Page 5 of Once You Go Pack
The question hit like a physical blow.Not long, hopefully.Riley would miss having someone to compete with. Her father would miss having his problems solved without asking. But actually miss her?
“I don’t even know how to be a queen.” The admission slipped out before she could stop it.
“You’ve been queening your entire life, sweetheart. You just haven’t had a kingdom worthy of you.” Gerri reached across the table, her small hand surprisingly strong as it covered Mila’s. “Sometimes we have to leave everything familiar to find out who we really are.”
Who am I really?The question terrified and thrilled her in equal measure. Here in Salem, she was the reliable daughter, the invisible sister, and the woman who made everyone else’s life easier while her own dreams withered.
But a queen? Someone powerful enough to stand beside a king, to rule and protect and matter?
“What if I’m not extraordinary enough?” The words came out small.
“Oh, dear.” Gerri’s eyes blazed gold. “But what if you are?”
TWO
CADE
The stone corridors of the Ice Moon royal castle stretched endlessly before Cade as the twin suns began their descent outside the towering windows. Each step he took echoed with the weight of decisions he wasn’t ready to make, responsibilities he’d never wanted, and a future bearing down on him like an avalanche.
I’m thirty years old and I’m already feeling ancient.
His broad shoulders carried the tension of sleepless nights spent watching his father’s strength ebb away. King Drake had always been a mountain of a man—unshakeable and eternal. Now he resembled a shadow of his former self, the rare virus eating away at him with ruthless efficiency. The healers spoke in whispers about months, maybe weeks until his father would meet his untimely demise.
How the hell am I supposed to fill those boots?
The thought of Zarik’s ice-blue eyes flashed through his mind, predatory and calculating. That bastard had been circling like a vulture ever since the news of the High Sovereign’s illness spread through the packs in the Ice Mountains territory. The Shadow Moon king saw opportunity where Cade saw only loss,and the knowledge that Zarik would challenge his claim to High Sovereign made Cade’s jaw clench.
Twenty more years. That’s all I wanted. Twenty more years to travel Nova Aurora, to be just... me.
But the ancient wolf shifter laws were immutable. No unmated wolf could claim the High Sovereign position without facing a leadership duel. And Zarik in single combat? The Shadow Moon king was a vicious fighter who’d killed his own father to claim his throne. Cade was good—damn good—but Zarik fought without honor and without restraint.
Which brings me right back to the mate problem.
His boots carried him past the great hall where portraits of previous Ice Moon kings gazed down with stern approval. Each one had found their mate and had ruled with the strength that came from a balanced partnership. Each one had made it look effortless.
Cade’s wolf stirred restlessly beneath his skin, frustrated by the endless pacing, the circular thoughts, and the weight of duty crushing down on what should have been prime exploring years. The beast wanted action, wanted to run through the crystalline snow under Nova Aurora’s twin moons, and wanted tolive.
Instead, they were trapped in political machinations and death watches.
The communicator at his wrist buzzed with an incoming transmission, the familiar Earth frequency making him pause mid-stride. Only one person contacted him from that particular planet.
“Gerri?” He activated the display, and the matchmaker’s face materialized, her white bob perfectly styled despite being an entire galaxy away.
“Cade, darling!” Her voice carried that peculiar mix of maternal warmth and barely contained excitement that always made him wary. “I have the most wonderful news!”
Here we go.His sister Lyra had insisted he contact the Paranormal Dating Agency weeks ago, when the council first started pressuring him about the mate requirement. At the time, it had seemed like a reasonable solution to an impossible problem. Now, faced with Gerri’s glowing enthusiasm, he felt like a man standing on the edge of a cliff.
“You found someone.” It wasn’t a question. Gerri’s success rate was legendary, her instincts supposedly supernatural. Which didn’t make this any less terrifying.
“Oh, honey, I didn’t just find someone. I foundher.” Gerri’s eyes flashed that distinctive gold that meant she was particularly pleased with herself. “Her name is Mila Eldridge, and she’s absolutely perfect for you.”
Electricity shot through Cade’s chest at the name.Mila.His wolf perked up with sudden, inexplicable interest, as if hearing a howl from across vast distances.
“Tell me about her.” The words came out rougher than intended, his primal instincts responding to something he couldn’t quite identify rationally yet.
“She’s a human senior paralegal with a brilliant mind and handles pressure like she was born for it.” Gerri’s grin could have powered half of Nova Aurora. “She organized a charity event for me in less than a week that should’ve taken months to coordinate. And Cade—she has this inner strength, this resilience that’s absolutely rare.”
His heart hammered against his ribs for reasons that made no logical sense.A human.The rational part of his mind immediately cataloged the problems. His world would terrify her, pack politics could destroy her, and the physical demands of being mated to an Ice Moon wolf might break her.
