And Then There Were Four

Chapter 213

Chapter 213: Back To Asgard

Night fell across the pack and with it came the illuminated lights of its people making their way towards the treeline I had once stepped through with Silas and Finn. When I had imagined what it would be like when I left, I hadn't expected that the entire pack would come to say goodbye to me. The eyes of so many of my people were a sight to behold.

After so much time they still cared about who I was—even though I was no longer a wolf.

“I can't believe that everybody came today."

“Are you seriously that surprised that they would want to come and see the Princess leave?" Finn asked me with surprise, lacing his tone. Something that I knew he probably wouldn't understand, considering royalty was a specific avenue of normalcy in the Fae realm where he came from.

“You don't understand them like I do, Finn. They never saw me as a Princess or royalty or anything. I was the spoiled daughter of the Alphas and Luna of this pack for so long, and the way things were back then… It was completely different to how I am now."

Glancing up to meet his gaze, his celestial eyes stared back at me while wisps of his white hair fluttered around him. I couldn't understand how I got so lucky to have him. Even when he smiled he was able to calm me, and though I didn't understand that, I was glad I had him. “Things have changed, Cassie. You have changed, and it's time to just accept that."

He was right. I did have to accept that. My future was going to be different, and I was going to be different. Which isn't necessarily a negative thing. It was positive in so many ways.

“Very well. We should get going, shouldn't we?"

Finn let his eyes float from me to over his shoulder where Silas stood, opening the portal. The only people who could go through were those of us who were meant to be there, and as my mother said goodbye to Damian, I felt like I wanted to cry.

There were no tears lingering in their eyes that I could see, but every part of me could feel the grief coming off every person who had come in attendance tonight. Damian was the original Alpha of this pack, and though he passed that title onto Hale, I couldn't help but feel that the pack still saw him as the Alpha he was before the war.

“Stop being so nervous. Everything is going to be okay," Finn whispered in my ear as he pulled me close to him, kissing my cheek gently. “If Silas didn't know if this was possible, he wouldn't allow it to happen."

Again, Finn was right, something I was going to have to get used to. He never really lied. He was actually very honest and though sometimes his honesty was too blunt, I also knew that he had a tendency to leave out details that were often needed.

“You say that, but I keep feeling like something is wrong."

Before he could say anything, Damian turned to me. His eyes seemed settled as if there was no fear lingering within his soul. “I'm ready to go when you are, sweetheart."

Of course you are, daddy, I said to myself, trying to keep my composure together.

Holding back the tears that threatened to fall, I nodded my head, pushing a smile to my face. “Let me just say goodbye to Mama and we can go."

“Of course, sweetie. I'll go see if Silas needs anything."

Silence filled the area as I walked past him, straight towards my mother, who I wrapped her arms around me. “You be safe now, you hear me? You take care of your father and let him take care of you."

For me, I was losing a father, but for my mother, she was losing her mate. The moment that he crossed over with us to Asgard and his life ceased to exist here on Earth, she would feel the connection with him break. Their bond would quickly shatter, and it would crush her entirely.

I hated that she would go through so much pain. But I was also strong and knowing that my other fathers would be there to take care of her?

“Don't worry, Mama. We'll take care of each other. You just stay strong here for everybody else and I'll see you soon. It's never goodbye. It's always see you later."

She chuckled. I had just said what she had said to me so many times throughout history and it meant a lot to her because this wasn't goodbye. We were just saying goodbye for a short period of time, then we would be with each other once more.

Talon tried to tell me multiple times. Time in Asgard moves slowly. Before I knew it, my entire family would be with me, which I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but regardless of that, we would be together again, eventually.

After standing with my mother for just a few more moments, I finally pulled away. Taking a few steps back, I turned, making my way towards where Silas and Finn stood with Damien next to the portal.

I wasn't sure how this was supposed to go, but on instinct, I grabbed Damien's hand, lacing my fingers through his as I looked up at him with a smile. “Let's go home, Daddy."

And as he nodded, we didn't look back at the others who stood behind us. Instead, the two of us kept our eyes forward as we stepped into the portal. The white clouds of mist swirled around us until the green grass of Asgard once again came into view.

It was good to be home. But at the same time, the longing I had for my family would always linger in my heart.

******

Lucas.

Twenty-four hours without Cassie anywhere in sight, and I was panicking. The last thing I heard was that Silas and Finn had taken her off on some adventure back to Earth. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. But it was Freya who told me what was going on.

She said that Cassie was allowed to spend up to two weeks on Earth, which was only a day or two here in our realm, but it still didn't matter. I was pissed beyond belief.

How was it possible that they would be stupid enough to let her go back?

What if something happened to her?

What if I wasn't able to be there to protect her?

