Cassandra's pov

Different emotions surged through me, ranging from anger, sorrow, despair and finally numbness.

As my feet sunk into the muddy ground as I walked I couldn't feel anything.

It was as though I was merely a ghost observing life pass by me.

Why had I ignored things that were glaring obviously in front of me.

I pushed my wet, sticky hair out of my face and as I looked around I realized I was lost.

I looked back but all I saw was forestry and I wondered how I had possibly come out this far without noticing.

My feet hurt and my back ached and I instantly knew I had been walking for hours.

As I stared down at my sodden clothes I couldn't help but wonder how what started out as a beautiful night had gone horribly wrong.

With a sad smile I leaned against a tree which provided me with minimal shelter and let the rain wash over me, ignoring the shivers that ran through my body.

A snap broke the serenity which surrounded me and my eyes popped open.

A low growl filled the silence as more bones snapped and against my better judgement, I peeked out from behind a tree.

My eyes bulged as a magnificent Lycan stood in the middle of the clearing, seemingly changing back to it's human form.

I marvelled at how huge and majestic the beast was.

How was this possible?

The lycan's were never found in this part of the city. They were at the highest echelon in society and were second only to royalty.

The Lycan seemed to sense my presence and stilled.

I carefully etched back behind the tree, not wanting to be discovered.

The Lycan sniffed the air for a few seconds, a low growl emanated from him right before he looked in my direction and my eyes met his dark brown ones.

In one swift moment, the Lycan effortlessly transformed back into it's human form and my throat dried.

He was a sight for sore eyes.

His matted brown hair fanned his face and his dark brown eyes glistened as he walked directly towards me.

My eyes widened and I slowly tried to imch away from the tree.

"Don't bother, I can see you." His baritone voice called out to me and a shiver ran down my spine.

My heart sped up at his words and I wondered what I should do.

With a gulp, I slowly came out from my hiding place.

His eyes became darker and never left mine as he stopped in front of me.

Upclose, he was even more magnificent to behold. A rich earthy scent invaded my senses and I felt like I was spinning.

He had a commanding and domineering aura about him, almost arrogant and hunty, and I instantly knew this wolf had a high rank in the werewolf world.

"Mate." He announced with a growl, his eyes held a fire and intensity which scared me.

"What?" I whispered, confused.

Surely I had misheard him.

"You are my mate." He clarified as he looked down at me with a small frown on his face.

He almost looked as confused as I felt with his brows scrunched up as he regarded me.

"I think you are mistaken." I gulped.

He slowly rose his hand towards me and his finger followed a dried trail of my tears. I shivered as he touched me and the air around us seemed charged.

The rain had reduced to a light drizzle and the man's hair clung to his face.

Impulsively, I rose my hand and brushed away the hair clinging to his face, obstructing my view of him.

A low purr rumbled between us and he closed his eyes for a few seconds. He seemed to be relishing my touch.

After a moment those deep brown orbs stared at me with heat.

"There is no mistake, you are my mate." His voice was deep and husky and a low heat settled between my legs.

"That's not possible. I'm a human." I pointed out, taking a few steps back.

I couldn't think properly with the heat radiating from him warming me and his intoxicating scent distracting me.

"I'm as confused as you are but my wolf is certain." He stated.

"How?" I knew my eyes sparkled with curiousity but I couldn't help it.

My senses are sharpened and I can perceive everything about you. Your sweet vanilla essence, the wetness crowding between your legs and the increased tempo of your heartbeat." He explained and I gasped at his words, a warmth spreading through me.

"My wolf is on edge and waging war within me to be let free to mark and claim you as his. So like I said before, there is no mistake." He looked pointedly at me and I was at a loss for words.

His hand cradled my face and as he stared at me intently, butterflies fluttered in my belly.

"Do you claim you don't feel it?" He quirked a brow at me and I knew the 'it' was that awareness I had of him. That sizzle in the air that made everything seem electrified.

"You can't mark me." I shook my head, ignoring his question as I took several more steps from him.

How did I get here?

From getting my heart shattered by the man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with to finding a Lycan who claimed I was his mate.

