EZRA'S POV
It had been a couple days since I pulled up that social media profile. I knew I shouldn't have. There must be some mistake. I was with her that day. I could smell her and sensed nothing but the human she is. It's going to take a lot more than Vivian's dramatic ass to convince me that they don't have it all wrong.
Still. Why can't I controll my anger? I rejected her. I feel nothing. It's just shock. It has to be. I'm the most powerful Alpha in this country. This should be easy for me. So why wasn't it? Why?
Why now? Why is the moon godess doing this to me? Punishment I suppose for rejecting my mate. Anyone in my position would have done the same thing. ANYONE. So, I refuse to feel guilty.
The vibration of the cell phone in my pocket pulled me from my whirlwind of irritating thoughts. The caller ID informed me that it was my father. Good. Maybe he's gone down there with my uncle and discovered that Viv's claims were wrong.
EZRA'S POV Stalker. That's what I was. A fucking stalker. Fuck me. I had to see her ahead of the meeting though. Away from prying eyes. I needed to be able to see if the mate bond still possessed a pull. I hoped to the godess that it didn't. I have too much shit going on right now to deal with this. I watched her get out of her older black jeep. The instant she got out though, she went rigid. She started looking around not so subtly. Holy shit, she could sense me. Dad wasn't kidding. She was fucking powerful. It's nothing to sense someone crossing your own territory border that isn't a member of your pack. It's nothing to sense another wolf in the same room. We were in neither of those situations. I was well over 250 yards away from her and she could sense me! Fucking hell. I ran my hands over my short hair for what was probably the millionth time since I got off th plane last night. Then the breeze shifted. The second my scent hit her nos
CASS'S POV Rejected. I couldn't believe it. I'd gotten so lost in my own thoughts I had almost forgotten that Vivian was sitting across from me. I was snapped back to reality when the waitress brought our food to the table. She had a puzzled look on her face at the absence of Ezra, but didn't say anything. She just placed the food down, smiled and left. Something didn't make sense though. Why did I have those episodes? "Vivian, if I've met my mate. What would be causing me to feel like my body was on fire?" Vivian broke eye contact. She clearly was getting cold feet about whatever she thought the cause was. "Um. The only thing I've ever heard of causing pain like that, is when..." She took a deep breath, "It's when your mate is with another. You know, like intimately." I was speechless. He was with other women. I had been rejected. But when? I didn't even know what I was back when we first met. He must have th
CASS'S POV Ezra ran away leaving me more confused than I had ever been. He didn't want me to accept his rejection. Why? I sat by the creek letting the moon wash over me. I knew Ezra was long gone. I could no longer smell him or sense his aura. I was both grateful and sad. I would need to resolve this sooner than later. A slight breeze picked up blowing a scent that burned my nose. I'd never smelled anything like it. It was sweet, but something about it made bile rise up in my throat. I crouched down looking in the direction of the scent, trying to see something, anything. I could only see darkness and shadows. I finally sensed movement, but from three separate directions. Whatever they were, they were moving fast. I needed to move. I bolted up the hill toward my house. Dodging the trees flawlessly. I had made this run so many times I could probably do it blindfolded. Although, truthfully I had never made it quite this fast.
CASS'S POV King Valarius. THE King Valarius. I somehow wasn't surprised by this at all, but he wasn't what I expected either. I guess I expected a bald, pale, red eyed, toothy figure. Even if he didn't have those things, the evil radiating from this vampire was unmistakable though. I decided the time for silence was over. Using the mindlink that I hoped worked with vampires, I spoke. 'Hello King Valarius. Your visit is somewhat unexpected.' There was a brief look of something similar to surprise that flitted across his face, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. "Interesting. None of the others could get in my head as you just did." He paused seeming to be thinking about something. "I feel as though it would be better if we could speak with each other....verbally. If you don't mind. I mean you no harm tonight." While being in Lycan form was certainly the safest, I felt like it was time to get this
CASS'S POV "ALEX!" I screamed as I closed the distance between us. I dropped down the ground next to his body. I coudn't hear his heartbeat. No. No. No. No. NO! This could not be happening! I didn't need to look up to know that King Valarius and his two henchmen had fled. I couldn't stop myself from checking for a pulse. There wasn't one. My vision began to blur from the waterfall of tears I didn't realize I was crying. Pulling Alex's upper body into my lap I cradled his head. "I'm sorry Alex. I'm so sorry." I sobbed. I felt Ezra's presence before his giant black wolf broke through the tree line. I could hear he had stopped in his tracks but I didn't bother acknowledging him. All I could do is cradle Alex, MY ALEX, and cry. My lies got him killed. I was so selfish to think that I could be what I am and live normally. Alex was innocent. Alex was perfect. Alex was dead. Another wave a of sobs racke
