And Then There Were Four

Cassie.

Trixie's outburst caught both mine and Sansa's attention. She jumped to her feet, huffing and puffing, and I could have sworn her eyes turned brighter than usual. It was as if a flip switched in her, and she was slowly spiraling from it. The guilt that filled me over her looking upset, tore at my heart. I had never meant to hurt her, and biting my bottom lip, the confidence I usually felt slowly dissipated.

"Trixie, I'm so sorry. Please don't be upset."

"Upset?!" She scoffed with laughter. "I'm not upset because I'm his mate."

"What? Then what's wrong?" Confused beyond belief, I tried to understand what was going on. Why was she acting like this if she wasn't upset by the news?

Shaking her head, she paced around the little seating area we were in with her hands on her hips. "I never wanted a mate, Cassie. As surprising as that may seem, in my world, when you take your mate, it means you start popping out babies, and just because my older sister wants to do that doesn't mean I want to."

Trixie's confession was slightly unexpected. She was usually so sweet and bubbly, and right now, she was acting completely different. "Trix-"

"No, Cassie," she sighed, snapping her gaze at me. "Let me finish."

I gestured with my hand for her to continue. After all, who was I to honestly stop her? It was obvious the girl was on a mission, and as she ranted about how people always treated her like she was stupid and how her mother wanted her to settle down, I couldn't help but think of how similar we actually were.

"If your brother thinks for one minute he can disregard me, regardless of me not wanting to mate anything, well, he has another thing coming."

"Whoa-what?" I gasped, coming back to reality at her words.

What the hell was she talking about?

"You heard me, Cassie," she replied with a triumphant smirk on her face. "I'm going to take a chapter out of your book."

Sansa kicked my shin, causing me to gasp as I sent a daggered glare in her direction. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Look what you did!" she groaned, gesturing to Trixie, who pulled out her phone and seemed to look at herself in her reflection. "She has lost it!"

Mouth parted and eyes wide, I shrugged as if to ask her what she wanted me to do. It wasn't like I asked for all of this shit. "Trixie, what are you planning?"Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

When I spoke, my eyes spotted a figure walking past the store I had wanted to see all day. Lucas walked casually down the sidewalk in the same dark jeans and t-shirt I had seen him in the other day, which confused me more than anything.

It meant that he hadn't been home or anything.

"Guys, I have to go." Standing to my

feet, Sansa called after me as I bolted from the cafe and out the door, looking in both directions for which way he had gone. The thought of finding him was the only thing pushing me forward as I turned left and headed up the street in the

direction I saw his figure disappear.

My eyes searched the area for any sign of him, and when I thought I'd never find him, a firm arm reached out from within the shadows of an alley and pulled me in, the seductive, sultry scent I had grown used to wrapping around my body. Pushed against the wall, I stared up into Lucas' dark steely eyes. My heart was racing at the feeling of his body pressed against mine as his breath fanned across my cheek.

"Why are you following me?" he snarled through a narrowed gaze.

"What-what do you mean why am I following you? I have been looking for you all day."

The comment seemed to shock him as his gaze fell, and he let up on how tight he was holding my wrist. For a moment, I hoped this moment might turn sweet, no matter how much my affection for him confused me, but that didn't happen. Instead, he scoffed and stepped back from me, running his hand through his dark hair as he always did when he was going to be a sarcastic asshole.

"I don't know why you are, Cassie. It's not like we have anything to talk about." His words were hurtful, and as the hollow pit in my stomach opened, trying to swallow my heart, I refused to believe him.

Did I care for him more than I thought? Maybe I didn't know.

Curling my lip glared, trying to understand what the hell changed his mood so quickly. He seemed different today as if something had happened, and he no longer cared about me being his mate. "Maybe because I wanted to talk to you about-"

"Stop," he snapped, baring his fangs. "We have nothing to talk about." "Nothing to talk about?" I gasped in disbelief, "we have a lot to talk about."

Lucas had nothing but amusement in his eyes as he stared at me with a smile on his face. I wasn't sure what the hell his problem was, considering he literally had fucked me stupid last night, and now he

was acting as if I was the last

person on the planet he wanted to see.

"Cassie, you and I both know this won't work, so stop pretending and move on to some other poor, unsuspecting soul who has time for your shit."