Chapter 47

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Decided to gift y'all with another chapter because you guys are being really nice in the ONYX comments 🥺 There's nothing better than being an author and receiving compliments on your writing.

So a gift from me (your sexy and genius author) to you (my almost-as-sexy-and-smart readers)❤️

Gwen and I continued drinking with Cassia, and she seemed to be in a considerably better mood by the end of it. We stayed away from the topic of mates, and instead Gwen told her stories about the havoc she had bestowed on Blood Lake.

"I swear to the Moon Goddess!" Gwen says through fits of giggling, finishing the bottle of rum. "To this day, Alpha Cain won't let me use the stove in the Pack House."

Cassia howls in laughter, clutching her sides, and even I smile slightly. "You guys are hilarious," Cassia says. "What are you doing for the rest of the day?"

Gwen looks at me, and I shrug. "Do you have something particular in mind, Cassia?" She asks, and I can see the wheels turning in her mind, thinking of how to maximize chaos.

"Are you allowed to use the training center?" Cassia asks shyly.

Gwen snorts. "Allowed? Baby, you're looking at the Blood Lake Weapons Master." Gwen flips her hair and smirks.

Cassia's mouth drops. "No freaking way. I can't believe the Luna and Weapons Master of Blood Lake are seeing me like this," she gestures to herself, probably slightly drunkenly.

"You do look pretty awful," Gwen agrees, and Cassia hits her with a pillow. "Go take a shower and fix yourself up so you look less like a gremlin and more like a person and we can go."

Cassia gets up, and before she leaves, she looks at me. "Thank you," she says quietly. "I needed this."

I nod, and she leaves. I could see why she felt so isolated here. Especially with the harsh winter, it would be enough to drive anyone insane.

"I like her," Gwen says, fixing her hair after Cassia's assault.

"You like anyone who drinks with you," I point out.

Gwen flips me off. "Why do you think we're friends, bitch?"

I shrug. "You annoy everyone else. My tolerance is just higher than most."

Gwen stares at the door Cassia went through. "You know, I fought Jax tooth and nail when he took me from Iron Claw. Literally. I punched two of his teeth out."

I smile sadly at her forlorn expression. "You didn't want a mate?"

She sighs. "I wanted a mate, sure. But Jax was so... serious. I guess you have to be, to be a Beta or whatever. You know he wouldn't even laugh at my jokes?" She asked incredulously.

"What a grievous offense," I agree sarcastically.

"Sorry," Gwen shakes her head, snapping out of it. "I shouldn't be talking about him with you."

"It's okay," I shrug. "It's over with. No point in beating a dead horse. Or, wolf, rather."

We sit in silence for awhile, lost in our own thoughts, and I hear the faucet turn off. A few moments later, Cassia returns, dressed in a pair of jeans and a teal sweater.

"Sit down," Gwen instructs, pointing to a chair. "I'll blow dry your hair. Trust me, you do not want to go outside right now with wet hair."

Gwen leaves, going into the bathroom, and returns with an old-looking hair dryer. "Don't worry, I'll tell Zach to invest in some better hair care products. This is downright a disgrace."

Cassia laughs, and Gwen blow dries her golden hair. When they're done, she puts on a sturdy pair of boots. We walk downstairs, and Cassia hesitates before opening the door.

"I don't know what to say to him," She mutters. "I threw a plate at his head and told him to get fucked."

I try to suppress a smile, but Gwen giggles. "You could start by apologizing for that."

Cassia smiles ruefully. "I don't suppose you have any more alcohol on hand?"

I pull a flask out of my back pocket and hand it to her. Gwen and Cassia look at me in shock. "What? I had a hard night," I say defensively.

Gwen tsks. "My, my. What a scoundrel you are, Luna. What ever would Alpha Cain say if he knew about this?"

I shrug. "He would probably start off by listing the dangers of alcohol, and finish a few hours later by reminding me of what a terrible influence you are on me."

Green grins wickedly, taking the flask from Cassia. "To bad influences, and new friends," She says warmly, lifting the flask up, and Cassia blushes.

I smile, and I'm not sure if the warmth in my chest is from the alcohol or happiness. "Same thing."

Cassia takes another drink from the flask. "Okay, I think I'm ready," She says nervously.

"You got this, tiger," Gwen encourages, patting her shoulder, and opens the door.

Cold air immediately assaults us as we step outside. Cassia shivers, and I'm not sure if it's from the cold, or from the sight of her mate, staring daggers at her.

