And Then There Were Four (Lilith Carrie)

Chapter 125: Chaotic Mornings

-Two Years Later

Cassie.

“Girl, I’m so glad that these stupid-ass classes are almost done,” Melissa said with excitement through

the other end of my phone. She and I had been friends for as long as I could re member, and though we

had both been through some crazy shit, I was glad I had this girl as my best friend.

“Yeah, soon we will be on to bigger and better things.”

“Don’t remind me,” she groaned as I continued holding up different shirts to my body in front of the long

mirror in my room. “I won’t be able to make it without you.”

Without me? Confusion settled in before laughter escaped me at her dramatic tone. “What are you

talking about? I’m not going anywhere but to college with you. Unless you plan on making it with some

other girl. Which, I mean, I’m gonna need to know her name, so I know exactly who to fuck up later.”

“Oh, my god, stop,” she sighed. “You know what I’m talking about.”

I did know what she was referring to, but it wasn’t going to

happen. “Nope, I’m going with you, Melissa. Stop overcompli cating it.”

For the past few years, I had been excited with the notion I was going to escape my pack life to go to

college with Melis sa, not to mention how amazing my life had gone over the past two years-I had no

intentions of doing anything my par

ents wanted me to do.

–

I had gone from being a nobody who couldn’t control her shit, to having almost complete control in my

eyes – as I stayed at the top of my class in all subjects preparing for an amazing life of full ride

scholarships and future college par ties.

―

There was no way I was giving any of that up for anything.

ty.”

No matter what my parents had to say.

“Yeah, right? As much as I would love that, you can’t get out of your obligations. Remember what

Priscilla said…”

Thinking about the woman made me roll my eyes. “She is old and crazy. She has no idea what she is

talking about. Now stop complaining and get your ass ready. I’m leaving shortly, and I expect you to be

there when I get to school.

“Fine, calm your tits, woman,” she said.”I’ll be there in thir

My friend was always the dramatic one out of the two of us, but without her, I wouldn’t be able to move

through the day like I did. “Better. Don’t forget, it’s your turn to grab cof fee.”

“Shit… well, better make it forty then. See you soon.”

“See ya.” Cracking a smile, I hung up the phone, shaking my head. So much had changed over the past

few months, and thinking about how our last year of school was about to end, I couldn’t wait to move

forward with my life.

“A week left, Cass…” I muttered to myself, finally happy with the black gothic look I sported. My deep

purple and pink hair was a huge contrast against the black skinny jeans and tight blank tank top I wore.

It may not have been a look my mother approved of, but it was definitely me.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to ignore the ever-growing voices hidden within the deepest depths of my

mind. I had done well the last two years, learning control over my powers and many other things.

After everything that had happened between my mother and I two years ago, my father Talon changed

up the punish ments Pollux and I usually received and, in doing so, actually found what helped to ground

me.

Fighting was the only thing I knew anymore, and while I trained with my brother and the warriors, I did it

in secret. My mother didn’t approve, just like the many other things she didn’t approve of, but it was the

one thing my father Talon stood beside adamantly.

“Cass, are you ready to go?” Pollux’s voice called from my doorway, causing me to gaze at him from the

long mirror I currently stood in front of.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a sec.”

“Sure, whatever,” he scoffed, flipping the long strands of black hair from his face before disappearing

down the hall way. “Just don’t take forever, otherwise, I fucking leaving you.”

The sound of his voice trailing down the hallway toward my room caused me to roll my eyes. It was

always the same with him anymore. The moment he got hurt playing football and was told he couldn’t

play anymore, he became a complete

asshole.

Thank god daddy Damian was able to keep him busy pre paring to take over the pack from Hale one

day. Otherwise, he may have taken out his anger on everyone else around him.

Grabbing my black leather jacket, I slid on my tennis shoes and snatched my backpack on the way out of

my room. Never in my life did I find myself excited to go to school until I was so close to finishing. It was

the best birthday present a girl could have, finishing school two days before you turned eighteen.

The moment my feet hit the floor at the bottom of the stairs, the chaos of my family consumed me. My

younger sib lings ran around screaming and yelling at each other. My mother was busy making lunches

in the kitchen while my fa ther, James, finished preparing breakfast.

It was a whirlwind of chaos, but I loved it.

It reminded me I was real sometimes, and within the chaos surrounding me, I felt nothing but love. Even

if the majority of them got on my nerves half the time.

“Oh, Cassie.” My mother smiled as she wiped her hands on a kitchen towel. “Can you do me a huge

favor on your way home today, please?”

Letting out a soft sigh, I pushed a smile onto my face. “Sure, what’s up?”

“Can you just run by the pharmacy and pick up Tatum’s medicine, please? It would be a huge help. He

isn’t having the best day today, and I don’t want to take him out. Not to men tion everyone else is busy…”

Tatum was the youngest of my siblings at only nine, and unfortunately, last year was diagnosed with a

rare condition. that quickly changed all of our lives. “Of course, Mom. No

problem.”

Tatum’s eyes met mine as he rounded the corner into the

kitchen, coughing. The dark swells under his eyes were a huge contrast to his pale white skin, and every

time I saw him, I prayed I had the power to change his fate.

“Cassie.” He smiled as he wrapped his arms around my waist. “Are you leaving for school?”

“Yeah, buddy. I’ll be home a little early today, though, since it’s only a half day. Maybe when I get home,

we can climb into my bed and watch a movie. Does that sound good to you?” I asked, watching his eyes

light up with excitement.