Cass's POV The next few days flew by in a whirlwind of darkness and sadness. I ignored Ezra, and all the other werewolves. I didn't want to think about them or anything to do with that world. I wanted to wallow in guilt and self hatred. Dad was there through all of it with me. He helped make sure I ate, and bathed. He gave me alone time when I needed it. He was just there. The funeral came and went. It was brief as Alex had been cremated. Hugging his family and seeing the devistation in their eyes, knowing it was because of me was one of the hardest moments of my life. There were moments I didn't know if I could handle taking another breath. It was early in the morning. I couldn't sleep. So I decided to watch the sun come up. To be honest, I wasn't watching anything. I was allowing my grief to swollow me whole. I heard the back door open and my father take a few steps onto the back patio. "Enough Cass. No more!" I didn'
Cass's POV The sound of my father's fist connecting with Ezra's face was enough to stun everyone into silence. I didn't move. I'd seen my other mad, and even angry a few times in my life but he was always in control of his emotions. I'd seen him fight before in military tournaments, in training troops, and he never held back when training me. It was then that I noticed his body position. He had put himself slightly between myself and Ezra. This wasn't a man out of control. This was a man defending his child. I couldn't help the warmth that I felt in that moment. Even though instinct told me that my mate had been attacked, my logical side and my emotional side were enough to overpower those feelings. I had been dealing with so much lately on my own that I didn't even know how much I needed my dad until that moment. The isolation was, of course, my own doing. I would have to work on that in the future I decided. Ezra hadn't fallen, but he certainly
Unknown POV It wasn't a long run from the Blue Moon Pack House to the border of their territory where we parked our SUVs. I could still taste the blood from the warrior whose throat I ripped out. He must have been a newbie. It was way too easy to kill that mut, I have some age on me and wasn't even on the juice! As badass as it felt in the moment to be high and beefed up, that shit will kill your mind after a while. I had to stay sharp. I still don't trust these blood sucking mother fuckers. It's been mutually beneficial so far though. Before we all had the chance to get in our caravan of black SUVs, curtesy of the blood sucker king, a thundering roar shook the trees. All the guys I had with me fell to the ground. I didn't but I sure as hell wanted to cower. I shifted quickly. "Get a fucking move on! We need to get some distance between us and them!" Quickly my guys shifted and jumped into action. I got into the front passenger seat of the car I always
Cass's POVI've always been one of those people that either doesn't dream at all, or has crazy weird dreams. No in between. Sometimes the crazy dreams are just that. Crazy nonsense. Sometimes they are nightmares. Those usually involve me trying to get to Alex before that deafening crack hits my body like a bullet, but my feet are so heavy and I can only run in slow motion. Those are the worst. I've dreamt of Ezra many times. Rarely in a romantic setting though. He always appeared at random times doing random things. One time, I dreamt that my washing machine was overflowing with rainbow suds, and Ezra came to my house to see if I wanted to go meet his pet turtle. They say your dreams mean things about you. I'd love to know what the hell that one meant.After my exhaustion overtook me, I started to dream. It wasn't unusual. I was late for class, but was mad about something I couldn't figure out. So I went for a run. Somehow, I ran from UCLA campus to the clearing
Cass's POVSomething in me snapped. I don't know if it was the overwhelming moment of meeting Zeus or if it was the overload of more information that I needed to learn. Or maybe it was the mention of a war I didn't understand. Whatever it was, I let a little bit of my sanity slip and began to laugh.It wasn't a small giggle. It was a loud, obnoxious, from the diaphragm laugh. The look of confusion on Zeus's gorgeous face mad it worse. He clearly wasn't expecting this reaction. Maybe he expected determination, or fear, or maybe awe. That's not what he got. He got me. Me doing everything I could not to double over and laugh even harder than I already was.I steadied myself by leaning over on the pillar that Zeus had previously stepped out from behind. I put my right hand over my heart, and took a breath. "I'm sorry." I giggled out. "I really am." I laughed a few more times before I let the madness fade."Are you mad? How has anything we've
Cass's POV Steady breaths. Steady heartbeat. Steady breaths. Steady heartbeat. "Stranger Danger" is a concept we are all taught at a pretty young age. You don't talk to strangers. You don't take candy from strangers. If a stranger offers to let you see puppies in his van, you say "no"...or in my case a VIP tour in a temple. Shit. My parents would be shaking their heads at this. Good job, Cass. Good Job. I needed to act casual. This guy didn't smell like anything other than a normal person. I didn't smell anything wolf related on him. He didn't seem to radiate any sort of power. Ever since the activation of my Lycan genes I always have an acute sense of someone being dangerous. Amphitrion didn't ooze anything except normalcies. Unless you count those insane good looks. Which in this moment, I needed to NOT be focused on. Playing it casual was the only way to go. The only thing that had my senses on high alert was
