Surviving My Fate

Chapter Five Ian’s POV

I f****d up. That much I know. The second I claimed Cassie my wolf retreated. Panicked I ran out of the apartment leaving her body limp and lifeless in our bed. The sudden adrenaline cleared the alcoholic haze. It was no longer fogging my brain the way I had become accustomed to.

The scream that came out of Cassie was terrifying. The mark my bite left didn’t look like any mate mark I had ever seen; it was dark and bloody. Even as a human she shouldn’t have reacted that way. The experience is supposed to induce a stronger bond, more pleasurable than painful.

Ivan, my wolf, was pissed. He saw Cassie as a plaything, not as a mate. He didn’t want to be with her but he felt forced to stay with her now that she had our pup. He blamed me for it and we argued more often than we got along.

It's not long until I find my aimless wandering has led me back to the bar I left not too long ago. From the flashing red sign, I can tell they’re closed. I keep walking the fresh air clearing my head more, my need to feel the buzz of a few drinks in my blood intensifying which each step. There’s a club a couple of blocks over that should still be open, I mentally redirect myself in that direction. I pass by the line of partygoers instead of making my way directly to the bouncer. It doesn’t take long for him to recognize me and I’m let in. I shoot straight for the bar ordering a drink and chugging it down before slipping onto the crowded dance floor.

I don’t know how long I’m drinking and grinding on random females I’ve been blacking everything out. I glance around the crowd is weaning, they’ll be closing soon. As the thought crosses my mind the bartender hollers out the last call.

Knowing I can’t stay here any longer I head out, the girl I’ve been dancing with throws me a sour look as she stomps off with her friends. I couldn’t care less.

I have to figure out where to go. Racking my brain I come up with the only logical answer. Isaiah. My brother lives a few miles away so I wind up on his doorstep. His intercom doesn’t work, his landlord is cheap and greedy, I’d doubt if it’s ever worked. I check my pockets looking for my phone “f**k” I don’t find it, my anger lashes out I punch the wall causing a patch of bricks to crack under the pressure.

“Isaiah” I mind link him “wake up and let me in”.

“Why the f**k are you hear at 5 am mind linking me Ian?” His groan of disapproval came through as well.

“Let me in and I’ll tell you”

I can feel him rolling his eyes at me. I wait and minutes later the door opens. The face I share comes into view allowing me in.

Isaiah is my twin, we’re rogues, and have been since our pack was attacked. All the higher-ups got killed including our parents, they were the target. Our beta was able to get us away sacrificing his life in the process. They were killed right before we turned sixteen. Some of the pack members decided to go to neighboring packs to beg for acceptance. Us, on the other hand, we left becoming rogue. We made our life among the humans. So he’s used to me coming to him when I can’t handle things alone, he’s the older of us and makes sure I know he’s superior.

“Why are you here Ian?” We’re walking into his apartment when he speaks. He’s grabbing a couple of beers as I throw myself on the couch.

“I marked…” I don’t get the chance to finish, Isaiah is fast, I’m off the couch my shirt gripped in his fists and he’s growling in my face.

“You did what?” Isaiah has never agreed with my relationship with Cassie, he is one of the wolves who believes in waiting for their mates. He thinks that one day ours will get us back into a pack.

I look into his eyes, they’re our only difference, his are brown and slowly changing to black as Ishmael fights for control.

“I was drinking and came home and Ivan wanted to use her again and when she said my name with fear in her voice I snapped away from Ivan and tried to claim her bro. It didn’t look right. She screamed so loud and passed out.” I’m talking so fast and sputtering as the anger is clouding over and the last bit of brown disappears.

“How long ago was this?” The words are more of a growl, he’s fighting his wolf for control.

“Right after midnight, I took off” I can’t lie to my twin he always knows. With our alpha blood, he would’ve led the pack. Even being twins his aura has a tendency to make me submit.

Isaiah drops me back on the couch his hands going to his hips, he’s pacing and I can tell he’s ready to punch something. More than likely me.

“I’m sorry” he pays no attention. I’m screwed. He’s never going to let me live this one down.

When he finally speaks he sounds significantly calmer. “So you’re telling me you decided to mark her around midnight then you left?” His voice is raising as he continues “you didn’t show up here until 5 am, you’re clearly drunk” by this point his yelling and when he turns to me Ishmael is at the surface.

“I’m sorry” it's futile, Ishmael has me on the floor and my nose is busted before I can fight back. Blood gushes everywhere. I can taste the metallic droplets as it drips onto my lips.

“You’re a waste of a wolf” Ishmael roars “I should’ve consumed you in the womb” Ivan doesn’t care, he’s abandoned me, and even with Ishmael trying to get a rise out of him he stays back. I’m facing an alpha wolf without my wolf to defend me.

His breathing finally slows and Isaiah stands up letting me off the floor. He takes a more calming breaths and reaches for his phone. From where I stand I can see it’s almost 6 am. He goes to his contact list and scrolls until he finds her name. He’s about to call Cassie, smart, she’s generally up by now.

“It’s ringing” after a minute I hear the click of her voicemail and a small growl escapes.

“Shut up, you did this to her she could still be passed out from your forced marking” Isaiah yells.

“I know”

“Get your ass off the couch then so we can go check on her. If she’s still passed out your son is alone.”

