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.

Cassandra's pov

I stared at the domineering sky scraper in front of me. Who the hell had a skyscraper as a pack house? Everything about the Lycans screamed money and they never wasted an opportunity to flaunt it.

"Welcome to your new home." The Lycan announced as he stood beside me. When it was glaringly obvious I had no where to run to, I had conceded but I knew it wasn't over and I would find my way out of the pack house no matter what.

I quietly followed behind the Lycan, ignoring the stares I was receiving as we walked. They stared at me as though I was an anomaly and in their world I guess I was. They were bo doubt wondering what a filthy little human was doing with one of their own.

"Alpha." A man whose face was pinched into a frown bowed as he addressed the Lycan.

Alpha?

My heart dropped as I recognized the title. It explained why this man's aura was so commanding and oozed of power. Was this a sick Joke? How would the alpha of the Lycans think I was his mate? Me, a human!

"Kael." The Lycan retorted.

"Is this her?" The man asked as he stared at me with an observant gaze. They had spoken about me?

"I'll show her to her room, you can wait for me in my office." The Lycan announced, ignoring the other man's question.

"Is this who?" A soft feminine voice asked and I turned to a beautiful sophisticated woman who had a small smile plastered on her face.

"Who is this Seb?" The woman asked as she assessed me with cold eyes. She had a softness to her but also a cold, calculating aura.

"No one you need to worry about Claire." The Lycan, Seb, retorted and the woman's eyes turned to slits.

"Why would you bring a human to the pack house? What would everyone think?" Her eyes darted back to me before she returned to the man who growled beside me.

"What I do is not to be questioned Claire, I'm the alpha and you had better remember your place," his voice held venom as he spoke.

"But I'm to be your Luna and that means I have a right to know things Seb," the woman announced defiantly and I stilled. If she was to be his Luna that meant they would most likely mate...where would that leave me? What would happen to me?

"I don't have time for this." Seb gritted out as he harshly gripped my arm and steered me away from the woman.

"Your hurting me." I called out to him as his hand squeezed my arm tightly. At my announcement he immediately let go of me and I gently massaged my sore arm with my fingers.

We stepped into the elevator and I pressed myself against the back of the metal as I tried to get as far away from this Lycan as I possibly could.

He stared at me for a second just before the elevator pinged and the doors slid open.

As I followed behind him I heard him nutter something about humans and how weak they were but I ignored it.

"Your room is directly next to mine." He announced as he held open a door to me. I slowly walked into the room and gasped at it's sheer magnificence. Everything about it was perfect and I couldn't help but wonder if I was in a dream.

"That is a conjoining door which will take you straight into my room-" he pointed to a door at the corner of the room.

"For now you are not to leave this room without me, you aren't allowed to wander aimlessly in the pack house unless I am at your side. If you need anything inform me and I'll have it delivered to you." The man announced and anger surged through me.

"Do you understand?" He quirked a brow at me when I remained silent.

"Just because I didn't put up a fight and I came here with you doesn't mean I'm your little prisoner who you can keep locked away forever." I gritted out but the man's countenance remained the same as he regarded me, save for a twitch of his lips.

"You look smart and I know you have already figured out I'm the Alpha king of the Lycans. You should also know that I am bound to have enemies, enemies who are waiting for the slightest hint of a weakness to use against me." The man stalked towards me as I backed away till I hit a wall. A low flame lit within me as I comprehended his words...he saw me as a liability, a weakness. What I couldn't understand though was why he hasn't just let me be, why did he have to drag me into his world?

"Finding my mate, a human at that, places you in great danger. No one needs to know right now that you are my mate, I'm already having a hard time figuring out what excuse I'll give for bringing a human to the pack house. I don't know what I'll do with you yet but for now, you stay in this room and talk to no one," he announced as he trapped me between himself and the wall.

My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I noticed his eyes flashing.

"Then why did you bring me here?" I croaked, ignoring the tears prickling the back of my eyes.

"My wolf needs you." He announced as he strolled away from me and towards the door.

"So what am I meant to do in here?" I called out to him as I hugged myself but h ignored me and gripped the door handle.

"I don't even know your name." I called out desperately.

The man paused for a second before he turned to me.

"Sebastian." He informed me with a nod before he left the room. A sob racked through me as I heard the soft nick indicating he had locked me in the room and my heart dropped.

Was this what my life would be like for the rest of my days?

Cassandra’s POV

I shifted on the bed as the rays of the sunlight filtered into the room.

