“I don’t know why I bothered to share any of this with you,” he sighed softly. “Look, the point is simple, I was in the mountains for almost two weeks. When I finally got back, Alpha Wyatt was waiting for me. As angry and hurt as I had been, when he put his hand on my shoulder and told me I had done good. I felt grateful.”

Ashleigh wiped the tears from her eyes that she had been trying to hide. She turned back to Caleb now, hearing something change in his voice.

“I spent the next two months in awe of that man. I felt this newfound strength and pride in myself that he had shown me. Every lesson was something I treasured.

Years later I still thought of him as my mentor, I reached out when I had questions. He helped me when I had doubts.

My father said Alpha Wyatt was the best man he had ever met, and I agreed.”

Ashleigh could hear the emotion in his voice, and it caught her off guard. She knew right then that he had loved her father as much as his own.

“When I got word that my father was dead. Alpha Wyatt was the first person I reached out to. He offered me comfort and reassurance.

He promised me that he would do everything he could to help me find the killer.”

Caleb paused to swallow down the emotion that was welling up in him. After another deep breath, he continued.

“When the investigation came to Winter, he said he would run it so there would be no issues, he said he would keep me informed.

Months went by without any progress, and then one day he simply said that there was nothing to investigate.”

Ashleigh sniffed, her tears falling without restraint.

“He lied, Ashleigh,” Caleb said coldly._.

A soft whimper escaped her lips, as her heart ached for him. His pain, as much as he tried to hide it, was overwhelming her.

“You were right, he didn’t kill my father. But he was his friend and my mentor. I hate him because he betrayed us both the day he chose not to give a damn.”

Without waiting for a response, without even another glance in her direction. Caleb left the room.

As the door closed behind him, Ashleigh let loose the tears she had held, she sobbed and cried out until she couldn’t anymore.

There was so much to process, so much she didn’t understand.

‘He was there?’ she whispered in her mind. Her shoulder ached once more, as the memory came back to her.

Unlike the others, there had been no warning of her oncoming shift. There weren’t weeks of growing pains, stretching. She had been moved with the rest of the pups simply as a precaution.

It came on suddenly, in an explosion of white-hot pain. Her bones snapped and strained as her skin tore. She screamed out until the blackness took her.

She was restrained and quickly taken up the mountain. Left with only a coat.

The teacher that brought her, reminded her, three days.

The only thing the pups had been told about the trial, was that they could not return before three days had passed. If they did, their wolf would be considered weak and put out of its misery.

Later, she learned that three days was the amount of time it took the human body to accept the shift. If there was a rejection it would happen in those first three days.

The first night she struggled as her body continued to fight the shift. Her bones shifted and reshaped. She screamed into the night. Part of her hoped that they would come back for her.

When she woke the next morning, she was more aware of her situation. The shift had passed, now she needed to make it down the mountain. She was naked, she looked for the coat her teacher had left, but found that she had shredded it during her shift the night before.

Ashleigh wanted to cry. She wasn’t prepared for this; she was scared and alone. How could she do this on her own?

The wind picked up, the snow. She looked up into the sky and realized with horror that a blizzard was building. She ran into trees looking for shelter.

It was getting hard to see, the snow was everywhere. She couldn’t feel her feet anymore. Instinct took control, she forced herself to shift, screaming into the wind as the pain overwhelmed her.

Ashleigh remained in her wolf form the rest of her trial, at least this way she would be warmer.

It had been two days, she pushed through the whiteout, trying desperately to find food. She couldn’t see what was coming, she couldn’t see what wasn’t there.

She stepped off the cliff, falling and falling until she landed with a thud and a painful yelp. Her shoulder was on fire, she rolled, there was pain everywhere. Ashleigh let the darkness take her once more.

When she woke again, she was covered in snow. She shook her head, the snow falling away. She moved to stand but the pain in her leg shot through her, and she fell back down.

Ashleigh laid her head down sadly. She was hungry, she was tired. She knew that she needed to get down the mountain but to do that she needed energy.

