Chapter 1
*Freyah*
“Oliver is coming home today!” I was buzzing with excitement as I burst through my brother’s door, not caring that him and his mate, Ally, seemed to have been having a moment.
They flinched away from each other as I plopped myself into their bed, ignoring their flushed cheeks and ruffled hair.
My brother was the Alpha of our pack, The Primal Pack, which was the strongest in the country. Though he was a year younger than me, he and his mate were my two closest friends since Oliver and Liam left for the Alpha Training Academy all those years ago.
Though I interrupted their moment, they both beamed at me.
“You’re excited,” Ally said as she brushed a piece of my dark hair away from my face. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
“You’re going to love him,” I sighed as I allowed the good memories of Oliver to swamp me.
Oliver and I had been close since we were able to walk. Our parents were the former Alpha and Beta of our pack, so we practically grew up together. But I was sure that he was my mate.
We had been inseparable as kids up until we were teenagers when he left. I fell in love with him before I even knew what love was, and I knew he felt the same—if not more. Our parents and everyone around us were convinced we were mates. Oliver had always been so protective of me and he hated when any other male came close to me, especially Liam, who was also my best friend.
Oliver and I made a promise before he left for the Alpha Training Academy. He was fifteen when he left, just one year before he got his wolf to know for sure that I was his mate. But we promised that once he was back, whether we were fated mates or not, we would have each other.
And today was that day.
“Careful, Freyah,” my brother, Jullian teased as he shuffled from the bed. His smirk told me he was poking fun at me, but something in his eyes held seriousness. “A lot has changed over the years. You both have changed. Just don’t get too excited until he actually gets here.”
I waved him off. “I know we’ve changed, but my love is the same. I have no doubt that his is too.”
Jullian pecked his mate on the lips before kissing my head. “I’m just trying to protect you. But I’m excited too. I miss him.”
I rolled my eyes at my brother. Though he was younger, he was always so protective of me. All my life I had three overprotective males breathing over my shoulder—Jullian, Oliver and Liam. I loved them all, but sometimes it got too much.
“My forever protector,” I drawled sarcastically as he chuckled and left. Ally stared longingly after him, and I couldn’t wait to have that same encounter with Oliver.
Jullian only found Ally a year ago when he took over as Alpha, so she didn’t know Oliver or Liam. But I had been talking about them nonstop, especially Oliver. So, she was up to par.
Six years ago, Oliver and Liam left for Alpha Training Academy. Oliver was originally the Beta wolf’s son of our pack, who would have taken over as Jullian’s Beta. But our pack was the head of the Seven Pack Alliance—an alliance my dad and six other Alphas, including my uncles, made two decades ago. The seven packs were unmatched throughout the world because of this alliance, but one of the packs, Moonlight Pack, had no Alpha except my dad all these years.
So, since Oliver always showed the strength and resilience of an Alpha, my dad decided to send him to the academy to take over Moonlight Pack. He was coming back no longer a Beta, but an Alpha—my alpha.
Liam was the rightful Alpha of our neighbouring pack, Lightwater Pack. His dad died before he was born, so he didn’t get the training he needed to rule. My cousin, Daniel, ran the pack now until Liam returned, and I couldn’t wait to see him too.
There was no means of communication outside of the academy. It was like the military and initially, it was torture for me not being able to talk to them.
But now they were coming home, and I couldn’t wait to see them. Especially Oliver.
“He’s here!” I heard Jullian call from downstairs, just as I heard a car pulling into the driveway. I almost fell from the bed with excitement as I rushed to the mirror, ensuring I still looked presentable before dashing down the stairs.
I tripped over the last one as the door swung open, pushing past my brother as I threw myself at Oliver.
He dropped the bags he was holding, and I ignored the pink ones as my feet wrapped around him.
And that’s when I felt it click into place. Our mate bond.
He was my mate.
I knew it!
My heart swelled with joy as my wolf howled inside me, shaking her fur and pouncing in my head. Tears pricked my eyes at the joy I felt, until I realised something strange.
He didn’t hug me back.
Slowly, I climbed from him and stepped back, taking my time to look at his face. My breath caught. He. Was. Gorgeous.
The Oliver that left was a teenager—still a child. But the Oliver looking at me now was all man.
His dusty, brown hair was shorter than I remembered, but it brought out his sharp jawbones and olive skin even more. His green eyes bore into me with such intensity that my insides turned to jelly. He now sported a piercing in his left ear, too, and a tattoo on his right arm. And gosh, those biceps. When did he get so… buff?
He was a masterpiece standing in front of me, and I wanted to hug him forever and kiss him until I couldn’t breathe anymore.
I shivered as his eyes swept over my body before landing on my face again, and for an instant, they softened. But it didn’t last for long. They were sharp again—unyielding any emotion or sign that he was excited to see me too.
That’s when I really noticed the bags he was holding. Those were definitely not his bags. I then caught a scent that was unfamiliar—oddly wolf but also didn’t smell like any wolf I’ve ever encountered.
And that’s when she stepped into view. A tiny woman with wavy black hair and striking blue eyes came into view. In a lot of ways, she reminded me of myself.
Our hair colour was the same, although hers was wavy and mine was straight, and her blue eyes were slightly darker than mine. She was about an inch taller than me and a tad slimmer, but then I saw it, and my heart broke.
Her hand was resting on her stomach—on her extended stomach, I might add. And the slow, sinister grin that pulled on her face was enough to confirm my fears.
I stumbled back, as if someone had punched me and I met Oliver’s eyes again. Jullian’s arms wrapped around me to keep me from falling as my mate took a step forward.
“Freyah…” his voice pierced me. It was so familiar, yet so different, and I hated that even in heartbreak, his voice affected me. “This is Symphony. She… she’s pregnant with my child and so I’m taking her as my chosen mate.”
That’s when the tears finally came, as quiet footsteps came down the stairs. Ally had joined to witness this, as I sank deeper into Jullian, a sob breaking from my lips.
“No,” I cried, and I didn’t even recognize my voice. “No, Oliver… You… you promised!”
His chest rose and fell as a flicker of emotion crossed his face, but it was gone before I could even grasp it.
“We were kids,” he bit out. “It means nothing because I’m rejecting you.”
“Oliver,” my brother growled, his nostalgia for his friendship with Oliver now gone and faded in comparison to his undying will to protect me. And right now, Jullian could tell that Oliver was tearing me apart. He was ruining me.
“Oliver, please,” I cried, my vision getting blurry from tears. “Don’t do this.”
I heard the woman snicker, but I ignored her. But then he did it, and my entire world crumbled.
“I, Oliver James of Primal Pack, reject you—”
“—NO!” I cried, and it felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest.
“—Freyah Dalton of…” He took a breath. “…of Primal Pack.”
And then it happened. I felt the bond that had just clicked into place break and shatter into a million pieces; or maybe it was my heart. I wasn’t sure.
It felt as if he had taken a silver dagger dipped in acid and wolfsbane and pierced me through the heart.
My knees gave out as my brother tried to comfort me, but there was nothing he could do at that moment as the sobs wracked my body, until I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
I really couldn’t breathe, so I wrenched myself from my brother’s arms and pushed passed Oliver and Symphony through the front door. I could have sworn I saw his hand move as if he was trying to grab me, but I ran and ran until I was in the forest, where I shifted into my large white wolf, and ran to our neighbouring pack.
This time, it would be forever.