I groaned, rubbing my eyelids as I slowly got up from the bed.

My throat was dry, so I reached out to the bedside table for a glass of water, but there wasn't anything there.

Groggily, I got up, trudging to the door and trying to pull it open but I didn't budge.

Huh?

I tried again, pulling harder this time as I attempted to open it, but it yielded the same result.

Why was my door stuck?

“Dad?” I yelled out, trying to get him to come up the stairs and get the door opened for me, but there was no reply.

“Dad!” I yelled louder, pulling at the knob and then pounding steps coming up the stairs from outside the door sent relief through me but as the door pulled open and I came face to face with a guard, I froze.

“Who are you?” I asked and he looked at me, frowning, equally confused.

“I'm a guard here,” he replied, and I tilted my head in confusion.

What the hell was–

That was when it all came rushing back.

I wasn't home anymore.

I was in Sebastian pack and he kept me locked up here last night.

I staggered backwards, almost losing my footing that the guard had to rush out and grabbed me by the waist, holding me close to his chest to prevent me from falling.

“What do you think you're doing?” a loud voice yelled from behind the guard and when he turned to see who it was, his eyes bulged and he let his hands off me, making me fall flat on my butt.

“Why did you let me save me only to let me go at the-” the words died in my throat when I saw the anger blazing in Sebastian eyes

His fists were clenched and with how his fingers were digging into his palm, you'd think he would have broken his skin by now and drawn blood.

The guard quickly moved so far away from me, it felt as though he teleported.

“I asked you a question.”he asked the guard and he just bowed, shivering where he stood so I intervened.

“You locked me in here last night. He was only helping me to get out.”

“I don't remember asking you to reply to me, did I?” he said instead, his eyes finding mine and pinning me where I was on the ground that made me shiver.

But then I frowned, getting up from the ground and dusting my clothes.

“You don't get to talk to me that way. “ I retorted, frowning at him.

His anger vanished and instead, he looked at me amused.

He then turned away from me and stared at the guard, raising his brow.

The guard immediately ran out of the room, closing the door behind him and I immediately felt self conscious.

Seb got on his knee so we could be at eye level and ran his hand through my hair, looking at it as though he was lost in thought before his eyes snapped to mine and pulled away from me.

“Get dressed and come down for breakfast.” he said to me, getting up from his kneeling position and walking out of the door.

“Wait.” I called out and he paused.

“I don't have any extra clothes. You practically dragged me here, remember?” I said, hoping to strike a nerve.

He didn't spin around as he spoke.

“You'll get clothes and everything you'd need. Maybe wash your hair even. It's dirty.” he said, having the last word and walking away.

My mouth was left agape as I stared at his retreating figure as he slammed the door shut.

How dare that, that–

I got off the ground with a huff and walked back to the bed, sitting with anger as my hand ran through my hair but stopping at a knot that had formed.

Maybe I did need to take care of my hair.

***

A soft sound sounded on the door as a lady pushed it open without waiting for my response and wheeled in some dresses alongside bags and bags of essentials.

A younger girl walked in behind her and helped with the bulk of the load.

The lady took one long, sweeping look at me and raised her nose as though she was staring at garbage. What the hell?

“I'm Cynthia, the head maid of this house and this is my niece, Eisha. We will be at your service as ordered by the Alpha.” she said, giving a slight bow that didn't last a second as if she was disgusted with herself for doing so.

As hurriedly as she came, she left the room with the niece looking cautiously at me, I could see the curious ty swirling in her irises.

Placing my hands on my hips, I got to work, arranging the clothes in the drawers and putting everything in its place before picking the clothes for the day and walking into the bathroom to get ready for breakfast like Sebastian had told me to.

I might as well accept my fate till I could find a loophole at least.

That was the thought that crossed my mind. There was no way I was just going to sit pretty and be the mate of some arrogant man because of his ‘wolf’. As far as I was concerned, that had nothing to do with me.

I got ready finally, dressed in some jeans and a basic top and my hair thrown in a loose ponytail.

I walked down the stairs, moving across the silent halls till I got to the extremely huge dining hall.

The guards outside the door stared at me as I watched the huge doors in awe.

Isn't this where they pushed open the doors and announced my presence like they did in the movies? But instead, they ignored my presence and I had to push open the door myself.

It was heavy and I struggled, grunt and huffing as I finally did but as I finally did, walking into the room with sweat dripping from my temple, I froze in embarrassment as all eyes were on me, his more piercing than everyone else in the room.