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 POV The following weeks went by at a break neck pace. The small fight that broke out near Alpha Marcus's pack house was mild. While we did have a few casualties, it would be much worse if the vampires decided to start a real war with rogues on their side. It was decided that while it was not a great plan to tell my mother what was going on, it was best to place her under protection. She wouldn't know it was happening, but Dad and I would and that's what matters. We told her that I was taking an opportunity to go study some thing abroad and I needed her and Dad to house sit for me, but I needed them to come out a few weeks early so that I could show them the ropes out here. She jumped at the opportunity to get the heck out of Arkansas and this close to LA. I did my best to entertain her a spend time when I could. It was hard dodging werewolf affairs and pretending to be normal around my mom. I wish badly that she was strong enough to be told the truth, but I knew she w