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

As the Alpha of Ursa Minor reported his pack's achievements for the month, Ran noticed that Caph was distracted. Normally, she wouldn't have cared.


Caph had no interest in the formal aspects of the Gathering. Much less the droning-ons of the Alphas about how strong their packs had become in one month, how many new mouths to feed and what new venture or ambition they were up to next.


At her county's Gathering, she had spotted him twiddling his thumbs and ogling at the females in the crowd—which she realised later was actually just him counting the number of right-handed werewolves present.


Sure, he was more responsible now that he had playacted as Alpha protege for a while, but his hobbies hadn't changed that much.


Back then, he had continuously whispered the numbers into her ear and kept prodding her to look at something he found interesting.


This time, Ran noticed his blue eyes were dull, skimming over the crowd as if he did not see anyone in front of him.


Chapter 36: To Be Young And In Love