Chapter Two

Cassandra’s eyes grew wide as this god of a man bit her bottom lip and took a swipe at it. He repeated the action, and then crushed his lips against hers. She gave him access into her mouth without much coaxing, finding herself in heaven once his tongue slithered in. Her eyes went shut as she savored the taste of him- cinnamon, she found herself kissing him back, loving every delicate stroke of his tongue and trying to match it as her hand caught his strong arm, feeling his sinewy muscles beneath the fabric of his shirt.

   Oh Luna! Caleb couldn’t believe he was sharing a kiss this intimate with his mate. Her lips were so soft, just like pillows, her taste reminding him of citrus. A whimper escaped her throat that got him instantly hard, and then he smelt it- the musky scent of his mate’s arousal. His wolf howled in victory as his investigative hand made a trip along her body; his hand brushed againt the swell of her chest, causing her body to tense with need. Extremely satisfied with his progress, Caleb dared to go a step further. He cupped a boob, finding that it spilled out of his hand, she let out a soft moan and arched her back into his touch, causing him to almost cream himself. She was responding to him in a way only a mate could, at least to some extent she acknowledged him as her mate, even though she wasn’t quite conscious of that fact. He noticed her growing discomfort as she continually rubbed her thighs together and groaned as his wolf projected thoughts of the many ways he could claim their willing mate.

   She was losing it.

   Yes, that had to be the only reasonable explanation as to why she was lying under this man whose name she didn’t even know, kissing him like he was her last life source and letting him touch her so intimately…and wanting more. When did she become such a wanton person? Yes, she had ended up in this strange place and was yet to get any explanations on how she got here, but she hadn’t lost the idea of who she was, and this woman, lying in bed while a stranger explored her body to his content, was definitely not Cassandra Patrice.

   She could feel the throbbing between her thighs, how wet and hot she was- it felt both uncomfortable and incredibly good, how could one feel so good doing something that was so….wrong? She closed her eyes, feeling just a little self-conscious that this stranger could see all of her, if she couldn’t muster the will to stop this, she might as well distract herself.

   “Open your eyes my love.”

   His what? She wasn’t going to obey him, but something inside of her forced her to bend to his will and she found herself opening her eyes. Something happened to her, something much stranger than just landing miles away from her hometown. She couldn’t quite figure it out yet and she had a feeling she would need to be led through the entire process of this strange occurrence, but she didn’t have full control of her actions anymore. Had he cast a spell on her?

   “I know you know who I am, you may not acknowledge it yet, but you can feel it. Your body can feel it, and that is enough for now. I realise your rest is very important, hence, I will leave you to it, but rest assured, when you have your full strength, I will take what is mine.” He said with a warm smile.

   If she wasn’t hearing him clear as day, she would think he was only offering to bring her breakfast with the way he was smiling at her. Cassandra wondered what he meant, what all of this meant and why she seemed to have a hotflash when he spoke those last words. Yes, the man was attractive, far more attractive than anyone she thought should be looking at her, but not so much he would have such a strong effect on her.

   She continued to stare at him in wonder even as he withdrew his travelling hand from her body, a side of her wanted to reach out and stop him, it wanted him to remain by her side, to….to continue whatever he was doing. The more rational side, however, won and she kept her hands to herself the entire time he used to leave the bed and make his way to the door, which was a hell of a long time by any standard.

   He had barely touched the door when her curious side reared its head, “Who are you?” she was apparently in this man’s house, in his clothes and if she had heard him correctly, it was only a matter of time before she would be in his bed, it would do her some good to at least know who she was dealing with before she spread her legs for him.

   He paused briefly, as if considering his next words while she watched his strong back waiting for an answer, but not really expecting any.

   “Caleb, your mate.” He replied.

   “My what?” she asked, but he was already walking out of the room without giving her any form of clarification.

   Cassandra stared at the closed door, waiting for the handsome stranger to open it and tell her more, explain to her how she got here and why he was acting so touchy-feely with her, but more importantly, she wanted to know if she had been drugged because that would be the only justifiable reason why she hadn’t smacked him across the cheek when he invaded her so intimately.

She pulled the robe tighter against her body which was still trembling from his ministrations. She wanted to think more on her current predicament, but the after-effects of Magnolia’s medicine was getting to her again and she was feeling sleepy. Perhaps that concoction was what had her so pliant to this man. The old lady did work on his orders.

*****

“So, she was attacked?” Rinaldi, Caleb’s beta asked. He had only just returned from a meeting with the Alpha of New Orleans and was greeted with the exciting news that Caleb had found his mate and then a disturbing one that she was hurt.

   Now, he was in Caleb’s study getting the full gist from Caleb and Roy- well, from Roy, Caleb was a little out of it currently.

   “That’s what Magnolia said, we believe a rogue were was involved, she can’t remember what happened, but there’s still the fear in her.” Roy replied, choosing his words carefully so as not to upset Caleb.

   Rinaldi let out a whoosh of air. He honestly didn’t know if he should congratulate Caleb or sympathize with him. This was exactly why he never subscribed to this whole ‘mate’ thing, hoping inwardly that he would never find his, it seemed too much trouble to have a mate, besides, in between trying to regain his lost pack and establishing new connections, he could only make time for a few trysts here and there. All these talks of vested emotions and the likes were certainly not his strong points.

