Cass's POV
Dad turned to walk back in the direction of his truck, the tear long gone from his face. I, however, was rooted in place. I couldn't move. Shock had taken over me. The ringing of my dad's cell phone inerupted my mind's sea of nothingness.
"Janine! Hey, I was just about to call you."....."No I hadn't had a chance to text you back. I'm sorry."....."Yes. She's fine. It was another one of her spells, just quite a bit worse."...."I know dear I want answers too. They don't have any though."...."No! She's not staying. We are about to be released. See you soon." Dad said cutting mom off and ending the call before she could say anything else. We must have been here longer than I thought.
I could hear my dad's heart beat and it was still pumping a little higher than it should. He was still a little uneasy about what had happened. How could he not be? His daughter had just. Fuck. I don't even want to say it. Mainly because I still didn't have a damn clue what had happened. I was ripped from the panic beginning to rise from gut when my dad grabbed my arm and said, "Come on Cass. We need to get home before your mother goes looking for you at the hospital. I don't know if I can hold her off much longer and we both know she can't see you like this."
"Dad. What just happened? I need to know." I pleaded with him. "I know Cass. I wish I had answers for you. For us." he said quietly. There was a look of worry etched on his face.
"But what am I? Why did that happen? What were you talking about with that royal lycan-something? What the fuck was the burst of blue light that LITERALLY shot out of me? Why did I grow? What did I turn into? I HAD FUCKING HAIR AND CLAWS ON MY FEET DAD!! I. WAS. GLOWING." I shouted. This was bad. I was losing it! I felt the familiar pressure building up in my stomach and I looked up to see my dad's wide eyed expression while holding his hands up as if to surrender.
"Honey...Cass. Your eyes are glowing. I promise we will get answers together but you have got to take a breath. Remember how i taught you to control your fear and adrenaline? Use that." He said calmly. I did what he said. I closed my eyes, focused on taking calm steady breaths. Slowly my heart rate settled down and i was able to open my eyes again. The pressure in my chest was gone so I was hoping the glowing eyes would be too. "Better?" I asked.
"Yes ma'am. You're back to normal. Good job. I know that couldn't have been easy." He said, honestly looking proud. "Is this why you made me do all those weird mind over matter exercising growing up? Did you know about this?" I asked.
Running his hands down his face, my dad slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the moon before he began to speak. "Yes and no. I honestly thought my grandfather, your great-grandfather, was just telling me fun stories about our family being decendants of royal Lycanthropes. He would tell me things that obviously I thought were total shit, like how our bloodline was only activated by the rising of great evil, and how we were destined to fight that evil. That evil being vampires, which I honestly hope even more that he made that part up. He even said that I would have abilities even if I never...well do what you just did. I obviously never believed any of it was true. That stuff doesn't exist. Right? I admit, I'm was born to be a soldier. It's why I wanted to be a Seal. I was naturally stronger, more ituitive in combat, faster, and my eyesite is unmatched. I noticed the same things in you early on. The logical part of me always won the internal battle, but that didn't keep the small part of me that wanted to believe my grandfather from doing everything I could to prepare myself and then you for this moment."
I thought for a moment trying to slow my racing mind. "So why me? Why didn't you ever, you know." I asked.
"I have no idea. Honestly Cass. I'm as shocked as you." He said. I looked at him and studied his freatures. He looked like he had just aged ten years.
"Wait. How did you know to bring me here? How did you know I was changing?" I asked. The thoughts had suddenly popped into my head.
"Well, I remembered my grandpa saying someting about us having to be eighteen before we could have a chance to change. Your eyes looked brighter this morning. It's why I asked how you felt, but you honestly acted fine. But when you fell to the ground during your game, I saw your spine ripple like it was about to break. Then you screamed and I knew. Or at least I thought that is what was happening. I didn't want to believe it at first,but you didn't see what I saw while you were beginning to turn. Your face and bones and skin were contorting in ways that shouldn't be possible. I just knew I needed to get us away from people. So I ran you out to the first stretch of woods out of town I saw. Now, as much as I love answering your questions, and believe me I have just as many as you do, we have to go Cass. Please. I promise we will figure this out." He said, pleading with his eyes that were the same shade of blue as mine not to argue and just head home with him.
I nodded my head, and followed my dad to his truck.