Or better yet, what if Finn used this to try and win the competition, to try to steal her away from me, to secure a place with her so that I wouldn't be able to prove to everybody what I was trying to do?

The stench of betrayal filled me that she would entertain other men and go off on an adventure with them on Earth, while I was stuck here training day and night to prove to her that I loved her, and I wanted to be with her. To prove that I deserved that place beside her.

I didn't know whether to be angry or to cry because I hurt that much. All I wanted to do was prove to her I was the one she was meant to be with. Once upon a time, fate had picked me for her, and I was repaid for all my hard work by losing her.

That wasn't going to sit well with me in the long run. I would do whatever it took to keep her.

Shaking my head, I curled my fist as tight as I could and swung at the punching bag once more, the sound of the chains rattling as the crack of the bag echoed through the room. I had been at it for hours, going over and over everything that I needed to do, and yet I couldn't stop thinking about her.

“You're still here? Why am I surprised?" The sound of Sansa behind me registered in my ears and with a narrowed expression. I glanced at her from over my shoulder before letting a scoff escape me as I turned my eyes back to the punching bag that was quickly coming towards me.

“What the f**k do you want?" I snapped in irritation.

Moving towards me, she laughed until she came into view. “I came to let you know that Cassie's back and she's not alone." Content rights belong to NôvelDrama.Org.

Hearing this news, it stopped me in my tracks and as I grabbed the punching bag to stop it from swinging, I turned to Sansa once more with a furrowed expression of confusion. “What are you talking about? She's back, but not alone. Who's with her?"

Sansa was a beautiful woman. Her light honey brown skin, beautiful curly hair, deep chocolate brown eyes and unwavering attitude, ready to snap you into place if you f****d up was quite attractive. Though she wasn't the type of woman I'd end up with. Instead, she was more like the sister I never realized I wanted around.

And like a sister… we often had meetings like this where I wanted to strangle her.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she raised a brow with an unimpressed expression upon her face and shook her head. “You know you're a real asshole when you want to be, Lucas. I have been here

trying to help you realize that you're a f*****g i***t and all you can do is get an attitude about everything… sometimes I wonder why I waste my time."

“Jesus Christ, Sansa, are you just here to b***h at me or are you going to tell me who the f**k came with Cassie?" I groaned, not wanting to hear her bullshit anymore. She had been at it for the past two days, since the moment I found out that Cassie was gone and I went to her about all of this. All she has done is lectured me over and over again.

“Don't get an attitude with me, okay? You're the one that f****d up multiple times, and you're the one that's being an i***t thinking that you can just push her away until you win this competition. You do realize that you're not going to f*****g win, right?"

“Again, Sansa, stop with the f*****g bullshit. I don't have time for it, nor do I want to hear your negativity. Who came with Cassie through the portal?" I snapped at her once more, hoping that she would see how serious I was about my question. I was tired of the drama. Every time she came here, it was always a lecture about something.

And I didn't have time for that.

All I wanted to know was who had come with Cassie through the portal. That was it. Then she could go about her merry way. I would never understand why women had to be so difficult about everything.

After a moment of silence and her standing there staring at me with nothing but irritation lingering in her eyes, she finally sighed and gave in. “Well, if you must know, it's her father, Damien. It seemed that he was not well in the Earth realm, and she brought him back permanently."

I didn't understand or comprehend what the hell she was talking about. I didn't know that it was possible to bring people from Earth here. Though if he were here and he was dying there, doesn't that mean that he's a ghost?

My thoughts rolled through my mind with so many different scenarios taking place that I found it hard to focus. “So, she brought a dead guy to Asgard. Does that make him like a God now, or how does that work?"

“You know, Lucas, for somebody who has been through as much s**t as you have, you really are the most ignorant person I have ever met. But regardless of that and the fact that I don't have time to deal with your attitude today, we'll just say that he is a permanent resident within Asgard. Not a ghost, not an Angel or whatever other s**t you wanna try and call it. He is just a permanent resident of Asgard, and it has been a long time since one has been here. He is here to stay, so be prepared for questioning."

Questioning? I didn't have a chance to fully ask her what she meant by that before she escaped out the door, and I was left there to comprehend all of the information that she had just placed into my lap.

Damian, Cassie's father, who never liked me from the moment that I stepped into the pack and started going to school with Pollux and Cassie was here in Asgard.

“Great." Either someone's playing a sick joke on me, or fate really has it in for trying to make my life as difficult as possible.

Regardless, I planned on trying to stay as far away from that man as possible. I had seen what he had done to other men who had hurt Cassie. And though she may not have known all the stories, I was not trying to be one of those statistics here in Asgard.

That man was deadly when he wanted to be.