   Caleb had tuned out the two closest people he had to friends, focusing his thoughts on his mate. As much as he had enjoyed their little play hours ago, a feeling of dread washed over him that when she awoke, she would again be terrified of him, he didn’t like the thought, but it was best he prepared himself and his wolf for the worst.

   He thought of beginning the search for the vermin who hurt his mate; he and his wolf had plans for it, all of which ended with its bones being crushed and left to decompose in a sewer. Another thought occurred to him; if his mate had been hurt and turned against her will, it wouldn’t be far-fetched that she had been taken forcefully too, what if she had family members desperately searching for her? Friends, her parents, relatives…a boyfriend? He banished that thought, whichever human male had been in her life previously was inconsequential at this point, she was already his and would remain so. More importantly, they had to start looking for her family- if she had any, to assure them she was safe

  

****

   “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Kennedy stared blankly at her sister from whose lips the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard had just escaped.

   “No Kenny, think about it.” Kylie whined in desperation, her golden brown eyes pleading for understanding

   “There is nothing to think about Kylie, jeez! I swear I need to get you off of all that paranormal bullshit you’ve been reading recently.” Kennedy replied, rolling her eyes.  She sat on a close-by loveseat and returned to reading papers for any signs of a Jane Doe. Cassandra had been missing for over six months and they weren’t any closer to finding her than they had been when she went missing. The police had stopped looking months ago- apparently, a twenty-one year old missing African-American woman’s case wasn’t going to get them the kind of press they needed, hence, it simply wasn’t anywhere near their priority list. She and Kylie had resorted to searching for her themselves; after all, they were her only surviving family.  Their mothers were twin sisters and had taught all three girls to always look out for each other; this was as good a time as any to employ that teaching.

   Kylie jumped on the loveseat, unwilling to be ignored, “Listen Kenny, there’s nothing to disprove these things, for all we know, Cassie may have been kidnapped by a pack of werewolves, she’s probably being mated to one of them as we speak.”

   Kennedy arched a pair of well defined brows at her sister, “On second thought, maybe we can tap into your new talent, why don’t you write a script for the new twilight movie?”

   “Kenny….”

   “Stop it Kylie! Okay? Cassie’s been missing for over six months and you’re giving me this shit story about imaginary werewolves that kidnap people and ‘mate’ with them? Is this your idea of a brainstorm?”

   Kylie’s bottom lip quivered as she fought back tears, she hated being screamed at, it upset her- Kennedy was upsetting her. She got off the seat defiantly, “Here I am trying to think up a way to find Cassie while all you do is brood and read those damned useless papers! No one will ever find her Kenny, it’s just us and we’re fucking running out of options as it is, so, if I was told she was kidnapped by a group of elves and being held hostage in the North Pole, I’d trek there freaking bare-footed and kick Santa’s ass if I have to, to get Cassie back. You…you just want to give up, don’t you? You just want us to stop searching and get back to our lives, you’ll just block it out like Cassie never existed just like you did when mum and aunt Denise died, well I’m not cold and unfeeling like you are, I can’t block it out if I needed to.

I’ll still look for Cassie till I find her or just disappear like she did.” With those words, Kylie marched up to her bedroom, her brown cheeks wet with her tears and her mind made up.

   After over ten minutes of thinking, Kennedy found herself standing in front of Kylie’s bedroom door, feeling more than a little remorseful, “Ky, I’m sorry.” She spoke to the door, there was no reply from the other end, so she continued, just knowing Kylie was listening, “I know how hard this has been for you, and it’s…it’s hard for me too. How do you think I feel being helpless here? I’m supposed to be the eldest of the three of us, I’m supposed to protect you guys and I failed Cassie. I feel useless Kylie, like I failed aunt Denise and mama and I can’t just break down like you Kylie, I’m trying to stay strong for both of us, I…” she sniffed, the wall of toughness she had built since Cassie’s disappearance slowly developing cracks, it was hard to keep herself together and not spiral out of control into an emotional wreck. Kylie may have that option, but she had to be the ice princess, she had to be the formidable one and not crack under pressure, “…I admit, we are lost and are running out of options, but I don’t want to accept that we’ve lost Cassie forever, I can’t accept that we’ll never see her again.”

   “We will see her again Kenny, we haven’t run out of options.” Kylie’s voice finally came through the door, there was the click of a lock just before Kylie opened it, the tears had dried up considerably, but a fresh set were beginning to form, “I know my idea sounds a bit far-fetched, but it’s much better to try and fail than to not try at all and live on ‘what if’s’”

   Kennedy smiled and nodded her agreement, it was nice to see the shy, introverted 19-year old take a stand on something, she usually just sailed wherever the wind took her, not bothering to put up a fight at any suggestion. Even better, was that she was taking this stand in respect of their cousin, “So, what do you suggest we start with?”

   Kylie returned her sister’s smile and drew her in for a hug. She was glad Kennedy was doing something she never thought her capable of- letting someone else take the lead, and to think she was the one being given this torch of leadership made her just a little scared but even more determined to not fail Kennedy’s trust. They would find Cassie, she would make sure of that.