C1 Chapter One

James Pov

Sunlight speared through the gaps in the blinds, painting stripes across my face. A familiar voice boomed from downstairs, shattering the remnants of my sleep.

"James! For crying out loud, get up! We're gonna be late for school."

Drake. Tenacious as ever. I groaned, burrowing deeper into the covers. His voice, usually upbeat, held a strange edge this morning.

"Come on, get out of there!" he bellowed, ascending the stairs two at a time.

With a sigh, I peeked over the duvet. There he was, a mischievous glint in his eyes. I knew he was up to something.

Ignoring the playful glint, I mumbled, "Alright, alright. Just give me five more minutes."

"You wouldn't want to miss today of all days, would you?" he said, the smirk becoming a full-blown grin.

My brow furrowed. Today? What was so special about today?

As if reading my mind, he added, "Dude, it's your birthday. Don't be a grouch."

My cheeks flushed. "Oh. Right." Birthday or not, I couldn't escape the nagging feeling gnawing at me. Every year, Drake brought up the inevitable – finding my mate. The weight of his words settled on my shoulders, a familiar burden on a supposedly joyous day.

"I'm not a grouch," I mumbled defensively. "I just don't appreciate you constantly harping on about it."

Drake scoffed, rolling his eyes. A snort escaped his lips, a sound that usually preceded a playful jab, but today it felt pointed. "Harping?" he countered, his voice laced with a weary patience. "We both know Hailey isn't your mate, James. You can't pretend forever."

My jaw clenched, the muscles tight with a frustration that went far deeper than Drake's teasing. "Honestly, Drake, I don't need one." It was a lie, a flimsy shield I'd been holding up for years, its cracks becoming increasingly visible. Hailey had always been the "what if," the comfortable maybe in a world that demanded a destined certainty. But as the years blurred together, the spark I expected with my fated mate remained stubbornly absent. My wolf, the wild, instinctive part of me that craved its other half, had fallen uncharacteristically silent on the matter.

Drake knew this. He knew the intricate tapestry of my life with Hailey, the shared history that bound us closer than blood. He also understood the potential for a slow, agonizing heartbreak, a future painted in shades of loneliness despite companionship. He sat me down, his voice gentle yet firm, as he dissected the possibility of Hailey not being my mate, and the terrifying truth – the possibility of someone else existing out there.

That terrified me. How could I integrate a stranger, a wildcard, into the carefully cultivated life I'd built with Hailey for the past six years? The thought of a sudden, fated encounter sent shivers down my spine. Disrupting the rhythm of our existence felt like a betrayal, a dismantling of something precious and familiar.

My heart belonged to Hailey. Didn't it?

A knot formed in my stomach, tightening with every unanswered question. Why was this even a thought now, on my birthday of all days? The last time I'd fixated on finding my mate was during my first excruciating shift. The pain, they said, would be unbearable – a soul-deep yearning that could be fatal. Yet, with Hailey by my side, a constant source of grounding and comfort, I'd somehow managed.

"Finished wrestling with your inner demon?" Drake asked, his arms still crossed. A hint of amusement danced in his eyes, a stark contrast to the concern etched on his face earlier. "Impressive posture, by the way. Haven't seen you stand so still for that long since your first sunrise."

I growled playfully, the tension momentarily broken. "Just drop it, will you?"

He feigned hurt, clutching his chest dramatically. "Ouch, that's how you treat your future Beta?"

I smirked, a ghost of my usual carefree grin. "Alpha, Drake. Soon-to-be Alpha. But still not Alpha."

"Technically correct," he conceded with a wink. "Now get dressed. Birthday pancakes are waiting downstairs, and trust me, you don't want to keep Beta Dan waiting for his culinary masterpiece."

He exited, leaving me with a heavy sigh. My soon-to-be Alpha duties loomed large on the horizon, a constant reminder of the pack's expectations. Settling down became a looming expectation, a weight on my already burdened heart. But what if the Moon Goddess, in her infinite wisdom, had gotten it wrong? What if the fated mate wasn't someone I loved, but someone I had to learn to love? The question hung heavy in the air, a silent challenge to the years I'd spent building a life with someone else.

A shiver ran down my spine. How would I deal with that?

A boisterous yell from below, "Do you need a horse to carry you down here?" broke my reverie.

With a rueful laugh, I threw off the covers. Maybe facing the future, whatever it held, was better than hiding from it under a pile of blankets.