Fuck why didn’t I think about that? I just left like a f*****g i***t. Isaiah always seems to be able to think more clearly. More reason as to why he would’ve been made alpha. I catch a glimpse of myself through the reflection in the window there's blood from my nose to my lips. The wound should’ve already healed if Ivan hadn't receded. I’m wiping the blood away as Isaiah runs to his room to throw on a shirt and shoes. Rushing as we are we’re in the parking lot in less than a minute. I breathe a sigh of relief when Isaiah isn’t making me walk, he tends to like to punish whoever disobeys him.

“Do you think she’s going to be okay?” I ask lowly, if not for our werewolf hearing I don’t think he would’ve heard me. “I don’t know man.”

We sit in silence after that. My apartment is only fifteen minutes away so in the early morning traffic it’s a quick trip.

The sun is cresting the horizon as we pull up at my complex and the first thing I notice is Cassie’s car missing.

“Where the f**k is she?” I hop out of the car, Isaiah on my heels, and we bound up the steps. “She have to work today?” I faintly hear Isaiah ask while I pull my key out to unlock the door. How would I know we don’t talk. The sarcastic comment crosses my mind, I don’t dare say that to him though opting for “Maybe.”

Or maybe not I add silently to myself.

I’m in the living room now everything still smells strongly of her and Alex, they had to have been here not too long ago. I take a deeper breath, there’s no smell of food in the air so she didn’t cook breakfast. Odd.

I see my phone laying on the couch and grab it. Flicking through to find Cassie’s number I hit call. “You have reached the voicemail box of ‘Cassandra Knightly please leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as possible, thank you’ her voice cuts through the automation then it’s back instructing the caller to “leave your message after the beep” I hang up not waiting for the beep. Her phone never goes straight to voicemail. Cassie's phone hasn’t been turned off since our son was born. It’s always on for Alex’s sake.

Isaiah stands frozen near the doorway a blank expression on his face having heard the automation too.

I hit redial, no ring, and it starts again “you have” click, I look up to find Isaiah staring at me silently his expression unreadable.

I sit on the couch and place my head between my hands taking a few calming breaths. Where could she have gone?

It’s not long before I feel the couch dip down and know Isaiah has taken a seat next to me.

“Where did you leave her?” My head snaps up at his words “she might’ve gone to the hospital dude.” Nah she wasn’t that stupid, she’d be too scared that she’d make me mad.

I stand up and in a handful of long strides enter our bedroom, the first scent that hits my nose is blood, and my eyes instantly focus on the bed. There are small droplets dotting the pillow. Could Isaiah be right? I feel his presence behind me pressing me to step further into the room. Everything looks to be in its place.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Isaiah inspecting the blood. It probably dried hours ago; Cassie should’ve cleaned it when she woke up. Lazy b***h.

My instincts tell me once again something isn’t right. I scan the room and see light peeking beneath the closet door, the strangeness of it has me swinging the door open which nearly rips it off the hinges. It swings back hard the handle going through the wall. I immediately let out a growl her s**t is gone. I race to Alex’s room, leaping over the bed I'm out of my room in a flash, I reach for his door handle grabbing it tightly, and the door comes flying off the hinges with the amount of brute force. The sight in front of me has me on my knees. I’m fighting the feeling of tears threatening to spill over, my vision blurs as I take in the scene.

Everything is gone.

My son is gone.

“That b***h took him.”

Ivan is right Cassie did this.

I hear movement behind me breaking me from my trance, Isaiah looks on expressionless.

I rise to my feet turning to face him, before I can utter a single word he cuts me off “You caused this.”

I am left speechless as he turns and saunters out the front door leaving me alone to wallow in the grief.

I don’t know how long I stand there shocked, frozen, but I finally snap out of it.

Ivan is too prideful to think we could be at fault for any of this. If it were up to him we would kill Cassie without hesitation the instant we see her again. He only cares about getting his bloodline back.

I want more.

Cassie is mine and she will pay for disobeying me.

I’m pacing through the now empty apartment trying to come up with a plan on how to locate Cassie when an idea flares to life.

I’ve been repeatedly calling Cassie but every time it has gone straight to voicemail and now it’s saying the voicemail box is full. My messages have been anything but kind. She’ll know the trouble she’s in if she listens to them. Luckily for me when Isaiah called this morning it rang. She hadn’t turned it off yet.

I don’t like the idea of Cassie being anywhere I’m not aware of, I blame it on the possessive nature of our wolves. So a couple of weeks ago when I caught the scent of another wolf on her I set the find my iPhone app up to keep tabs on her then I also linked a Life360 app onto her phone. I already suspected her of cheating, I needed to prove it. My actions should come in handy right about now.

Like I suspect her phone shows her still at home when she missed Isaiah's call. Following the map, it seems she’s heading northwest on an interstate leading out of Florida. The trip shows it ended at two hours when she exited a highway near a Mcdonald's. I close the app and pull up find my iPhone the display shows the most recent location is Gainesville. It hasn’t updated since and that was forty-eight minutes ago.

It’s now going on ten am and I have no idea where she’s headed with my son. I haven’t heard from my brother since he left, I’m doubting he will help me with the way he stormed out.

How am I going to get them back?