Chapter 156

Chapter 156: A Pack to Save Lucas I had never seen my sister as upset as she was, and to be honest I thought she was going to kill Zia before I jumped in to pull her off the poor girl. Perhaps Zia was a wicked pain in the ass and deserved every bit of what she got but I wouldn’t let Cassie be the one to pull that trigger. I wouldn’t let her live with the guilt.

The problem was I hadn’t anticipated the way things end- ed, and as Cassie said she thought Inanna, the head of stu- dents, had something to do with what was wrong with Lucas. I didn’t want to believe it.

“Cassie, you can’t be serious.” I scoffed, shaking my head. Her eyes darted around the room before she gave me a sharp glare and nodded with her head for us to follow her. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but when we stepped outside into the cool afternoon air with no one around us, she let go of a sigh and turned to face us.

“Okay, now that we are away from prying ears, I think Inanna has something to do with what’s wrong with Lucas.”

Glancing at Silas, he seemed just as skeptical as I was. He crossed his arms over his chest and opened and closed his mouth as if trying to formulate words to make sense of all of this. “Cassie, we can’t jump to conclusions like that.”

“Yeah, Cassie,” Trixie drawled as if not believing her, “Silas has a point…”

Cassie groaned, rolling her eyes as she shook her head. “Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I’m telling you… something is definitely going on with that woman.”

“Cassie, that’s just how she is,” Silas replied quickly trying to make my sister see reason. He did have a point. Even when I met her in her office when I first started that was how she came off… as someone a bit odd but who cared.

Frustration grew within my sister’s eyes as she looked at each of us before glancing at Sansa as if searching for at least one of us that would believe her. However, even Sansa seemed skeptical, and I wouldn’t doubt her for feeling that way. Cassie was my sister, and at times I was even skeptical of how she acted.

“I can’t believe you guys don’t believe me-”

“It’s not that I don‘ t,” Silas quickly interjected as he stepped toward Cassie, “we just have no proof, and you can’t go around throwing accusations out like it’s the most obvious thing without having proof to back your claim.”

Proof. That was something that was going to be virtually impossible to get, and even if we did have it, who would we turn it in to? Inanna was the head of the school.

“We can get it,” she said with an excited smile, “we can get proof.”

Tilting my head, I gave out a frustrated groan. “We can’t just assume people to be evil and go on a witch hunt for proof because you have a feeling about something, Cassie.”

As much as I wanted to believe in my sister, I just couldn’t. I couldn’t come to grips with the fact that Inanna, someone who was well–known and respected in this school, would have something to do with changing students for her own personal gain. She was technically a celestial and specialized in educa-

tion.

That didn’t exactly speak highly of her being a criminal mastermind.

“Why is it you always have to be negative about every- thing?” she asked me with a disgusted look.

“Can’t you just jump on board the ship again?”

“Cassie, you know what I mean.”

The more and more she stared at me with a determination in her eyes I had seen so many times growing up, I knew damn well she wasn’t going to let this go. If we didn’t help her, then she would be fine. She would continue with the pursuit of her idea.

“It’s okay, Pollux. You don’t have to come.” She sighed, shoulders sagging as she turned and walked through the courtyard toward our building. She was on a mission for sure, and I was curious to find out what she had planned.

Cassie.

I couldn’t believe they didn’t believe me. No matter what they said, I knew what I saw. The connection between Inanna and Lucas wasn’t like a normal teacher–student relationship. She was controlling him, making him dark… and I would fix that.

Making my way across the courtyard, the calls of my friends rushing after me could be heard clearly through the softly blowing wind. Part of me wanted to stop and see what they wanted, but the other part of me was just too eager to continue.

“Cassie, stop for a moment,” Pollux said harshly as he grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

“Look, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but you need to chill. You’re worrying people, including myself.”

“No, Pollux. You may not want to believe it, but I’m not ly- ing. Something is wrong, and he isn’t acting the way he is be- cause he wants to. It’s like his judgment is clouded.”

Running his hands through his hair, he scoffed again. “You’re delusional, Cassie. Lucas rejected you, and you need to let him go. You can’t force someone to be with you and think it’s because someone else is clouding their mind.”

His words hurt, and after he spoke, Trixie quickly smacked his arm and glared at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Ouch, what the hell is wrong with you? Why did you hit me?” He whined as his eyes darted toward her.

“Because she’s your sister no matter what has happened in the past, and she is trying to save someone she cares about. Just because you don’t believe in it doesn’t mean you can’t support her until she figures out what she needs.”