Axel stands next to him, his eyes inspecting Cassia, no doubt gauging how dangerous she is.

Lay off, Axe, I tell him. She's fine. Give her a break, for fuck's sake.

Axel's gaze deintensifies. I wondered if he was remembering how volatile I was upon arriving at Blood Lake.

Cassia walks tentatively to Zach. He looks at her wearily. "Hi," I hear her say quietly.

"Hey," He says, and his eyes soften at his mate.

She nervously picks at the hem of her sleeve. "Sorry I threw a plate at you."

"Plates," He corrects quietly, but a slight smile pulls on the corner of his mouth.

"Plates," She agrees. "Sorry I threw plates at you. And, you know, the stuff I said..."

"Hey," He says softly, and rests his hand on her face. I cringe as I think about how Thane had done something similar in my dream. "I said things I regret too. Can we just... start over?"

Cassia exhales in relief. "I'd like that." I see her shiver again, her sweater not thick enough for the harsh weather of my territory.

Zach frowns at that. "Hang on," He says, and sprints into the house.

Cassia looks at me in confusion. I shrug. A few moments later, Zach returns with a pile of white fur in his arms. A smile spreads across my face slowly.

"For you," He says, and drapes the fur cloak around her. "At Blood Lake, it's tradition for the males to dress their mates in fur. To show we can provide, and will kill for our other half. I... I made it awhile ago for when I found you."

Cassia melts. "Oh, Zach," She says in adoration and throws her arms around him. He catches her, his face full of surprise.

Gwen elbows me. "Are we miracle workers, or what?"

"Or what." Axel mutters.

Gwen bends down, scooping snow into her hands. She packs it tightly, and Axel realizes only too late what she's doing. She lobs the snowball right at his head.

"Oof," Axel grunts, and I laugh at the sight of half of his face covered in snow. "Oh, you're going to regret that, Gwendolyn Parker."

He makes a snowball, and winds his arm back, but before he throws it, Zach says in confusion, Cassia still in his arms, "Why do you smell like alcohol?"

Cassia, Gwen, and I share a look before busting out into laughter. "Look, Zach, before you get mad," Gwen starts. "You should know that it was a Luna-approved endeavor."

Zach looks at me for confirmation. I shrug. "Gwen started it," I say.

Suddenly, Gwen's hair is covered in snow. Axel grins evilly. "Hey!" Gwen whines. "No fair, I wasn't ready!"

Axel throws another snowball, this one hitting her face. "Ready that time?" He teases, and Gwen screams in frustration, already preparing a snowball of her own.

Axel is already running away, laughing maniacally as he does so. Gwen turns to me, and throws the snowball at me. I try dodging it, but it hits the side of my face.

"What was that for?" I groan as I wipe the snow away. "Your issue is with Axel, not me!"

"Axel didn't throw me under the bus!" She laughs, and tries throwing another one at me, but this time I'm ready, and duck out of the way.

"You should run," I grin evilly at Gwen, who yelps when she sees me crouch down and shove my hands into the freezing snow.

I chase after Gwen, pegging her with one in the back, and Axel throws one at me, hitting me in the back of the head.

"That's for tripping me during duck, duck, wolf!" He shouts, already running away from me.

I see Cassia dumping a pile of snow on to Zach's head, and turns to run away. She squeals when he catches her by the waist, turning her back around so they were facing each other. Zach leans over, and for a moment, I think he's going to kiss her. Until he takes the snow from his shoulders and tosses it at her face.

He laughs, and Cassie whines as he jogs away, chasing after him with a clump of snow. She trips and falls, and Zach immediately rushes over to her, leaning over her in concern. Cassia smashes the snow into his face, and shoves him to the ground and skips away joyfully.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Gwen cheers, and does a little victory dance with Cassia until they both have snowballs being launched at them by Axel and Zach.

"That's it! Princesses against brutes!" Gwen yells. "Prepare for battle!"

"Hey, I'm not a brute," Axel pouts.

Gwen raises her eyebrows. "Are you calling yourself a princess?"

Axel glares at her and opens his mouth to reply when he's interrupted by a voice I recognize all too well.

"Having a snowball fight without me?" Cain asks, and smoothly wraps his arm around me.

I missed you, he mindlinks me, and my face flushes slightly.