A sound perked her ears, a soft squish. She lifted her head; her eyes caught the movement. She stood up, salivating as she saw the rabbit jumping from place to place.

She let out a soft growl and took a step. Pain. She whimpered before she tried again. The pain was too much. She watched the rabbit jump away as she laid back down, closing her eyes and wondering if she would ever see her home again.

A delicious smell stirred her consciousness. Ashleigh’s eyes opened slowly at first seeing only the white of the snow. Her nose told her there was something nearby. She turned her head and there it was.

She stood up and hobbled her way to the dead rabbit. Without a thought, she tore at the meat enthusiastically.

It took her another two days to make it back home, her father had begun to believe she would not return at all, but she walked through the doors of their home covered in wounds and dried blood.

She still remembered the joy she felt when he told her she had done good.

***

Two weeks were over, it was time to go home.

Jerry, the Autumn idiot, had already left. Alice hung around as long as she could, claiming she simply wanted to thank her teacher, but Galen did not come to say goodbye.

Saul and Ashleigh had packed their bags and loaded their car, the decision was made that they wait and leave together with Alpha Caleb and Galen. They were all headed to Winter after all.

Ashleigh stood nervously against the car. She hadn’t seen or heard from Caleb since their argument the day before. She was glad of it, but now they would travel all day together and camp overnight before finally reaching Winter.

“Are you that excited to see your mate once more?” Saul’s gruff voice called from the back of the SUV. He loaded one last bag before shutting the gate.

“What?” she questioned looking around for Caleb.

“I assume that is what you are nervous about? This is the longest you have been apart from Granger isn’t it?” Saul clarified.

A wave of nausea and guilt rolled over Ashleigh. How could she think of Caleb?

“Yes,” she laughed nervously. “We got into a bit of a fight before we left, so I’m not sure how he’ll greet me.”

“Excuse me,” Galen interrupted with a smile. “We are all ready to go if you are.”

Ashleigh looked behind him, Caleb was nowhere in sight.

Galen cleared his throat.

“Alpha Caleb is already in the car.” Galen smiled, indicating the black SUV that pulled ahead of Ashleigh’s car.

“We’re ready,” Saul replied, moving to the driver’s side.

Ashleigh nodded and smiled at Galen.

He returned it, before running to the passenger door of the black SUV.

Within twenty minutes, both SUVs had left the territory of Summer.

Saul had turned on the radio. The drive to Summer had been filled with country music and podcasts, so Ashleigh suspected it would be much the same on the drive back to Winter.

She looked out the window and let her mind wander.

For a while, she thought about the mountain. She wondered if she would have survived without the rabbit Caleb had left her. How strange it was that they had this connection that neither of them realized. She tried to push the thought out of her head.

But the one that replaced it was equally troublesome.

‘We have offered Alpha Wyatt a multitude of technological advancements over the years. He has rejected most of them. And over the past couple years, every one of them.’

His words rang in her mind like an alarm bell. Ashleigh didn’t understand why her father would ever reject something that could improve the safety of his people or their quality of life.

‘And what about the investigation?’ she asked herself.

Why would he drop the investigation into Alpha Cain’s death? Ashleigh began to wonder what she understood about the feud between Winter and Summer, or about her father.

Ashleigh shook her head in frustration. It was too much to think about all at once. She decided to do her best to avoid it entirely, by taking a nap.

***

“Ashleigh,” a voice called her from the darkness. “Ashleigh, you’ll want to see this.”

It was Saul, his voice had a smile in it.

As she struggled to wake up and open her eyes, she found herself curious what could make this gruff man smile.

It was dark out; she had slept a long time it seemed. With heavy eyelids, she turned to Saul, who gave her a smirk and pointed out the front window as he spoke.

“We have reached the campsite and look who is here.”

Ashleigh turned her head in the direction he pointed, she saw his familiar pale blue eyes and a charming smile.

Her heart reacted to Granger before her mind could catch up. A strong thumping and warmth, followed by panic as she saw the door of the other SUV open, and Caleb stepped out.