Once again, Trixie was sticking up for me when I didn’t know how. It wasn’t like me to be weak and unwilling to stand up for myself, but since I came here, I had felt myself grow and change slowly into someone I wasn’t sure I wanted to be.

Taking a deep breath, I composed myself, unwilling to al-low myself to falter, unwilling to allow tears or any emotions. to fall, even though the little girl in me that had once always dreamed of a mate like my mother had was breaking inside.

Yes, I had said once upon a time I didn’t want a mate. That I never had wanted it, but honestly… it had only been because I was scared. Because I was worried my powers would be to much to control, and I would end up killing them.

Now I see the idea was ridiculous, and even though it’s to late to fix my mistakes, it wasn’t to late to save Lucas and al- low him to make his own choices.

“Pollux, maybe you’re right, but I have to make sure. I can‘ t explain it to you, but deep down inside, I can feel him. He isn‘ t the Lucas we knew back home. Something has changed in him, and you saw the darkness in his eyes that day in his room. You can’t tell me that the entire thing felt off.”

Pollux stood there, staring at me for a moment as if searching for the truth in what I was saying. After a moment, it seemed to be he finally accepted what I said because I wasn’t going to back down.

“I have never seen you so determined before, Cassie,” Pol- lux whispered as he glanced over his shoulders to look at them, “they are both worried about you.”

I understood his concern, but I wasn’t going to just let it go. There was something seriously wrong going on, and the more I thought about how Inanna acted, the more I wondered what kind of person she really was. “I have to do this.”

My soft response seemed to settle within my brother as he sighed heavily and nodded his head.

“Okay… well, how are you going to prove any of this?”

I didn’t have the slightest clue how I would prove anything if I had to be honest with myself. I barely knew my way around this place. Which was a problem if I wanted to snoop around or learn anything about this place that could help me.

Glancing at Silas with puppy dog eyes, he chuckled hands up in defeat. “Okay, okay. I’ll help you on your quest to solve this mystery.”

My brother quickly turned to Silas, glaring at him as if to ask him why he was agreeing, and all Silas could do was shrug his shoulders, smiling. “Hey man, I can’t say no to her.”

“Well, you better start learning how to,” Pollux replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Okay, Cassie…

I guess I’ll help… even though it’s against my better judgment.”

Shocked that my brother, who currently hated me, was going to help was something I hadn’t expected, and the shock. that crossed my face didn’t go unnoticed by Trixie and Sansa, who quickly took to either side of me and pulled me close to them.

“Don’t worry. We will figure it out.” Trixie smiled, leaning against me, “we will get your mate back.”

My mate? Lucas had rejected me and therefore wasn’t technically my mate anymore. However, no matter the situa- tion of him wanting to be with me or not, I still couldn’t allow him to be used the way he was. He had to be free to make his own choices, and with his mind obviously clouded, there was no way he was.

Not that I would ruin Trixie’s moment by telling her that. “Thanks, Trixie.”

“Welp, I suppose we should sit down and try to figure out what to do first.” Silas finally popped up as he glanced around at the four of us. The tension hung heavy in the air as Pollux stared me down before finally giving in.

I was grateful for Trixie, who nudged him gently. It was clear that something was going on, and I was happy for them if they were planning to figure themselves out. He was my brother, and Trixie had become a good friend of mine. They may have come from different species, but in the end, they were mates.

The fate of our future was unpredictable, and we can’t hold back from what we really want or ignore what’s in front of us if we have it. Even if it isn’t what we were hoping for, which made me realize how stupid I had been for pushing Lu- cas away to begin with.

“Maybe we should start in the library?” I suggested, not that I knew where any library was beside the one at the school.

Silas hesitated momentarily, glancing at the school and then back to me. The wheels turned in his mind as he opened his mouth, “actually… I know just the place.”

Sansa raised her brow as she stared at Silas with nothing but amusement on her face. “You know somewhere with a li- brary?”

“Yeah,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Come on… I may be a sexy Dragon with style, but I’m far older than all of you. So, of course, with spare time on my hands, I know where one is. I happen to love reading very much.”

Laughter broke out amongst our ranks, and as Silas stepped forward with his arms open wide, I quickly accepted his offer and let him pull me into a warm embrace. The day had been more than emotional, and chaos was slowly brewing in the distance.

That much I could feel deep in my bones.

If I was going to save Lucas and get to the bottom of what was going on, then I was going to need all the help I could get. Nothing was ever easily accomplished alone.