Cassandra’s POV
I am fortunately spared from their questions; they would pick up immediately that something was wrong and bug me about it till I tell them. I can imagine how heartbroken they would look when I tell them what happened.
I stop at the door and turn to Parker, “Thank you, you should go home now I don’t want your parents getting worried.”
Parker replies by closing the door behind him, “I already sent my dad a text that I am staying the night,” I look at him in surprise and he shrugs, “You need me, I can’t leave you alone by yourself tonight.”
The sincerity on his face forces the first tear out and before I know it I am a crying mess, “Thank you,” I say between sobs and Parker tries to get me to calm down but it’s like a dam broke as the pain washes over me in waves. Parker immediately leads me to my room so I don’t wake up my grandparents.
“I…I…can’t believe he said that,” I sob and Parker wraps his arms around me, we just stand in the middle of my room as I cry and curse Aidan to hell and back, “I hope the girl gives him herpes, the type he would never recover from.”
Parker chuckles his hand rubbing soothing circles on my back, “Sounds fitting, but you should know that girl was Vanessa, daughter of the LunaMoon Alpha. She and Parker have been close since childhood,”
I remove myself from his hold, “So he leaves me because he is in love with his best friend, fantastic,” I plop on my bed with a sigh.
“No, what I am trying to get at is that this seems more like a political play than anything. Everyone knows that Vanessa lost her mate to a rogue attack last year, her father must be scouting for a fitting mate for her,” Parker tells me as he joins me on my bed.
“So, Aidan was forced?” I ask hopefully then I remember his words and tears fill my eyes again.
Parker gives me a sympathetic look, “Sounds like he wants it just as much as Vanessa’s dad does.”
“Right,” I mumble, “I am going to sleep now,” I tell him crawling into bed. I don’t bother taking of my cloths and just snuggle under the covers, Parker knows where the guest room is and I hear him get up and head for the door.
“Parker,” I find myself calling out to him and his footsteps stop, “Don’t go, please,” I turn to him and see the conflict in his face, “I need you,” I plead tears already pouring out my eyes again. Parker sighs and closes the already open door, he switches the lights off and crawls into bed with me.
“Thank you,” I tell him as I snuggle into him, he feels secure and safe the perfect solution to my vulnerable state, “You know my grandparents always hoped that we would end up as mates. They would be so devastated when they find out,” I mumble sleepily and yawn.
Parker chuckles, “Mine too, sleep Dria give your head a break,” he starts stroking my hair which lulls me to sleep immediately.
***
Parker’s POV
Bastard, asshole, more words to describe Aidan pop up in my head but I doubt that would change anything. What I really want to do is punch him straight in the guts, something that would make him feel double of the pain Dria is feeling right now.
Her levelled breathing tells me she is asleep but I don’t get up, I continue stroking her hair. Everyone thinks my loyalty to Dria is based on our friendship but I have always felt something more, from the very first day I met her. Awkward and unable to make any friends in school, I have felt strongly about her and I have always had the strong urge to protect her even though she tries not to burden me with her problems, but I have never seen it as a burden.
I have never put these feelings into actual words, giving it a name makes it seem shallow almost unreal. But these feelings are more real to me than she would ever realize, more real than the bond I could ever share with my mate. And it scares me, the thought of being so attached to someone who isn’t fated for you so I bottle it all down and hide them from even myself because if it ever got out I’m not sure I can deal the consequences or if Dria could handle the effect too.
If she ever found out she would probably feel guilty and blame herself for leading me on, she would try to be there for me which I know she cannot do, she cannot reciprocate my feelings which is what I want more than anything in the world. I shake my head unconsciously, I could never subject her to that torture someone as pure as Dria deserves to be happy not burdened by my unnamed emotions.
She moves in her sleep and I tighten my hold on her, “You know, more than my parents I wished you would be my mate too,” I whisper to her sleeping form, “I used to pray to the moon goddess every night for you.”
She responds with quiet mumbling, “Aidan,” she moans and I look down at her, she has a slight frown on her face which I reach down and smoothing out with my thumb. She deserves so much better, for a second I let myself imagine we were the ones who found ourselves yesterday during graduation, I imagine her eyes lighting up like I always believed it would when we realize we were mates and our parents’ and grandparents’ elation at the news. For a second I imagine this is us cuddling after a night of celebration from the news and I reach down and peck her on the lips, she moans under the pressure of my lips and deepen the kiss ever so slightly before finally pulling away.