It was a quiet ride home. I was exhausted, and even though it was only another ten minutes to home I laid my head over on the cool window and let sleep take me.
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Ezra's POV
I was sitting in my office studying some of the annual numbers for my ever expanding pack lands. So. Many. Numbers. I wish the Alpha position didn't entail all this paperwork, but it is what it is. I have conquered and absorbed six other packs since becoming Alpha. I only took out the alphas I knew were in the process of trying to overthrow me. It wasn't pretty, but we made quick work of the weaker packs and had smooth transitions. I am a bit of a hard ass, but it is a necessary evil to keeping the factions in line.
I was deep in thought when a faint ringing started in my ears. It was quickly followed by a rush of energy that hit my body like a punch to the chest. The burst of energy was gone and quickly as it came, although the ringing lingered for a bit. It felt like I was being called to shift. No one could command me though. I was one of the strongest alphas that there was.
I bolted out of my chair and into the hallway. I could feel the members of my pack, and they were panicking. Howling began to thunder all around. My pack was being forced to shift. What the fuck is happening? I could feel my wolf wanting to surface but I had no issues controling it. This didn't mean I wasn't having trouble controling the fear I felt in my gut knowing something or someone was so powerful that they were causing my entire pack to shift.
"Alpha!What the fuck is happening?" Xander, my beta yelled through the mind link. "Why are we all shifting?" He asked before I could form a reponse.
"I don't know. I didn't shift, but I felt the energy and the call." I told him. That was the truth. I didn't have a clue what the hell was going on.
My front door busted open and my father came running through. "Son! Everyone in the pack without Alpha blood seems to have shifted! Even your mother couldn't hold it off and she's a strong alpha female." my father practically yelled. I could see the high level of uncertainty in his eyes. "I don't understand Dad. Did you feel the powerful surge of energy right before it happened? I've never felt anything like that. Have you?" I asked looking to him hoping for some sort of wisdom to ease my mind.
"No. Something or someone would have to be insanely powerful for this. Royals were said to have the ability to cause mass shifts. We can figure all this out later though. You need to address the pack, Son." my father advised. "I agree." I said with confidence. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew it was over for the moment at least. Everyone would be scared and it was his job as Alpha to assure them that they were protected.
"EVERYONE. I KNOW YOU ALL FELT THE SAME BURST OF POWER THAT I DID A FEW MOMENTS AGO. PLEASE DO NOT PANIC. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH IT IS OVER FOR NOW. I KNOW YOU ALL WILL HAVE QUESTIONS, BUT I ASK THAT YOU GIVE ME THE NIGHT TO SPEAK TO OTHER ALPHAS TO SEE HOW FAR THIS REACHED. UNTIL THEN, I ASSURE YOU THAT OUR WARRIORS AND MYSELF WILL PROTECT YOU ALL AND THAT YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES ARE SAFE. PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR HOMES FOR NOW AND REST UNTIL TOMORROW MORNING."
I turned to head back to my office so that i could make some phone calls with my Father close on my heels. There's no way that everyone made it out of this without shifting in front of humans. There is going to be major damage to fix.
