Chapter 1 The Pairing List

"The pairing list is out!"

My head snapped up so fast I thought my neck would break. The pairing list. The list that would match us with partners and potential mates in time for the audition to join the skating pairs on the pack's prestigious grand rink.

"Yvonne!" Bonnie, my friend, yelled, yanking the door of the attic room in the pack house open.

I was already standing up, my heart thumping hard in my chest, my fingers slightly trembling.

"The list is out. Come, let's go find out. You chose Jamie, right?"

I nodded, unable to say s word out of excitement, as I wore a hoodie over my tank top and immediately followed her to the stairs.

"I chose Travis," she said, her voice breathy.

Blue moon pack is known for a lot of things. Wealth, beauty, but the one thing we stood out for was the beauty of our ice and our wolves. Ice dancing, ice hockey for mostly the men, but the most sought after one, was figure skating. Pair skating precisely.

At eighteen, we are to be paired off either to mates or to potential partners with whom we would audition to join the grand rink, the massive figure skating establishment in the pack. A rite of passage into pack responsibilities.

Especially for commoners like me, getting into the rink was crucial. After the auditions, the classes would be announced, and all of the commoners who either fail the auditions or are not paired off to compete, become omegas who are essentially slaves, or they are auctioned off to work labourous jobs in industries or in other packs. Most run away to become rogues.

I shook my head to clear away the thought as Bonnie pulled me down the stairs to the open hall where others had already gathered, some hugging their assigned partners, while some still searched for their names on the board.

I searched the crowd for Jamie first. Jamie and I have been together since we were both sixteen, and we filled out the application form together. He had chosen me, and I had chosen him, so I knew all I had to worry about was the audition.

I broke into a smile as Bonnie parted the crowd, and we finally got a glimpse of the board.

I immediately started to search for my name.

"I found mine!" Bonnie yelled, turning to me.

I looked up, and sure enough, she was paired with Travis, the guy she found to be her mate on her eighteenth birthday three months ago, and had chosen to be paired with during application.

"You lucky girl," I squealed, pulling her into a hug. She laughed against my skin before pulling away, just as Travis walked up to us.

"Bonnie?"

"Travis, we are paired!"

He let out a laugh before pulling her away, and I could hear her squeals and his laugh as he pulled her into his arms.

I smiled, my heart feeling a little light for them before turning back to the board.

I passed by familiar names, but not mine. Yvonne... Yvonne..

"Looking for your name?"

I turned swiftly, and Clara was standing next to me, her hands crossed in front of her.

I bit down on my lips hard. Clara, my step sister, and the one person in the entire pack whom I could never like.

It's not like I had a lot of friends. Bonnie was my only female friend in the pack house. My best friend, Void, on the other hand, was so different from me in terms of class that I tried my best not to get too attached.

Clara took a step forward, then slowly reached her hand up to the board. I let my gaze follow hers to the name she was pointing at.

Clara Scott.

I nodded and started to turn away when I stopped. I turned back to the name, my eyes wide. Clara Scott was paired with Jamie Henderson.

Jamie Hendersn.

"J... Jamie Henderson?"

Clara gave a small laugh, her dimples sinking. "A little twist of fate right fhere, don't you think, little sis? I guess your name isn't here, then. You can't find it, and the only person you have to be paired off with... is right there, paired with me."

I turned back to make sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me. Sure enough, Jamie's name was right there next to Clara's.

"Jamie wouldn't do that. I mean, we..."

"Good thing he is right here," she laughed, turning behind her. I looked up, just as Jamie slowly walked forward, his gaze averting mine.

I watched, transfixed as Jamie slowly covered the distance, and Clara leaned up to him, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"We got paired, baby," she said, and he gave a small smile, his eyes making sure to avoid mine.

"Jamie," I said, taking a step forward, something hot stinging the back of my eyes. "This is.. a mistake, right? It is a mistake, right? You said we were going to audition together. You were my only hope. You... we planned this together. Ever since we got together two years ago, you said you would..."

"I know what I said," Jamie said finally, looking up to meet my eyes. "But that was two years ago. I was naive and stupid. But look around you, Yvonne."

I took a step forward. "Jamie."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Look around you. If I had stuck with you, I would never ever get to pass that audition. You are one of those obvious commoners who have a black wolf. How is a black wolf going to win against several pearly white wolves? How am I going to twirl or catch you when you weigh close to two hundred fucking pounds? The odds are stacked against us and... I did you a favor. You won't embarasss yourself by competing and becoming a laughing stock and I... I get a real chance to get into the rink."

I felt my heart snap into two jagged pieces.

I shifted at seventeen, one year after we got together, to a black wolf. I had always known that having a black wolf was already a disadvantage. The rink preferred beauty and perfection, which is something that just can't be achieved with a black wolf.

Tears filled my eyes. I had been naive when Jamie told me he would complement me. That his white wolf looked beautiful against my black one. Like the moon at midnight.

My eyes closed as tears filled them fast and hard.

"You know how much I tried to lose weight," I whispered, a little more weak than I intended. "You know it is not my fault I have a black wolf."

"Still," he insisted, his voice low. "You tried, but what progress have you made in the last two years? I am a commoner too, Yvonne. I do not want to become an omega."

I gripped onto the hem of my hoodie. My teeth biting down on my lips so hard I drew blood.

"You... you should have told me when I filled out the dorms. I never would have embarased myself by filling them out."

I looked down to Clara who still had a smug smile on her lips, her right brow arched up.

"You won."

Without another word, I started to walk past them towards the stairs.

Jamie grabbed my arm, and before I knew it, I yanked it back, his nails digging into my wrist, cutting it a little.

"Let me go!" I yelled, drawing the attention of some of the other people around.

"I get it," I said, the emotions I tried so hard to put away spilling out of me. "I am fat and ugly and fucking indesirable because I got a black wolf in a pack where that is basically a curse! Have fun dancing with her. I will have fun being an omega, just like you wanted."

I turned away, tears streaming down my cheeks, my body trembling hard, my chest heaving with the pain.

"Bye, whale girl," Clara chimed behind me, and the people standing around immediately started to laugh.

I closed my eyes and continued up the stairs, the little self-esteem I had shattering to pieces at my feet.

How dare he?

He had made a whole show of making us fill the forms together only to stab me in the back like this. Only to crush my dreams before I even had the chance to try.

I barely made it to the attic when I slowly went on my knees, my fingers tightening around the door knob, my body shaking hard with tears.

What do I do now? This was my last chance to escape the omega life that had taken my mum. This was my last chance to prove that our family name meant something. That I could be beautiful on the ice too.

I gripped the knob so hard my knuckles turned white, my heart breaking even harder. What do I do? Where do I go?