Chapter seven

(Cassandra's POV)

My eyes sting and I open my mouth to retort but the pain in my throat is too much and I just gape like a fish.

"Whoa whoa, calm down girls. We should sit and talk about this. Let's not make a mountain out of a molehill." Momma says, trying to diffuse the situation.

I can't believe Michelle could say such a thing. My brain was still in shock.

I had fallen into a state of depression about ten years ago when dad left and I had kept to myself most of the time except when I was with momma or Mich. They had grown on me and I got all antsy if I saw them with a potential love interest since it would mean that I would be truly lonely.

Momma and Mich were the only ones that knew about my abandonment issues and never in my wildest dreams did I think that she'd use it against me in an argument.

I feel my heart constrict in my chest as if someone was squeezing on it, my throat burned, I can't breathe properly. I can't take this, I just can't.

"Cassie, wait, I didn't mean it like that," Mich says with guilt in her eyes and she moves to touch me but I shift out of her reach.

"Cassandra my dear, please come to me," Momma says with open arms but she's also keeping something from me, maybe she's dating someone too. I guess I'm truly alone now.

I turn with tear blurred vision and run out of the house, ignoring whatever fake apology they had to offer.

I run to the left side of the house and I'm about to roll out my bike when I see the last person I want to see right now.

What is he doing here?

He is already walking towards me with a look of concern and anger I think. I leave the bike and run down the street with tears streaming down my cheeks. I looked behind me and saw that he didn't follow me and for some reason, I was disappointed.

I keep running; away from the hurt; away from all the confusing emotions; away from what my father's abandonment had caused and towards the lake in the woods, close to the park. It was the only place I felt safe, so I ran.

(Matthew's POV)

Someone made her cry. Someone made my mate cry and she ran away from me. As much as that hurt and I seriously want to flay the person who caused those tears, I have to make sure she is okay.

Michael, his mate and a middle-aged woman who looks like the older version of Cassandra run out of the house a few seconds later with panicked expressions.

I look at their expression; trying to gauge who made her cry but they all looked guilty and distressed so I'm guessing they're all responsible.

"Why the hell is my mate crying?" I say through gritted teeth and I clench my fists. Even though the mating bond wasn't complete, I can still feel some snippets of her emotions since we had already touched, and let's just say I feel like ripping someone to pieces with the amount of hurt that was flowing through her.

"Who?"

"Calm down Matt."

"Mate?"

The three of them exclaim at the same time. Cassandra's mother steps forward with eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What do you mean by that?" She asks.

Shit, why is she looking at me like that? "Umm, your daughter and I are seeing each other ma'am," I reply in an even tone as I try to clamp down my anger.

"Firstly, my daughter would have told me and you said something about mates, elaborate!" She orders in an authoritative tone and I feel the need to obey which is weird since I'm the Alpha and it should be the other way round.

"Cassandra is my...."

"We don't have time for this. Cassie just ran off, remember." Michael's mate says. She looks more agitated than the rest so this is mostly her fault. But I can't do anything to her since she's my beta's mate.

This was supposed to be a relaxing evening where I'd take my mate out on a date with the excuse of a surprise double date planned by her best friend. I finally decided to give 'having a mate' a chance but these people ruined it.

I turn and walk back to my car with brisk steps.

"Wait, do you know where she is, where are you going?" Michael's mate asks and the fucker smirks and mouths, "Stalker."

"She's at the park."Cassandra's mother and I are at the same time and she glares at me.

"How do you know that, are you stalking my daughter? You better get back here and answer me." She yells as I force myself into my Maybach and drive off.

Whoa. That was all shades of weird. She has so much authority in her voice and if I didn't know better I'd think she was an elder wolf. But that's impossible since they had all been killed because of the power they could wield over werewolves including Alphas.

When my mother told me about it, I felt like slaughtering the biased fools who did it because as far as I know, an elder wolf was the leader of the werewolf council. Anyway, Cassandra's mother doesn't smell like a wolf so maybe I'm just respectful towards her because she is my mate's mother.

Ten minutes of heart-stopping driving later, I arrive at the park and park my car by the roadside. I alighted from it and ran towards the woods where the lake she usually visits was located. Some rogue sightings had been reported around the area and my heart was palpitating with the need to see her safe. I slow down and silently break through the last line of trees and release a relieved breath.

I see her sitting on the ground close to the lake, staring at the water with her head on her knees and her arms around them. She looks so vulnerable; so sad but still made a perfect picture as a light breeze made her hair and clothes flutter. It is almost sunset and I look forward to seeing how preternaturally beautiful she would look.

That's right. I've been stalking her over the past week since my wolf side was going nuts at not being able to see and keep her safe at all times. I didn't and will not tell Michael or anyone else about it since he would never let me live it down.

I think she felt my stare because I saw her shiver which is unlikely to be because she was cold since she was wearing a long-sleeved hoodie and joggers as usual. She looks behind her and stares at me with dull red eyes for a few seconds before they widen in slow recognition and she scrambles to her feet.

Her nose was slightly red from crying and her lips too, probably from biting on them.

"Wh..what are y..you d..doing h..here?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were okay. I'm not sure if you heard but there have been reports of dangerous wolves around this area," I replied as I took slow steps towards her until we were about three feet apart, "Are you okay?."

Her lips wobble and fresh tears gather in her eyes as she shakes her head. Seeing her distraught makes my heart ache and I feel like punching Mike at that moment.

"Come here," I whisper and pull her into my arms and she immediately breaks down and sobs aloud Into my shirt.

"I..I d.d..didn't m..mean to b.be rude." She cries, "I..I was j..just looking out..for her and..and..and she said th..those words and..and I d..didn't mean it."

I could barely make out what she was saying through the painful sobs that racked her body and my eyes stings. "It's okay love, it's okay," I whisper in her ear as I rock her and she visibly relaxes in my arms until her cries mellow down to adorable hiccups.

We stay that way for a few minutes before she starts to pull away and I want to tighten my arms around her but I let her go. To my utmost relief, she didn't move far; staying close enough for my hands to remain on her shoulders. I don't know what I'd do if she had moved more than three feet away from me since my wolf side was really possessive right now because of how vulnerable she looked at that moment.

"I'm sorry. I'm not always a cry baby, it's just..." She sighs.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me now. Let's get you home and safe." I say with a smile which she returns.

"Let's stay a little longer, the sun has started to set." She says and looks towards the descending fireball.

I'm sure it looks beautiful but I couldn't look away from her face to save my life.

She is wearing a small smile as she takes in the beauty of nature and I am staring; mesmerized by how someone could look so angelic even after bawling her eyes out. So beautiful. My mate.

(Unknown POV)

There he is. The bastard that's trying to steal my love away from me. The dog is staring at her as if she hung the moon. I want to gauge his eyes.

I always followed Cassandra every time she came here and I often hid on a tree and watched her like the lovesick puppy I was.

But then, about a week ago, I noticed a red wolf following her as well and I could bet my right eye that it's the douche. I knew he was a werewolf the moment I saw him. I've been around a lot of them to know the difference between humans like myself and beasts like him.

As if following her wasn't enough, he even dared to kiss her. He kissed my Cassie. I knew she had never kissed anyone before and I wanted to be her first but that animal stole my right. He's going to pay. You don't take what belongs to us hunters and go scot-free.

And by the time I'm done with him, he'd wish he never touched her.