Chapter 4: Forming a Plan

Cassie’s POV:

            I stood in the middle of the store trying to catch my breath.  The thoughts in my brain were going a mile a minute.  I seriously think my brain processed an entire set of encyclopedias in 30 seconds, which is an especially impressive feat given that my wolf was whining loudly in my brain.

            First things first, I needed to tune my wolf out. Block up, check.

            Next step, I needed to calm down and think rationally.

Take a deep breath, Cassie, I told myself.  We will be OK.  Nothing bad is going to happen. Everything is going to be fine, Cassie. 

            But was any of that true?

            I never wanted to meet my mate, but here he was.  And he smelled great.  He looked great.  He exuded power.

            This couldn’t be that bad a thing, right?  Lots of werewolves meet their mates and live happily ever after.  In fact, most wolves meet their mates and live happily ever after.  Why was I worried?  Just because my parents were always concerned that my mate would reject me doesn’t mean he actually would, right?

            What am I so worried about?

            Well, the blond on his arm for starters.  She had blond hair like me, but my hair was piled high in a ponytail whereas she wore hers down, in perfectly styled loose curls, as though she had just left the salon.  She was tall – probably 5’10—and had a skinny, athletic body.  There couldn’t have been an ounce of fat on her.  And her face was full of perfectly done makeup; whoever did her face could have done makeup for any Hollywood celebrity.

            I paled in comparison to her.  I was 5’5 –short for a werewolf.  My overall body was slim, but I had large boobs that sometimes made me look chubby, especially when I wore loose clothing (which of course was my preference).  Meanwhile, my version of “doing my makeup” usually consists of mascara and lip gloss, and I hadn’t bothered with even those this morning. 

            Blondie is wearing an outfit that even I recognized as being head-to-toe designer and expensive.  I am wearing… the world’s ugliest wedding dress.

            If Blondie is my mate’s type, I am 100% not his type.

            So, yeah, I had reason to be worried.  Well, that and he was out shopping for wedding dresses with her.  And she called him “Baby.”  And she was gripping his arm excitedly.

            This was not going to go well.  Why did my mother have to be here when I met my mate?  Why did she have to be here for my likely rejection?  Just so that she could spend the next 20 years of my life rubbing it in my face how she told me so? 

Urgh.  Seriously.  I enjoy my sister’s fall from grace for all of two minutes and Karma decides to pay me back like this? I don’t think Karma is playing fair.

The Moon Goodess isn’t playing fair either.  Why would she pair me with someone who was already engaged?  Whose type is clearly not me? 

Just then my wolf decided to break through and answer the question.  “Your parents warned you that your mate would find someone else if you didn’t look for him in time.  He wasn’t going to wait forever.”

Urgh.  Not helpful, Wolf.  I put the block back up.

I need to think.  I need to calm down.  Think, Cassie, think.

I always expected my mate to reject me, and I always planned to reject him before he could.  I had a plan, and I will carry out the plan.  The only difference is that my mother is here, and I am wearing a Goddess-awful wedding dress, but I can change those details. 

I will go back to the dressing room, take this stupid dress off, and sneak out the back exit.  I’ll tell mom I had a plumbing issue at my apartment and had to hurry back.  Then I’ll forget about my mate.  Given that he is getting married, he is unlikely to follow me or try to find me.  On the off chance we encounter each other again in the future, we can do the rejection then.

Easy peasy.  Everything will be fine.