5 YEARS LATER... CASS'S POV I walked into the lecture hall about thirty minutes before class would start. I wanted to get a feel for the room. This was my second semester as an Assistant Professor. I was so excited to get the job. I enjoyed it, plus it helped me pay for my masters degree. Thank god I was going to be done after I take my comps in a few months. I never went to UCONN to play basketball. After my first shift, my dad and I decided it would be best to lay low. Mom was pretty disappointed, but my dad worked his magic and convinced her it was for the best. So, I gave up my basketball scholarship and took an academic one at UCLA. I had completed several hours of college credit in high school, so I with some determination I was able to complete my undergraduate degree in English Literature ahead of schedule. I'm now persuing a masters degree in Folklore. I know it sounds like an odd thing specialty, but folklore ha
Ezra's POVI was out for a run along the south side of our pack border. It was a beautiful day for January. The sun was shining. The trees were still convinced it was winter, but it was weather I couldn't pass up the chance to enjoy. I like to run in wolf form when I can. It helps relieve some of my daily stress. As a wolf, I am quite large. Larger than my father, and certainly larger than any other wolf in my pack. My fur is jet black. Only alphas are capable of having jet black fur, but not all have it. My father's was not. His was dark dark brown, and almost black but not quite. I was secretly proud of my black fur but a good leader doesn't brag."Alpha, I'm going to put all the files on the newest warrior trainees on your desk." Jax, my lead warrior said via mindlink. We were starting warriors younger than any pack ever has. They still recieve proper education either by private school or some even choose to go to public school. That's completely up
Cass's POV I was done a little earlier than I anticipated and decided to just relax the rest of the evening. I loaded up in my good ole Jeep, and went by and got mine and Alex's favorite Chinese takeout. I then headed to my home. I live on the outskirts of the city. It was my attempt at being as secluded as possible in the event that I had a melt down or something. It also allowed me to shift whenever I wanted to. I had very few neighbors way out here. Alex lived closer to the university, but stayed over a couple nights a week. I stayed with him occasionally, but I always claimed that I slept better in my own bed. It probably sounded extremely upity, but Alex never complained. I think if I was happy, he was happy. We both knew eventually we would need to sort out where we would live after we got married. If I am being honest I don't know how I would live in the city and keep my sanity. There are always so many noises and smells. It wears me out.
Cass's POVWith unnatural speed I raced over and grabbed the phone from Alex. I made sure he hadn't pressed SEND yet before putting the phone down on the table. Seeing that he hadn't, I breathed a temporary sigh of relief."What are you doing babe? There's something not right about those men." There was worry laced in every word.I sighed and closed my eyes. I had been in denial. I really thought I could keep this day from ever coming. I thought if I laid low and minded my own business that the werewolves would stay away.Dragging Alex into this world was the last thing I ever wanted to do. Hell, this world was a mystery to even me. I wasn't a part of it. There was knowledge available in writings throughout history that anyone could dig up. The little details about lycans and werewovles is where my lack of knowledge were going to eventually put me and my loved ones in danger. Unfortunately it seemed that eventually had come.
Cass's POV"Show Me."I should have expected this, but I wasn't going to budge. He couldn't force me to shift even with all the power he was subtly sending at me in waves. I stood my ground, and held his gaze. Even with his exuding power, I felt no malice. I stayed calm and kept my heart rate steady. I saw no reason to fly off the handle.After only a few more seconds, Alpha Marcus smiled a big toothy grin and began to chuckle. "I'm sorry my dear, Cassandra. I had to try!"I couldn't help but smile back, and let out a small laugh myself. It suddenly occurred to me that I was choosing to let this man and his friends into my life. I was choosing to trust him. "Alpha Marcus, I would like to learn more about the Were community and hopefully in turn learn some more about myself -"Before I could finish my sentence, the all too familiar feeling of burning from the inside out hit me. Without meaning to I let out a hiss in pain
Cass's POVAfter Alex had gone home to finish paperwork and to prep for his Tuesday classes, I called my dad. I talked to him for an hour about what had transpired. Of course he was cautious and worried about the fact that other knew a little about what I was now, but I assured him that I felt nothing off about the situation. If anything it all felt right.Alpha Marcus contacted me the next morning and asked if I would be willing to meet him for dinner after I completed my lectures for the day. There were some things he wanted to discuss with me. For some reason I trusted this man. He reminded me of my father a little bit I suppose. It was also a bit refreshing to not feel like he was out to get anything from me. I stayed to myself so it's not like I'd ever really been used, but to say that I wasn't paranoid about what would happen once my secret was out would be a lie._______________________________________________Walking into th
*CASS'S POV* The two alphas looked at me as if I had lost my mind. I guess I had in a sense. I was losing my cool. I couldn't handle getting this information in public. I turned and walked briskly out of th restaurant. Great! Just great! Alpha Osirus probably thinks I am complete loose canon. Although, truth be told that's what I felt like. I was pissed. Pissed about everything. Why me? Why did I have to be, THIS? On top of that, I had caused a Historical Event. If I did ever try to join the Were community, what would they think of me? Would they blame me? I don't even know what happened totally, and I blame me. Would they hate me? Would they be scared of me? After jumping into my Jeep, I raced out of the city as fast as I could, traffic laws be damned. I was itching to run free. I felt like I couldn't get there fast enough. This was the information I had been after for so long, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. Don't ask me what I thought I was
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.
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