Axel and Zach stiffen, straightening up. "Um, Alpha we were just-"

Cain laughs- actually laughs- and the sound is so warm it nearly melts the snow off of my face. "You aren't in trouble. As long as you let me join, of course. It seems as though you're short a brute," Cain gives a pointed look at Gwen, who shrugs. Cassia looks as though she might die of shock.

Axel quickly brushes off his surprise. "Of course not, Alpha. Though the odds are so stacked against them, I almost feel sorry."

"Shut up, Brute!" Gwen yells, hitting Axel in the side of the face with a snowball.

Cassia hits Zach with one, giggling the whole time, her previous misery long forgotten. He chases after her, but she throws another one at his face, obscuring his vision.

I kick Cain in the shin, and while he's bent over, I lift up a pile of snow and shove it in his face.

"You fight dirty," Cain groans, wiping off his face, and reaches out for me, but I'm already running towards Gwen and Cassia.

The men- or brutes, as Gwen so lovingly referred to them- huddle up, and we do the same. "I say we stockpile snowballs and then BAM destroy them!" Gwen whispers, and Cassia nods seriously.

The brutes must have had a similar idea, because we all start forming snow balls with our hands, ignoring the biting cold. While Cassia and Gwen make the snowballs, I push together snow to form a wall of sorts.

"Copier!" I yell at Cain, who begins to do the same. He just grins in response, his wall already much taller than mine.

He looks so happy, so carefree, my heart nearly melts. I've never seen this side of Cain before. He always is so serious, so wrapped up in pack matters. We both are.

When we have a huge pile of snowballs, and the wall is formed, we start launching the snowballs at them, and they do the same. Suddenly, I notice that our snowballs are starting to melt, as is the wall, despite the fact that it's still snowing lightly, and it's just as cold as it was before.

I gasp. "Cheater!" Gwen yells, catching on to Cain, who's been melting our weaponry and defense.

"It's not cheating just because your Gift sucks!" Axel yells back.

"Shut up, tin can!" Gwen shouts in response.

A volley of snowballs assault us, and Cassia gets one right in the eye.

"Sorry, princess!" Zach laughs. "Hope this doesn't change your mind about that second chance!"

We put our arms over our head, shielding us from the incoming snowballs. "Got any ideas, Luna?" Cassia asks desperately.

I shrug. "Run like hell?"

We all sprint in the opposite direction, trying to outrun the brutes chasing after us. I look behind and Cassia is about to be caught by Zach. She turns around and holds her hands up. "Truce?" She asks hopefully.

"Sure," He says with a smile. He tackles her to the ground anyways, but flips them before they land, so she's on top of him. I look away before I see them playing tonsil hockey.

Gwen and I continue to sprint, Axel and Cain hot on our tails. Of course, Gwen chooses now to be a clumsy princess, and trips over her own feet.

"Leave me," She says dramatically. "You still have a chance."

I roll my eyes at her antics, but decide to take her advice and sprint away, but not before I see Axel bend down and shove her face in the snow.

You should know by now that you can't outrun me, pup, Cain taunts, and I scowl, pushing myself to go faster.

He's right behind me, and sure enough, I'm tackled to the ground, the soft snow cushioning my fall. His hand grabs the back of my head so it doesn't smack into the ground. What a gentleman.

"You are a brute," I tease him, his eyes as black as the night.

He grunts. "Doesn't that mean after capturing my maiden I get to have my way with her?"

I pretend to consider, meanwhile, my hand takes a clump of snow from the ground, and I smack it into the side of his face. He groans, and pulls me into his arms.

"Evil, beautiful maiden," He murmurs as he wipes stray snow off of my face. He walks us back to the others. Gwen and Axel are shoving each other while yelling profanities, and Zach shakes the snow off of Cassia's cloak, who's looking at him in admiration.

"Let's call a truce and go inside and have some hot chocolate, yeah?" Zach suggests, and we all agree.

Gwen bets Axel she can beat him in a race to the house, and they start running. Cassia and Zach follow them, their hands intertwined in each other's.

My skin, that was nearly frozen solid, begins to warm. Cain.

"Thank you," I say, and kiss his cheek.

"Not so bad for a brute?" He teases.

I smile. "Not bad at all."

I DEMAND AN APOLOGY FROM EVERYONE WHO SAYS I CAN'T WRITE HAPPY CHAPTERS. THIS IS THE CUTEST, MOST PERFECT WINTER WONDERLAND CHAPTER OUT THERE.

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