3 Days Earlier

They still hadn't had their bonding ceremony yet, usually if the sub was already marked there was no point, but as the soon-to-be alpha of one of the biggest packs in the country, Karliah knew her bonding ceremony was an important way to bring together the most important people in the area, while stroking their egos and potentially dividing them into 'Allies', 'Enemies' and 'Neutral' groups in her head for future reference. It kind of ruined the romance of it when everything was about politics and status but she tried to enjoy the preparations anyway.

They had just about finalised their guest list and soon would be sending out their invites, although that didn't really feel like a good thing when Karliah knew that next came the table plans which would bring a whole host of new problems with it. Trying to remember which packs got along and which didn't was so tedious and confusing.

The pair were curled up on the sofa in Karliah’s bedroom, pages and pages of plans spread across the coffee table as they had yet another meeting to discuss their choices and ideas. Karliah sighed sadly, the sound squeezed Cassie’s heart.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, “Are you not excited for our bonding ceremony?” she crawled further up into her lap and placed her hands on her lightly tanned cheeks. Karliah pulled a face, trying to turn away but struggling with her face clamped between Cassie’s hands.

“Of course, I’m excited to be officially bonded to you…” She huffed, clearly unsure of whether to continue. “It’s just… my mother…” Cassie watched her carefully, waiting her out. She had learned that Karliah would relinquish her thoughts when given enough time. “She wants me to wear a dress… for the ceremony…” Cassie tried to picture Karliah in a dress, she had never seen her wear anything but trousers and tank tops, she had worn a women’s suit to the winter ball and Cassie had assumed she would wear something similar for their bonding ceremony.

“And you don’t want to?” Cassie tried not to show any expression on her face, she didn’t want Karliah to feel swayed by her opinion. She thought Karliah would look stunning in a dress…

“I don’t know, I guess I just feel like dresses are a bit… much…” She rolled her eyes, “Is that stupid? I feel like my style being less feminine somehow cancels out my gender dysphoria, like just cause I don’t want to wear fake eyelashes then my womanhood is false…”

“That’s not true at all! If I decided to start wearing trousers,” She shuddered at the thought, Cassie lived purely in skirts and dresses, she had worn trousers once in the last ten years and that was only because a creepy guy had grabbed her and left marks on her thighs. She didn’t do shorts, she didn’t do pant-suits and she definitely didn’t do jeans. “that wouldn’t make me a dude! Clothes are just for show, but you don’t need them to show people you’re female, it protrudes from you!” She winked and poked Karliah’s boobs with her index fingers. “Your femininity comes from you as a person, not the way your clothes sewn together, it’s all just material - who cares?” Karliah rolled her eyes with a half-grin,

“Thanks, babe.” she paused, looking away nervously. “So, would you mind repeating that to my mum?”

“Of course not,” Cassie kissed the tip of her nose. “we both know your mum loves me best anyway.” She teased with a soft giggle. Karliah bumped their foreheads together and returned the laugh.

“Very true, although I like to think I have earned myself some bonus points for having marked you - I am definitely a strong second place!”

“See, that’s another reason you’re so lucky to have siblings - my mum loves you best but that puts me in instant last place!”

“Speaking of…” Karliah switched the subject slyly. “has your mum taken you shopping for your ceremony dress?”

“If she had I wouldn’t tell you!”

“Why not? I’m not asking for pictures! I just want to know how far behind I am!” Karliah laughed, squeezing her in close and kissing up her neck, obviously trying to soften her up but Cassie was having none of it.

“Nope, that’s between me and my mummy - as it should be for any young lady preparing for her bonding!”

“Fine, I’ll take that as a yes then…” They grinned at each other and shared a slow, soft kiss before continuing on with their planning.

Present

Cassie lounged in Karliah's lap like a cat, her legs curled up against her while her body slouched against the alpha's chest, watching her mate's hands fill out forms and paperwork. She loved to keep her company when she was working, she couldn't imagine the level of pressure Karliah felt at knowing one day she would have to succeed her father and take on all the responsibilities of her pack. It was a large pack, especially compared to the others in the area, Cassie knew her pack rivalled Lunar Warriors for the title of biggest pack but she didn't know for sure which had more members.

She heard a soft sigh above her and looked up to see Karliah rubbing at the bridge of her nose, eyes tightly shut and a frown on her face.

"Maybe you should take a break." Cassie suggested, bringing one hand up to rub at the back of her mate's neck comfortingly. Karliah 'mmm'd in reply and kept her eyes shut as she relaxed into the small hand at the nape of her neck, massaging away her stress. After a couple of minutes she finally opened her eyes, looking down at Cassie adoringly,

"I love you." she smiled sadly, "I'm sorry I'm always cooped up working."

"Don't be," Cassie sat up carefully, "I'm sorry you're under so much pressure." she kissed the tip of Karliah's nose. "I worry about you."

"You don't have to worry about me," Karliah reassured, "it'll get easier, once I'm out of school I'll have plenty of time and will have hopefully memorised everything by then…” Cassie smiled up at her blissfully, holding her gaze for a moment before snuggling back into her, enjoying the warmth.

~

A frantic knock on the office door pulled them out of their thoughts barely half an hour later. Karliah pulled a face and Cassie laughed quietly.

“Come in!” The alpha called. Cassie shivered at the sound of her authoritative tone, she couldn’t help the affect her mate’s dominant attitude had on her.

“Alpha.” It was Damien.

“Yes, Damien?”

“Your… I was told to tell you…” His eyes flickered between the two women nervously, Cassie’s wolf began to tense, something was wrong. “The prisoner, at Scarlett Moon-” Cassie drew in a sharp breath and Karliah’s arms tightened around her protectively. He’s escaped, thought Cassie. “he was murdered this morning.” For at least a minute, no one spoke. Finally, Karliah managed to find her voice and broke through the suffocating tension in the air with the question they were all thinking.

“By who?”

“That- We don’t know yet… There’s going to be an investigation…”

“Oh my god.” Cassie breathed, staring straight ahead.

“Baby?” Lips pressed against her ear and she could feel Karliah’s silver eyes burning into the side of her head. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah. Just… surprised.” She blinked. “I… I don’t feel how I thought I would if he were to… When he… I don’t know…” Karliah rubbed at her back with one hand and used the other to pull her in tighter to her chest.

“It’s a shock, of course.” Damien muttered before ducking out awkwardly, shutting the door with a soft ‘click’.

“Sweetheart…” Karliah murmured.

“I don’t know what to do or say.”

“You don’t have to do or say anything, I’ll make sure no one bothers you and I promise you…” She took Cassie’s face in her hands and forced her to meet her eyes. “we will get to the bottom of this.”