Fear gripped me at what it would mean if this wolf marked me. My whole life would be upended.

And so without a thought I turned and sprinted down the path I came, pushing my legs to get as far away from him as possible as I knew he could catch up to me if he wanted to.

Sebastian's pov

"And you said she is a human?" Kael, my beta, looked at me perplexed and I merely hummed in agreement.

I clenched my fists and went back to attacking the punching bag in front of me.

"Battering the punching bag won't offer you a solution." Kael pointed out and as much as I didn't want to agree with him, I knew he was right.

"It would, however, reduce the urge I have to strangle something or someone." I looked at him pointedly but he merely chuckled.

I flexed my fingers as I paused my assault on the punching bag and  tried to calm my raging emotions and ragged breath.

"Why would the moon goddess give me a human as a mate?" I frowned.

"Are you sure you weren't merely attracted to this human?" Kael asked and my wolf growled within me.

"I think I would know what attraction feels like Kael. My wolf yearned to mark this human right on the spot. I have never felt so aware of another person neither had my wolf ever lost control like I almost had when she stood mere inches away from me." I revealed annoyed by Kael's insinuation.

One of my men walked into the gym and bowed.

"What is it?" I gritted out, unable to mask my irritation and frustrations.

"I have the report you asked for Alpha." He replied, snagging my attention.

Without another word I took the file from him and walked into my office, slamming the door shut behind me.

I poured myself a glass of whiskey before I settled in my chair and began skimming through the file.

Cassandra...that was my mate's name.

Such a sweet, meek name was befitting for her but behind that meek, calm exterior I sensed a heat, a fire and an uncontrollable passion behind her eyes, waiting to be explored.

The prophecy claimed my mate would be the one to redeem the werewolf world and lift the curse so how could my mate be a human?

I was at a loss for how to handle the situation as I read through the file containing everything seemed important about my little human mate.

I took a slow sip of my whiskey as an idea formed in my mind.

"Kael." I shouted and within seconds he appeared at my doorway.

"For the next few days you are in charge of the pack. I have a quick errand to run." I informed him and I could see the question swirling in his eyes but he merely nodded and left the room.

"I'm coming Cassandra." I muttered as I looked out the window.

****

"I must admit I do not understand." Curtis, Cassandra's father stared at me in confusion.

The man was trying to feign ignorance and I smirked.

"Mr. Peterson, this paper clearly shows how many gambling establishments you owe." I pushed the paper with outrageous figures towards him.

He scanned the paper for a moment before his panicked eyes looked at me.

"How did you get this?" He asked.

"So you do not deny it?" I quirked a brow.

"I made some bad decisions on most of those gambling tables but I promised to pay them back." He confessed.

"And how do you intend to do that?" I pushed.

Curtis grappled for words but came up short.

"I have a proposition for you. One which would benefit us both." I began and the man's eyes looked weary.

"I'm listening." He nodded.

"I would pay off all your debts and set you up on an allowance which would afford you to live comfortably." I looked him dead in the eyes.

"In exchange, I want your daughter Cassandra to follow me back to my pack and stay as my mate." I dropped the other shoe and the man's eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets.

"You are insinuating I sell my child Alpha." The man pointed out.

"It wouldn't be selling because she is my mate and with or without you I'll still claim her." I shrugged.

The man contemplated my words for a moment.

"Cassandra is a free spirit, she would never be forced to do anything she doesn't want to." He warned me.

"Leave her to me, all you have to do is sign these documents and I'll do the rest." I pushed the agreement I had drawn up towards him.

He read it's contents carefully.

"You'll pay for all my debts?" He asked again.

"Every last one of them." I assured him and his eyes roamed around my face, searching.

He either seemed to be pleased with whatever he found or he desperately wanted to clear off his debts. Either ways he signed the papers with determination and pushed them back towards me.

"If this wasn't in my favour, I would applaud you on just how easy it was to hand your daughter over to a stranger just for money." I sneered.

What if it weren't me but another man who had made Cassandra's father such an offer and he hadn't refused.

My wolf growled at the thought.

