Cassia And the Alpha Triplets

Chapter 1.

Chapter 1: The Cold, Quiet Night

The snow falls in thick, soft sheets, blanketing the world in pure white. From the window of the pack house, I can see the trees standing tall, their branches heavy with snow, the whole forest looking like it’s frozen in time. It’s beautiful, in a way, but the beauty doesn’t reach me. Not anymore.

Winter has always been here, ever since I can remember. The cold creeps into my bones, but it's nothing compared to the chill that wraps around my heart. This house is nothing like the warmth and safety I imagined when I was younger. The house is full of noise, laughter, and celebrations, but it’s never for me. It never will be.

The pack house is buzzing with excitement for the upcoming Winter Solstice Festival. The sounds of people running around, decorating, and preparing the feast fill the hallways. I can hear the laughter from the other side of the door, the voices of the young she-wolves fawning over the triplets. The Alpha Triplets.

Orion, Kael, and Sylas.

Their names echo in my mind like a bitter, sour taste. They're the pride of this pack, adored by everyone, treated like gods. I’ve seen it time and time again, how the young wolves flock to them, eyes shining, hearts fluttering. They are powerful, charming, and so effortlessly perfect. Everything I’ll never be.

I don’t matter here. No one remembers that tomorrow is my eighteenth birthday. Not that it matters much. Not in this place. My birthday is always overshadowed by theirs. After all, the triplets were born on the same day—just three years older than me. So my day is always forgotten. My life has always been forgotten.

It’s not like I care. I don’t.

But tomorrow marks something else for me. Something significant. It’s the day I’ll finally become an adult in the eyes of the pack. The day I’ll experience my first shift into my wolf form. And it’s the day I’ll officially become eligible to find my fated mate.

I push the thought away, my fingers brushing the windowsill as I stare outside. The wind howls through the trees, the air biting and cold.

I don’t care about the mate bond. I don’t care about shifting or being part of the pack.

I’m done.

Once I turn eighteen, I’ll leave. No more servitude. No more ridicule. I’ll finally escape the suffocating walls of this place. I’ve spent years planning for this moment, scraping together every coin I could. Everything I’ve done has been for this. And once I’m free, I’ll never look back. I’ll carve my own path. Away from the triplets. Away from the pack.

I glance at the clock. It’s just after dusk. The house is alive with activity. Voices echo down the hall, mixing with the sharp clinking of silverware and the rustling of decorated cloth. It’s the same every year. The Winter Solstice Festival. The pack’s biggest celebration. It’s the one time when everyone comes together, when the Alpha Triplets are put on display like prized possessions. The she-wolves gather around them like moths to a flame. Their perfect smiles, their perfect bodies, their perfect lives—everything about them is perfect.

And then there’s me. Cassia.

The girl who was abandoned by her parents when she was just a child.

I don’t remember them. Not really. All I remember is how they left without a second thought, vanishing into the world, leaving me behind. I don’t know if it was their addiction or their carelessness that led to my abandonment, but I remember the darkness that surrounded me when they were gone.

I was nine when they disappeared. No one asked where I went, and no one cared.

The Duskwood Pack took me in after that, though I didn’t belong. I was nothing to them. A debt to be paid. Alpha Magnus and his wife, Lyra, took me in, but they treated me like an inconvenience, a burden to their perfect world.

And the triplets—Orion, Kael, and Sylas—took it upon themselves to make sure I knew my place. I can still hear their laughter, cruel and mocking, echoing through the halls of the pack house when they saw me cleaning the floors or scrubbing the kitchen. They were twelve years old when I arrived, already three years older than me, and they made sure I knew how little I mattered.

They never let me forget.

“Cassless,” they called me. The nickname still stings. They’d sneer at me, call me names, treat me like I was invisible, and whenever I dared to look them in the eyes, they’d turn away. They could never stand to look at me for too long. I wasn’t worth their time.

But they never had to be cruel. They didn’t need to. Their status as the future leaders of the pack made sure that everyone else followed their lead. The other wolves in the pack picked up on their disdain, treating me with the same indifference, the same coldness.

Life here has always been a series of small humiliations. Working endless hours to pay off my parents’ debts, cleaning, cooking, doing everything I can just to keep my head down and stay out of their way. Every penny I earn goes straight to the pack, subtracted from the debt I’ll never repay. Every meal I eat is one I’ve earned through sweat and pain. Every breath I take, I feel the weight of my parents' mistakes.

I push the thought away again, focusing on the cold, bitter beauty outside. The snow, thick and relentless, falling in heavy chunks, draping the world in a heavy silence. For a moment, it’s all I can think about. The quiet peace of the world outside, so far removed from the chaos and noise of the pack house.

But that peace is fleeting.

I hear footsteps behind me. I don’t need to look over my shoulder to know who it is.

Orion.

I don’t need to hear his voice to know it’s him. I can feel his presence, the way the air around me changes when he enters the room. Orion has always carried an air of authority, even when he was a child. He was the firstborn, the one who was always meant to lead the pack. The others followed his example, his commands, even if it meant treating me like dirt.

His footsteps stop just behind me. I don’t turn to face him.

“You’re still sulking, Cassia?” His voice is smooth, a low hum that has always carried power, even when we were kids. I don’t answer. “The festival’s almost here. You’ll need to get yourself together. Can’t have you ruining everything again.”

I feel the heat rise in my chest, but I force myself to stay calm. I won’t let him see me react. I won’t give him the satisfaction.

“I’m not ruining anything,” I reply, my voice steady but quiet.

He chuckles, but there’s no humor in it. “You never do, do you?”

I clench my fists, but I don’t say anything else. I’m not about to give him the reaction he wants. I’ve learned that silence is my best weapon.

“You’re getting older,” Orion says after a moment, his voice softer now. “Tomorrow, you’ll be eighteen.”

I nod but don’t reply. He knows exactly how I feel about that.

“You’ll shift tomorrow. That’s a big day for you. Maybe you’ll finally be able to find your mate.”

His words slice through the air, a reminder of everything I don’t want to think about. The mate bond. The one thing I’ve never wanted.

But it doesn’t matter. I won’t stay here. Not after I turn eighteen. I’ll be gone, free from everything. Free from him. Free from all of them.

I don’t care about the pack. I don’t care about my fated mate.

All I care about is leaving.

And tomorrow, I’ll finally have the chance to do it.