“Yes. I can’t wait! We can watch the new dinosaur movie

that came out.”

Tatum continued to ramble, making my mom smile behind tired eyes. “Alright, sweetie. Cassie has to get

going, so why don’t you go eat your breakfast daddy made, and then we can get you sorted for the day.”

He didn’t hesitate to do what he was told, which made my mother happy because out of all her children,

he was the only one who never gave her any problems. Gazing around the room at everyone who was

here, I tried to imagine what it would be like once I went off to college.

I wouldn’t have the continued chaos anymore. I wouldn’t have dad’s amazing breakfasts or even mom’s

homemade lunches. The thought alone made me want to change my mind, but pursuing my dreams of

becoming a doctor wasn’t something I was willing to give up. Even if no one knew, that’s

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what I wanted to do.

“Cass, come on, Jesus Christ!” Pollux yelled from the front door, causing me to cringe as I rolled my

eyes.

“I’m coming. Calm down.” My grumbled response seemed to make him simmer, and after grabbing a

piece of toast from the counter, I quickly followed him out the front door towards his charcoal gray four-

door truck, lifted too high for my liking.

“I’m seriously going to start leaving you if you keep this shit up in the morning, Cass.”

The moment I closed the door and the truck started down the road, I was quickly on my phone, trying to

ignore his lame ass music. “You know you won’t leave me there, Pollux. I don’t know why you constantly

threaten it.”

“Would you stop fucking calling me that?” he snapped. “It’ s just Lux. No one calls me Pollux, but you

and mom.”

Glancing at him from the corner of my eyes, I scoffed with a smirk. “It’s your name.”

“I fucking know that, Captain Obvious, but I can’t stand it, so fucking call me Lux or don’t talk to me. I

don’t understand what’s so difficult about that.”

One would have thought because we were twins, we were close, but the answer to that was absolutely

not. We may have

been similar in many ways, but being close wasn’t something we had been in a very long time.

Since the day we got our powers, actually.

28H

“Whatever… Lux…” I replied sarcastically as I rolled my eyes and went back to scrolling through my

phone. “Are you going to the party this weekend?”

“Yeah, don’t I always,” he sneered with irritation. “You’re not going, though.”

“Excuse me?” Laughter escaped me at his comment. Every time there was a party, he tried to ensure I

couldn’t go, and yet I always found my way there despite his efforts. “You can’t tell me what to do,

Pollux.”

Gripping the steering wheel, he turned his gaze towards me as anger seethed in his eyes. “Cass… I’m

not telling you again.”

Never had I been so excited to see school as I was during this argument between him and me. The last

thing I wanted was Lux ruining my morning with another lecture just because he was the future Alpha of

the pack.

As soon as the truck pulled into his parking space, his many groupies flocked to the vehicle, wanting to

be the first ones to greet him. And quickly I was a ghost of a thought.

It was just how I liked it, though, and as my eyes landed on Melissa – with two cups of coffee-my

excitement for school grew. “Have a fabulous day, brother dearest. Try not to catch something from these

whores.”

Stepping out of the truck, I ignored Lux’s snappy come back as I beelined straight for Melissa. Leggings

and a hoodie were her favorite and as I approached her messy bun, no makeup look, I couldn’t help but

smile. “Oh my god, you’re a lifesaver right now.”

Smirking, she shrugged her shoulders as she took a sip of her coffee. “I take it the morning drive was

eventful?”

Eventful would be an understatement. “If you only knew.”

Laughter fell between Melissa and me as we walked to ward the towering brick building in front of us.

The echoing sound of the school bell rang in the distance as the many voic

es of students rushed to class past my ears.

This place had been hell to me for many years, and now that I was done with it, I couldn’t help but think

of how bitter sweet it really had been.

“Are you going to miss this place when we graduate?” Melissa asked, drawing me from the many

thoughts which had been circulating through my mind.

“I don’t know. I guess part of me will just because I made

so many memories here.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she muttered as we passed the double doors, making our way toward our

lockers. “We should do something epic, though, before we go.”

Glancing at her, an amused grin crossed my lips. “Epic? What do you have in mind?”

She shrugged her shoulders with a smile as we reached our lockers. “Well, for one, I think you should

put Ashley in her place before the end of the year. That would definitely be the start of going out with a

bang.”

Ashley was the harlot who hung around my brother. The cheerleader type who was dead set on

becoming the next Luna of our pack, even though she wasn’t his mate. Some thing I was able to see the

moment I met her.

In our world, you were able to find your mate when you turned eighteen, and even though none of us

were eighteen, I had the gift of foresight, and she wasn’t the girl I had seen my brother with.

“As much as I would love to do that, Melissa. She will be put in her place at our party. Lux will see she

isn’t his mate, and he will get rid of her.”

“…and if he doesn’t,” she muttered, causing me to sigh.

“He will… he is the next Alpha, and my fathers have in stilled the mate bond stuff into us since we were

kids. I can’t tell you how many times I heard the story of our my parents found each other.”

It was a story everyone in the pack loved to tell, but so cringe-worthy, I was perfectly fine never hearing it

again.

“Yeah, well, right now, he doesn’t look like he cares. The two of them are headed straight for you.”

Turning to look over my shoulder, I noted what Melissa was talking about. Lux was

making his way towards me with Ashley at his side and con sidering the grim expression on his face and

the ecstatic one on hers… something was up.

“Shit… and here I thought I’d enjoy my coffee in peace this morning.”