like the answer was supposed to be there. Like I’d suddenly see some version of me who knew exactly what the hell to do.

Three months.

Find a mate. Be mated.

Or lose the crown.

I let out a bitter breath, dragging both hands down my face. My shirt clung to me, drenched in sweat. My hair was damp at the sides, the wraps on my hands sticky and starting to itch. I should’ve gone to shower. Should’ve gone upstairs and thrown myself into something mindless. A game. A run. Anything.

But my brain wouldn’t stop spinning.

Who?

Every girl I’d dated was either too shallow, too power-hungry, or too weak to stand beside me and not flinch. Most of them would kill to wear my mark, sure. They’d wear the title like a crown. Smile at the cameras. Play the part.

But none of them…none of them fit.

I didn’t need someone who’d fold under pressure. I didn’t need someone who’d smile at me and sleep with someone else behind my back the moment I turned around. I needed someone I could trust…someone the council would respect.

Someone with enough guts to stand in a room of Alphas and not blink.

I sat on the bench, elbows on my knees, staring at the mats.

And that’s when her face flashed.

The girl from school.

Not Brielle. Not any of the loud ones who walked like the halls were theirs.

The quiet one.

The one with her cheeks full of food, eyes wide, frozen like a deer when I caught her watching me behind the bleachers.

I didn’t even know her name.

But I remembered her face. Her mouth was still chewing when I turned to her. She had looked away so fast it made my jaw twitch. Like she was scared. Or embarrassed. Or both.

But she was there. Watching. Silent.

And for some reason…I couldn’t stop thinking about it now.

She was an omega.

I’d seen her around before, now that I really thought about it. Always at the back of class. Always with her head down. Like she’d been trained not to take up space.

Jordan used to joke about a girl they nicknamed Maid. Said she lived with his family, did chores, barely spoke.

Was that her?

I stood again and started pacing the gym. Slow steps. Barefoot. The cool floor under my soles helped keep my brain from overheating.

She didn’t look like someone who’d be on anyone’s radar. Which, maybe, was the point.

The council wanted a mated Alpha. My father wanted someone strong.

But they never said she had to be from a top family. Or that she had to be perfect.

She just had to be mine.

And maybe…just maybe…someone like her would have more to gain than lose. Someone like her wouldn’t ask too many questions. Wouldn’t try to own me.

My mind raced.

I didn’t even know if she had a name. If she’d even look me in the eye again.

But I remembered those eyes.

Big. Quiet. Cautious.

Not like Brielle’s.

And somehow, that made all the difference.

I rubbed the back of my neck and muttered under my breath.

“s**t…”

What the hell was I thinking?

Me. An Alpha heir. With an omega no one even acknowledged?

This was insane.

And yet... I couldn’t shake the image of her.

Cheeks full. Watching me. Like she knew exactly what I’d just done and didn’t judge me for it.

Maybe it was time I found out who the hell she really was.