When I wake up Parker is gone, I sit up and rub my tired eyes. I am not motivated to do anything today and I sigh knowing I am going to have to tell my grandparents the bad news, grandma would be so broken she had always enjoyed talking about how many great grandkids she expected from me once I found my mate.Forcing myself out of bed I head downstairs, I am at the final step when there is a knock on the door, “Cassandra honey if that is you get the door,” my grandma calls from the kitchen and I trudge to the door. I open it to see two serious looking men bearing down on me.“Can I help you?” I say suddenly feeling intimidated under their glares.“Cassandra Collins?” one of the men asks and I nod, “Your presence is needed in relation to your mate, Aidan,” he tells me and I hear a gasp behind me.I turn to see my grandmother behind me her eyes as wide as saucers, “You are mated to the Alpha’s son?” she asks with glee, “Oh this is wonderful news,” she gushes but no one shares her sentim
Parker POV (the night before)I hear noise from the living room, it should be Cassandra’s grandmother probably getting an early root tea as is her usual routine, but the whoever is down there does not smell like Cassandra’s grandmother. The person smells familiar yet not too familiar. Something is not right.Slowly I ease Cassandra off me and step out of her room quietly. I walk down the stairs gently, they are probably expecting me, they should have smelled me coming already. I pause at the end stairs contemplating if I can take on these wolves, I have not done this before and the air is very tense. I should probably alert Cassandra’s grandparents.I turn around to head back up the stairs when I hear, “Where are you going Parks,” the sneer is obvious in his voice. I turn around to see three wolves smirking at me.“W…what are you doing here. Trespassing is a crime,” my voice is shaky, these are not just any wolves. These are elite pack warriors; I know them because they work alongside
Casaandra’s POVI wake up later that evening and prepare to go back to work. I should probably be worried how routine and mundane my life has become but I have come to not care, I have Lydia to worry all about it for me.“You are a twenty-year-old girl in your prime, you should get out more!”The woman is always nagging me about something, if she was not my only friend, I would have probably avoided her like Gerta.I stuff my uniform into my bag and head out the door. The first person I encounter is Gerta with another plate of…is that supposed to be pie, “Miss Casaandra, I am so happy I caught you. You see I felt a bout of inspiration this afternoon and baked this, I got the recipe from my Nigerian friend. She says it is called meat pie.”“Oh, that sounds amazing and it would probably taste great but I have to get to work,” I say trying to side step her but the old woman blocks my path. Come on granny move!“You just have to taste it, I need your honest opinion,” she pushes the plate
Cassandra’s POVI spend the next two days on a sick leave, which Harold was happy to grant. Lydia made a joke of how I have the man by his monetary balls when he allowed me take two days off, hopefully two days away from there should be enough to get that man off my scent. Hopefully.On the third day I resume work bright and early with an equally bright countenance but very dodgy eyes. I could not help it, I was searching for any sign of the man from before, one wrong move from a passerby and I was ducking under my hoodie. My point is, getting to work was an arduous journey.When I do get to work I breath a massive sigh of relief. I spot Lydia the same time she spots me.“Welcome…woah, what the hell are you wearing?” Lydia covers her nose with a frown.“What are you talking about,” I ask innocently, she raises her brow in disbelief. Of course, I know what she is talking about. My sensitive nose kept sneezing nonstop this morning when I first applied it, my bright idea to avoid the ‘bi
Ray’s POVOver the years I have come across a lot of rogues, the dodgy ones, the ones you should avoid completely. But I have never met a rogue as clumsy or as obvious as Cassandra, it is like she is asking to be discovered.I remember the first day I walked into the restaurant, she looked like a deer caught in the headlight, literally. Her eyes went as wide as saucers and she pretty much fell out of her chair to get away drawing people’s attention to her.“So, what are we eating. I’m famished,” Gray walks in as a second after. I glance at him; he would be too focused on his empty stomach to notice the wolf smell in the room.“Well?” Gray pushes when I don’t react. I am busy watching her friend hurry after her.“Find us a table, I’ll be back,” I tell him and walk to the door they both hurried through, a glance around tells me no one is focusing on me so I walk through. My ear puck up their voices from a room down the hall and I walk towards it, I am at the door when it suddenly opens.
