Chapter 1
It was a beautiful start to the day. The morning dew sparkled in the soft light of dawn. Looking across the lawns towards the forest, there wasn’t another person in sight, the chattering calls of birds, the only sound to be heard. There was always a sense of peace and tranquillity to be found at this time of day when most of the pack were still asleep in bed. Soon the Pack House would begin to wake up, firstly the kitchen team, followed by those lured downstairs by the smell of fresh coffee and breakfast cooking. By 7:30am, the training grounds would fill up with pack warriors ready for the first training session of the day.
Cassie looked towards the forest again and smiled to herself as she thought about how lucky she was to live in such a beautiful place. The pack was blessed to have such stunning scenery surrounding the Pack House. The rolling hills were covered in forest, where there were many hidden places to be found. One of her favourite spots is a secluded waterfall with a beautiful natural pool below. She discovered the place while out running in her wolf form a few years ago and has been back many times since. Her wolf, Amber, loves it when they go there, as it means she gets let out for a good long run. Cassie isn’t sure if anyone else in the pack knows about the waterfall and she likes to think that it’s her and Amber’s secret place. That’s one of the reasons she loves to sneak out so early in the morning. She can run to the waterfall and swim in the pool without the risk of anyone seeing where she’s going.
While Cassie loved being part of her pack and living with the other warriors in the pack house, sometimes she just needed some time alone to relax. It doesn’t help that Amber has been more antsy than usual recently, pacing around in her head and making it hard to keep her under control if she hasn’t been let out for a couple of days. She can’t seem to say what’s bothering her, but Cassie wonders if it’s linked to the pressure of running for the role of pack Gamma. The current Alpha, Beta and Gamma of Silver Pines will be retiring from their pack leadership roles at the end of the year. Alpha Thomas and Beta Charles will be passing their leadership positions onto their sons, Gabriel and Andrew, but Gamma Michael doesn’t have a direct heir. He has a niece and nephew, who live in another pack, but neither of them are interested in moving to Silver Pines to take up the position. Alpha Thomas and Gamma Michael have continued searching for a replacement, and last week they announced they’d consider promoting someone from within the pack who can prove they’re suitable for the role. At 22, Cassie is one of the youngest wolves in the pack to ever be promoted to the position of Lead Warrior and one of the pack's top strategists, so she jumped at the chance. There are a couple of other wolves who are also in the running, but Cassie is hopeful that she has a good chance of being selected. While Cassie may not be the strongest warrior, she is the fastest and she knows how to make every hit count in a fight. Since being promoted to one of the Lead Warrior positions last year, Cassie has been working closely with Gamma Michael, assisting him with tasks such as leading warrior training sessions and coordinating patrols and pack house security. Since then, Cassie was always on the lookout to find some more opportunities to prove herself to the pack leadership.
While sitting and contemplating her options, the sound of the morning buzz of activity from the Pack House drifted down towards her. As if on cue, Andy burst out of the Pack House and ran down the lawn towards her, his long legs eating up the distance. He was followed by Gabriel and Gamma Michael, who were engaged in a serious discussion. Cassie watched as they veered off towards the training grounds and wondered if they were discussing the vacant future Gamma position. Before her mind had time to start over-thinking things again, Andy plopped himself down next to her.
“You know Cassie, one day I’m going to beat you to it and get out here before you in the morning.” he said, with a daft grin on his face.
“Sure you will ‘Mr rolls-out-of-bed-and-straight-out-the-door-every-damn-morning’.” Cassie scoffed, rolling her eyes at him.
“Ugh, you wound me, Cassie!” he replied, clasping his hands over his heart dramatically, feigning hurt. She just rolled her eyes at him again.
“Come on, we’d better get over to the training grounds before the rest of the warriors arrive.” she said, as she pushed herself up off the ground and started heading towards the training area.
Andy trotted up beside her and started nattering away about his plans for the weekend. Unlike Gabriel, neither Andy nor Cassie have met their mate yet. Not that this bothered Cassie at all! She had spent the last few years working hard for her career and playing just as hard in her down time, enjoying the single life and the freedom to be with whoever she wanted. Right now, the idea of being tied to one person didn’t seem all that tempting. While Andy enjoys his fair share of women, Cassie knew that deep down he was really looking forward to meeting his mate. He could see how perfect Gabriel and Vanessa were together, and how well they supported each other as they prepared to take over as Alpha and Luna of the pack. Andy was always the cheery jokester on the outside, but Cassie wondered how her friend was really dealing with the pressure of soon becoming the Beta of the pack. As they reached the training grounds, she made a mental note to check in with him later. Now, it was time for them to focus on leading the warriors’ morning training session.
