Page 2 of Fated
Page 2 of the summit information packet from the Regional Collective of Pacific Northwest Packs. This page lists details of recognized packs attending the summit. It begins with a warning that failure to appear may be interpreted as abdication of recognition from the collective. Three packs are detailed: 1) Blackwater Pack from Bend, OR (founded 1905): population 112, $13,328,000 annual budget, specializing in education and tourism with Alpha Renford Blackwater. 2) Bloodstone Pack from Tacoma, WA (founded 1905): population 231, $27,453,000 annual budget, specializing in architecture and tech with Alpha Darius Bloodstone and his unmated son Kai. 3) Ironclaw Pack from Port Angeles, WA (founded 1905): population 94, $11,172,000 annual budget, specializing in healthcare and real estate with unmated Alpha Thorne Ironclaw. The page includes affiliated and defunct packs for each territory.
Page 3 of the summit information packet from the Regional Collective of Pacific Northwest Packs. This page continues the pack listings with three more recognized packs: 1) Moonshadow Pack from Portland, OR (founded 1905): population 73, $8,708,000 annual budget, specializing in defense, fishing, forestry, healthcare, and manufacturing with Alpha Raelen Moonshadow and unmated heir, Cian, and first-born female, Lena. 2) Night Walker Pack from Spokane, WA (founded 1905): population 177, $21,089,000 annual budget, specializing in hospitality, tourism, pharmaceuticals, mining, logging, and aviation with Alpha Lucien Night Walker. 3) Redridge Pack from Discovery Bay, WA (founded 1972): population 128, $15,232,000 annual budget, specializing in agriculture, milling, and fishing with Alpha Garrick Redridge. The page includes recognized and unrecognized affiliations for each pack.
Page 4 of 4 of the summit information packet from the Regional Collective of Pacific Northwest Packs. This final page lists two more recognized packs: 1) Silver Hollow Pack from Yakima, WA (founded 1905): population 142, $16,898,000 annual budget, specializing in agriculture and forestry with Alpha Aldric Silver Hollow. 2) Crescent Fang Pack from Lakewood, WA (inactive since 1980): population 69, $24,633,000 annual budget, specializing in healthcare and education with unmated Alpha Caleb Crescent Fang and unmated Beta Asher Solan. The page includes an 'Inactive Packs' section listing defunct packs and rogue incidents marked as confidential. The document concludes with approval signatures dated January 17, 2025, 254 Selene's Era, from Alaric Voss as Summit Planning Chair.
CHAPTER ONE
CALEB
Caleb sat bathed in the fire’s warm glow, its soft crackle and sweet scent of burning wood mingling with the musty aroma of old leather. His fingers skimmed the edges of a worn, leather-bound book—one of the tomes chronicling his pack’s history piled high on his desk. His hazel eyes, piercing yet distant, lifted to the window.
As Caleb’s thoughts drifted, his gaze swept across the moonlit landscape, the familiar contours of his pack’s territory stirring something deep within him. Ancient redwoods and towering pines stretched beneath a star-studded sky. The forest floor undulated with gentle hills and hidden valleys, cloaked in a misty veil that danced and swirled in the night breeze.
Sighing, he shifted his attention back to his desk, where the summit invitation lay like a challenge. Unexpected after decades of silence.
The packet had consumed Caleb’s thoughts for over three weeks. The invitation should have been an honor, recognition of Crescent Fang’s storied past. As Selene’s first pack, they’d once been the heart of the region, but their influence waned as other packs pursued power and wealth.
The Regional Collective had evolved into something unrecognizable to Selene’s original vision, and the summit became a gathering of posturing pack leaders bargaining their power and influence to regulate everything from territory disputes to mating ceremonies, from resource allocation to modern pack laws.
While other packs submitted to the Collective’s oversight, Crescent Fang’s commitment to Selene’s teachings led to their gradual withdrawal. What began as refusing to adopt new customs evolved into complete isolation. Other packs saw this as folly, but Crescent Fang saw it as a testament to their unwavering faith.
Caleb had never questioned the isolation of the pack he inherited.
Until now.
A growing rogue threat loomed, a constant reminder of the danger that had been escalating for months. The report of the Denali pack’s annihilation haunted him. Every wolf slaughtered in a single night. The territory reduced to smoldering ruins. Only bloodstained paw prints leading into the wilderness remained. The Collective’s invitation proved the situation had escalated to a critical point.
Caleb’s fingers clenched tighter around the book’s worn cover. His eyes narrowed as the words blurred together, mind wrestling with everything the summit represented. His breathcaught in his throat for a moment before he forced himself to exhale, focusing on the task at hand.
A low hum vibrated through Caleb’s mind as Fenrir, his wolf—a rebirth of his ancestor, Caelum’s wolf—rose to attention.
“We should stay. The Collective is a distraction.”Fenrir’s words rumbled through Caleb’s chest, a sensation more felt than heard.“We can’t risk the lives of our people—of the bloodlines.”The wolf’s tone was edged with something deeper that Caleb couldn’t quite decipher.
Caleb exhaled through his nose, his jaw tightening. “We’ve stayed hidden for decades, Fenrir, and it hasn’t kept us entirely safe. Perhaps it’s time to reconsider our place within the Collective so we canbetterprotect our bloodlines.”
A soft knock at the door broke Caleb’s reverie. Asher stepped inside, smile making his eyes crinkle at the corners, his calm presence a balm to Caleb’s frazzled nerves. The beta brought the forest with him—the scent of fresh pine sap and crushed cedar needles still clinging to his skin from when they’d raced through the western ridge that afternoon, Fenrir nipping playfully at Asher’s wolf, Leif’s, heels.
“You’re still here.” Asher leaned against the doorframe, a teasing glint in his eyes. “I thought I’d find you in bed, nose buried in a book by now—or even better, buried inside me.”
Caleb leaned back in his chair, a genuine smirk forming on his lips. Asher’s teasing brought a familiar warmth that momentarily quelled the anxieties shadowing his thoughts.
“I’m trying to make sure everything’s in order before we leave. The council needs to approve my plans for pack management before I start handing out assignments.”
Asher crossed the room, boots creaking on the wooden floor, and perched himself on the edge of Caleb’s desk. His thigh brushed against Caleb’s arm, sending a spark of electricity through his veins. Caleb’s pulse quickened, throat going dry asfragments from that morning invaded his thoughts—waking up inside Asher’s mouth, sheets tangled around his ankles, the rasp of stubble against his inner thigh, the way even Fenrir submitted to Asher as their bodies moved together…
Caleb forced himself from the memory. Though difficult to deny, Asher’s lovemaking was a distraction he couldn’t afford at the moment.
“That crease between your eyebrows gets deeper every time you look at those papers.” Asher’s voice softened as he squeezed Caleb’s shoulder. “I know you feel the pressure of the pack’s expectations and the unknown of the Collective’s judgment, but I’m here to share that burden.”
Caleb’s gaze drifted to his beta. Warmth spread through his chest at the steady confidence there, but his stomach still twisted with unease. “I know that.”
“And yet, you look like you’re about to wage war instead of preparing for a summit.”
The corner of Caleb’s mouth quirked up. “Maybe I am.”
Asher raised an eyebrow, expression a mask of incredulity.
With a sigh, Caleb ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not just the summit.” He lowered his voice. “It’s what it represents—the games, the politics our people have avoided for decades. With rogues closing in, one misstep could be disastrous—“
