Chapter 4

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.