"You may inform her if you wish and I'll make the necessary arrangements to have her join me in my home." I informed her father and he sucked in a sharp breath.

Without another word I strolled out of the man's office, a satisfied smirk on my lips.

Cassandra's pov

"What do you mean we are in debt?" I stared at my father in confusion.

He looked anywhere but at me and it irritated me to no end.

"You already know I have an addiction to gambling-" my father began and I groaned.

"I thought you had sorted that out and we had moved on from that?" I asked.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't stop Cassandra, no matter how hard I tried." He confessed and a slow sense of dread washed over me.

I was beyond disappointed in my dad.

"How much do you owe?" I asked softly, trying to control the rage within me.

"We owe nothing. All our- my debts have been paid off." He informed me and I scrunched my brows in confusion.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

My father looked at me with such pain and guilt in his grey orbs and the anticipation of what he would say nearly killed me.

"A man visited me a while back and offered to pay all my debts." He said casually as if it were no big deal.

"What did he want in return?" I probbed and my father looked away.

"Did you sell our house?" I asked.

"No, I assure you I did not." He gushed out.

"Then what did he want?" I bit out, unable to bear the suspense.

"You." My father whispered so softly I almost didn't hear him.

"Excuse me?" I looked at him bemused.

"He claimed that you were his mate and he would claim you wether or not I agreed to his deal and signed the papers." He explained hurriedly.

My eyes bulged at the word 'mate'.

No, it couldn't be.

How possible was it that the Lycan had found me?

"You signed papers?" I asked much calmly.

"The man wanted a binding document to our agreement." He divulged.

"Do I mean so little to you that you could easily sell me off to the first person who makes an offer?" I asked him cooly.

"I was desperate Cassie. The gambling dens were hounding me for their money and I had no idea where I would pay all of them off. They wanted to lock me up." His eyes pleaded with me to understand with him but I refused to.

"Did you tell me about this? You decided to make bad decisions, one after the other and it's not enough that as your daughter I am expected to clean up your messes, you had to actively involve me in one." Tears clouded my eyes and pain seared through me.

"What about college, I'm due to finish in a few months. Did you ever for once sit and think that I had a life which I wanted to live and signing those papers would take away my choice and freedom from me?" I asked, my voice cracked as I spoke.

"Cassie." My father's eyes brimmed with tears but I wasn't fooled.

With one last stare at him I made my way out of the house, slamming the door behind me.

I was tired of everyone making decisions which affected my life without thinking to consult me about it.

First it was Theo and now it was my own father.

Did I really mean that little to him?

Pure betrayal cursed through me and I bit my bottom lip as hot angry tears trailed down my cheek.

I plopped down by the lake which was not too far off from my house. I needed a moment of peace and the calm of the lake offered me that.

"I would kill whoever it is that put such sadness in your eyes." A deep baritone voice which invaded my dreams pulled me out of my depressing thoughts.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I stared at the Lycan who looked so prim and put together in his plain black button down shirt and brown trousers. Once again his sheer dominance and authority perplexed me and I could tell without a doubt this man belonged to the highest class of society.

He oozed money, class and power.

None of the things I possessed in the slightest.

"I can imagine your father has informed you of our agreement?" He cocked his head to the side, breaking my chain of thoughts and I loathed my treacherous mind for noticing how devastatingly handsome he looked.

"You must be mad if you really think I would follow you." I gritted out.

The Lycan observed me for a moment before he plopped down on the floor beside me.

"Why did you run away from me?" He asked lowly, his eyes never leaving mine.

"You must see that your words were alarming. You believed I was your mate and from what I can tell you still do, otherwise you wouldn't have struck such a ridiculous deal with my father." I replied.

"You are my mate." He simply affirmed, looking at the lake.

For a moment I looked at the path which led into the bustling city and I was tempted to run away for the second time.

"I let you go the first time because I was also in shock and needed time to process things but trust me Cassandra, I will never let you run away from me again. You might as well kill the thought." He pinned me with a hard stare, telling me he meant every word he uttered and he knew what I was thinking.

This was it, I was trapped.

There wasn't a way out for me.