Cassandra’s POVRay is starting to drive me crazy, and no, it is not in that good i-am-getting-feelings-for-him way. The man is literally running circles around my mental health, since that he has come to the restaurant every single day. But that is not the confusing part, Ray has done nothing but order food or drinks, flirt with Lydia some more, and then leave. No mention of my pack or questions on why I am living among humans. I just know he is toying with me, hence the reason I have gone to great lengths to avoid him.“We are totally getting in bed soon,” Lydia swoons as we clock out for the day. We step out of the locker room and I give her an unamused look, “What?”“Don’t be ridiculous Lydia, that guy is bad news,” I tell her as we step out of the restaurant, I breathe in the fresh evening air. I am mentally and physically exhausted and I need to rest.“You say that but I see the opposite, I am a bit of an expert reading men Cassie,” she defends and it takes everything in me not
Cassandra’s POV“Was I supposed to let you bleed out on my couch?” I ask him, he seems to consider the question then shrugs. He groans and stands up.He looks around my living room, “Cozy,” he says before turning around, “You got anything in your kitchen?” he asks already walking towards the kitchen.I quicky follow him, he is injured yet he manages to eat up the floor in long strides, “What happened last night?” I say slamming my fridge shut when he opens it.He raises a brow and gestures down at his body, “What does it look like?”I place myself between him and the fridge before he has a chance to open it again, folding my arms I say, “I need a less vague answer.”He looks down at me, a smirk playing on his bruised lips. He suddenly leans forward, completely entering my personal space. I squeak in surprise and his smirk only gets deeper, he leans his face close enough for me to hear his ragged breath, “That’s all I can give you princess,” he whispers softly and his breath tickles my
Cassandra’s POVI take the seat Ray offers because my legs are suddenly shaking, “Hunters, shit I almost got caught by Hunters.”“Amongst other things,” Ray says and I am about to snap at him when I see his face, he is not wearing a cocky smirk but looks quite pissed.“You are a rogue too, aren’t you?” I ask him and he turns to me, “It makes sense, that’s why you haven’t asked me about my pack.”“Ray the rogue, maybe I should have introduced myself like that,” Ray strokes his chin and smirks.“You can’t stay here anymore Cassandra,” he tells me, “They are going to come back, you have no idea the terrible things they do to the rogues they capture.”I look down at my hands, “What am I supposed to do then, this is all I’ve known for two years.”“Come with me,” he says and I look up at him in surprise, “I have a sort of safe place for rogues.”I scrunch my brows in confusion, “Isn’t that illegal, they would think you are raising an army of rogues. That is even worse than being captured al
Cassandra’s POV“Don’t do it,” I whisper standing beside Lydia.She turns to me with a fake look of surprise, “Do what?”I raise a brow at her, “It is his story, Lydia and you are not going to push him to tell it.”She groans, “Come on, you are just as curious as I am. The man used to work for the same people who are hunting us down like literal dogs.”“That man also has super human hearing, and you are both not making any attempt to be quiet,” Gray snaps and we both turn to him, our eyes wide at being caught.Lydia coughs loudly to allay the sudden tension and walks towards the men. We are still in the ware house, Ray, Harold, and Gray are trying to find the safest route out of the city because Lucas would have everywhere blocked and under heavy surveillance.“So, what’s the plan?” she asks them.Harold smirks at Lydia, “I like her, how did you guys meet again?” he turns to Gray.“Not you concern,” Gray snaps at him. The man is always snapping at someone.Harold smirks at him in repl
Cassandra’s POVThey attacked us from behind, I felt searing pain at the bac of my head before I passed out. When I come to, I see nothing but darkness. I try to move around and I rewarded by searing pain in my wrist.“Don’t move,” I hear Ray’s voice, “They have enchanted binds on us, the more your struggle the tighter it gets. And it is made of silver.”There is the sound of shuffling and something is pulled off my eyes, light hits me and my gaze focuses on Ray who is staring at me with worry, “Are you alright?” he asks.I notice the red bruises on his wrist and know his advice to me is probably from experience, “Your wrist,” I say.He sits back with a shrug, “I’d survive, I’m more worried about you. You took a pretty hard hit to the head.”We are in a van, our hands and feet are locked with the same enchanted bind. The van is too small for the both of us and Ray’s legs stretch out to me, “What are they going to with us? What about Gray and Lydia?” I ask in panic.“Easy,” Ray tries t
Lydia’s POVBen scowls at Gray, “Did you have to introduce me like that?”Gray makes a face, “How would you rather I do it?”Ben shrugs, “You could have introduced me as a friend or something, or a pal. Now she is going to be careful and extra nice around me, looking for my approval and shit.”“What are you going on about?” Gray asks him.Ben gestures at me, “She is your girlfriend, right?”Gray laughs loudly, “Lydia is a lot of things to me, girlfriend is definitely not one of them.”I have been staring between the two men during their conversation, at Gray’s words I scowl at him, “What is that supposed to mean?” I ask placing my hands on my waist.Gray gives me look before turning to Ben, “Great, now you’ve got her all riled up.”“Stop talking about me like I am not in the room,” I snap at him and he replies by reclining into the couch even more.“You going to sit down or keep making me uncomfortable,” Ben asks me and I suddenly remember myself. I take the couch farthest from Gray,
Lydia’s POV“How do you know they are Hunters?” I whisper back to Gray, he gives me an obvious look.“I’ve fought enough of those scum bags to be able to pick them out in a crowd,” he tells me, “And I recognize one of them from the day we rescued you and Cassandra.”I grab his hand in panic, “He could recognize you.”“I know,” he growls, his head and gaze focused on the table, “They are probably looking for Ray and Cassandra, I should warn them,” he brings out a small phone just as a hand clamp down on his shoulder.My spine goes tense and the hairs on the back of my neck stands on end as the huge man smiles at us, “Hello,” he says in an oddly soft voice, “Mind if I join you?”Gray growls but the man forces him back into his seat with his hand still on Gray’s shoulder, “You gave my men quite the run for their money, Grayson. If you weren’t a dirty rogue, I would have recruited you.”Gray scowls at him, “Lucas, you found me. what other luck you got going for you,” he spits at the man.
