Ran shook her head. 'You act really well,' she grumbled brusquely. 'Too well.' 'You too,' he said and smiled indulgently for good measure. 'If you keep making such advances, I'll be seduced for real.' The Beta of Eridanus leaned away from him and frowned. 'Just reminding you that I will consider every interaction between us a part of our arrangement. Don't get involved with me. I don't like men like you.' Caph examined the serious expression on her face and fell into the endless depths of her dark gaze. He reached out one hand to tuck a strand of black hair behind her ear. Where his fingers touched her skin, it burned. She leaned as far back as she could. 'Aren't you the one who's getting confused?'
.
After losing both her parents in an attack by rogue wolves, Ran's uncle, Acamar, took over the pack as Regent Alpha until she is of age to succeed her parents. Since the attack, Ran became reserved and ambitious, rising up to the rank of Beta on her own, fiercely protective of her father's legacy. Acamar gives her an ultimatum as Regent: marry a capable man and hand over the position of Alpha to him or give him the right to be Alpha before her 21st birthday. Ran had already decided to be Alpha of Eridanus by herself, but forced to submit under her uncle's authority for now, she chooses to have an arranged marriage with the son of an Alpha. Her uncle selects the fourth son of the Alpha of the once-great, now-collapsing Cassiopeia pack, Caph, whose father wants him to 'settle down' and 'take responsibility' for ruining what's left of his pack's reputation with his casanova lifestyle. Privately, she proposes to Caph that they fake the courtship in order to placate the elders and stall for time while pursuing their personal goals. He agrees to it, thinking it would give him an extra year of freedom to search for his elusive bonded mate and a life of carefree happiness. But things get complicated and plans are ruined when they realise they are bonded to each other as mates...

Her Unwelcome Mate

Nusha played with a stray thread on Caph's sleeve. 'That's not possible.'


He was about to protest and tell her that their ancestors had bonded mates and they routinely found each other so there should be no reason why he couldn't—


'I don't mean bonded mates are not possible, Caph.'


He stared back at her, uncomprehending. 'Then?'


She looked away, her long brown lashes fluttering like butterfly wings.


Nusha had wavy brown hair that bounced lightly when she moved. Paired with her bright yellow eyes and cheerful expression, Caph thought she looked like a fairy.


She continued twisting the stray thread on his sleeve.


'I've been thinking about it while i was overseas. Why you can't find your bonded mate.'


Her eyes focused on him again. Her cheerful expression was replaced with a bashful one and the yellow in her eyes seemed to darken in intensity.


Chapter 21: The Boy Who Cried Wolf