Cass's POV The beauty of the stone palace in front of me was remarkable. I stretched my neck and leaned my head back to look up so that I could continue to take it all in. It was clear that this structure was old, ancient even. It was taken care of though. Pristine. There was something about this place that drew me in. Almost as though it had a power all on it's own. I was drawn it. I could feel it seeping into my very essence. Filling my soul. It felt right. As though it was mine all along. "It's beauty is capitivating is it not?" I drew my attention away from the alabaster wonder in front of me. I was greeted by the youngest appearing of the council members. He was tall, and extremely handsome. Although he was much older than he appeared, as humans go, he gave off the appearance of a man in his fifties. Bits of silver in his dark hair that probably only made him more handsome with age. His eyes were green and seemed extremely kind. He had on a wedding
Cass's POV I left the States without saying goodbye to Ezra. It was for the best. We said we needed to be said. The plane that the elders sent was a beautiful private jet. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they've accumulated funds over the hundreds of years they have been existence. Their official title was The Council of Elder Wolves. Not particularly creative, but I digress. The plane ride was going to be long, and I was the only one on the plane aside from the pilots and the small crew that only occasionally came to ask if I needed anything. The constant buzzing feeling from the plane's engines was very relaxing. The quiet was welcomed as well. I hadn't really been left alone very much since Alex's death. So the alone time was nice. As much as all the uncertainty that had been circling my life had caused me to worry, wonder and stress, I left feeling different. I felt, for the first time in my life, like I was going in the right direction. I w
Cass's POV Over the two weeks that passed, I trained hard. Harder than I've ever trained in my life. It felt amazing. It made me feel alive. My days consisted of the same routine. Wake up early, eat, train, get to know the warriors and the Alphas that came and went, train some more, eat some more, and at night I would shift and go for run with the moon. I had orignally planned to head to Rome to meet with the elders after two weeks but had decided to get one more week under my belt of training. It also gave me time to find out what the plans would be to keep working to raise our armies while I was away. It drove me insane to not know what we were raising an army for. The vampire attacks were not always obvious. Since the appearance of the King on US soil, there had been fewer and fewer bodies left for the world to see. The larger cities, however, had been reporting the homeless disappearing. Less and less were on the streets. Humans of course woul
Cass's POV It was when I felt the sparks from Ezra's hand gently making it's way down from my waist that I snapped out of the euphoric haze created by the mate bond. I placed both of my hands flat on his ridiculously chiseled chest and gave it a big shove. Ezra flew back almost ten feet. I instantly felt uneasy from the loss of touch from my mate. I hadn't intentionally sent him flying that far, but seeing him recover fine and never really lose his footing kept me from any feelings of remorse. The look of shock, confusion, and maybe hurt was evident on his face, but I didn't care. I was out of breath from the kiss, and if I was honest I felt a little empty. The realization of that sent me over the edge. "No! You don't get to just kiss me now that you know I'm not a human and suddenly regret rejecting our mate bond!" I was seething, and in response to the aggression rolling off of me in waves, Ezra's Alpha instincts had him instantly in a defensive posture with
Cass's POV I had only had a glimpse of everyone when this taller than average young teenager came a kidnapped me. Even being tall for her age, the girl was still shorter than me. I couldn't help but laugh. "Okay Blaire. You've successfully kidnapped me. We can slow down now." I took that moment to slow the both of us so that I could take a look around. To say that I was wowed would be a fierce understatement. The great room that I was in was incredible. It resembled the grand lobby of a lodge, although at the moment it was empty. Everything was rustic and wood. There were multiple fire places, and groups of couches and rocking chairs placed around them. They were clearly there for pack members to gather together. Looking up I could see that the different upper floors could overlook the railing and see all the way to the ground floor. The entire room smell of cedar and magic. It looked like the most cozy place I had ever seen. I just wanted to grab a book and
Ezra's POV Today was the day that so many warriors were scheduled to arrive. Our kind was coming together to prepare for potential war. While no direct threats had been made to our packs in particular by the vampires, there were lots of random rogue attacks. They were always very well planned and calculated. Someone was doing research. These rogues weren't normal either. They had strength that they shouldn't have. Their eyes were a shade of red that wasn't natural to our kind. We had yet to capture one alive. While, my territory had yet to be tested, I knew it was coming. It was hard to focus on vampires when all these rogue attacks were happening. However, the elder council made it pretty clear that if King Valerius was back, a war was coming. None of us knew when though. That's why the meeting with the elder council was happeing soon. We needed information. I assume his presence in the United States is because of Cass. Her ancestors were in Europe the last ti