Cassandra’s POVThe club is packed, the perfect place to lose our current tail as Ray explained to Lydia and I. the bouncer at the door starts out difficult but lets us in when Gray flashes him some cash.“So, we are going to split up now,” Ray yells over the loud music, we all turn to him with incredulous looks, we were not told this part of the plan.“Gray go with Lydia, Cassandra and I will go the other way,” Ray tells us.“Really,” Gray says, raising a brow at him. He is about to say something then stops, think better of it and suddenly drags Lydia into the crowd with him. I move to go after them but Ray pulls me back with a shake of his head.“How do we contact them, anything could happen in here,” I tell Ray and he shrugs.He waves a burner phone in front of me, “I always have a contingency plan, come on before the guy sights us,” he pulls me with him into the crowd, shouldering through the dancing people so I do not have to deal with bumping into sweaty humans.Ray takes us to
Cassandra’s POVLydia and Gray glare at each other, both having no intention of backing down. Truthfully, when Lydia had announced she would be coming with me after I told her about Ray’s instructions to me, I had given her a dubious look. These two do not seem like the type to let anyone force them into something they never agreed to.“If I may,” Xavier speaks up and all heads turn to him. He had arrived at my tent to take me to Ray, I had felt like a primed sheep on its way to the slaughter especially since Tessa arrived with some clothes for me to change into a few minutes earlier.“Lydia going with you two doesn’t sound so bad, what are the odds that they have her scent too,” he tells us.“Stop talking Xavier,” Ray growls and Xavier goes quiet but he has a smirk on his face.“Yeah, what he said,” Lydia speaks up, “Whatever that means, he has a point.”Gray rolls his eyes before turning to Ray, “She is a wolf, they couldn’t possibly have her scent.”Ray has a faraway look, and he g
Cassandra’s POV“Again!” Xavier yells and the man charges at me, giving barely enough time to raise my arms for cover. He pushes me and I find myself flying across the field on my butt. This is humiliating.Groaning, I lie on my back. Xavier’s body blocks my view of the sun, I can just tell he has a frown on his face. At least his creepy smile is gone, “You hesitate, that is your problem.”I sit up and look back up at him, “Okay,” I say passively.“You don’t seem interested in this at all,” he says again.“What gave it away, the fact that you all strong armed me in the tent or was it my very vocal protest last night,” I say sarcastically.There is silence at first then he suddenly drops down beside me, “If it is worth anything, I don’t think you are a spy or whatever else the Council can imagine in their head,” I turn to him and he shrugs, “You just didn’t have the look, but they were going to throw you into combat without a second thought or the proper training. I just brought you so
Cassandra’s POVRay arrives at our tent the next morning, Lydia is waiting to rip him apart the minute he arrives.“You asshole!” I hear her scream at him from my position inside the tent.“Hello, Lydia,” he replies calmly.I step out of the tent and he turns to me, “Here to take me to the slaughter house?”Lydia places herself between me and Ray, “I’m going with her, I want to enlist too,” she folds her arms.“This has got to be the most ridiculous show of bravery I have ever seen,” we both turn to see Gray heading in our direction, he has his usual scowl on his face except this time it has a hint of distaste.Lydia immediately changes course, “Right, I forgot about the devil.”Gray cocks his head before turning to Ray, “This is the childish bullshit we have to deal with now?”“Call it what you want asshole, I am still going to join your stupid fight squad,” she tells him, meeting his glare with one of her own.“You can’t join, Lydia. Your wolf is still volatile, you should be busy l
Cassandra’s POV“Did you lose yur mate too?” I ask Trent.He looks away, but when he turns back to me he has his smile back on his face, “That is for me to know, and you to not judge,” he walks off before I can say anything else. I try to follow him but few steps in and I cannot find him anywhere.I groan in frustration, everyone seems to be trying to push me in this confusing direction I would rather not go, “What the hell!” I yell in frustration. I look around me, I should find my way back to my tent and get some rest.At that moment I spot Ray from afar, he has a heavy frown on his face as he walks into a tent. I hurry in his direction. Maybe, he will be able to help me find my way back to my tent. He is not the ideal option but he will make do.When I get closer, I pick up harsh whispers, I suddenly stop when I recognize the tent. It is where the Council had their meeting last time. Are they having one right now?I creep closer, so I can hear better what they are saying.“What do