The Other Part of Me

Braden

The moment he laid eyes on Cassie, he recognized her soul. She had been a part of him in the past; he felt as much. He knew as much.

She had given him a ride to the gas station in her Jeep. They rode in silence. He had no idea which wolfpack she called home. He had tried to smell her for any indication as to what other scents surrounded her, but all he could smell was her own fragrance.

Was this normal of their mates? All other pack scents would fall away in order to recognize whom he was fated for? Surely, she was not a member of any pack he had been to visit this past week. He would have found her, had that been the

case.

Maybe there was another pack close to area the wolf council was unaware of?

"What does it matter?" Andrei asked. "You have found her. Nothing else should matter."

"It could mean another alliance," Braden corrected him. "With our unification ceremony it can only mean our packs will be stronger."

"Indeed," Andrei agreed.

Once they reached her destination, Braden walked into her room with an overnight bag in hand.

She held the door open for him, but he noticed her eyes fixated on the bag. "My, my, my. A bit presumptuous, don't you think?" She closed the door behind him.

Braden released a low chuckle. He looked around. The room itself was spacious, even with the two queen sized beds at one end of the room and a small circular dining table at the other end with two chairs across from each other. "I need to get out of these wet clothes. Would you mind if I used the bathroom?"

She nodded. "Sure," and pointed to a door three feet in front of him. "Keep going straight and when you get to the door, go right in."

As soon as the door closed behind him, Braden began talking to Andrei. "You knew she was near, didn't you? That's why you've been quiet."

Andrei responded. "I felt her, but I didn't want to get our hopes up."

Braden continued, not really listening to Andrei. "All this time, I thought Moon Goddess just expected me to reassemble the Bloodstone Pack. I never thought it was my destiny to have a mate and produce an heir." "Until now." Andrei finished.

"Until now." Braden echoed.

He rejoined her minutes later wearing only a white T-shirt and flannel, blue-plaid pajama bottoms. This ensemble was the only thing he hadn't worn on the trip since he mostly slept naked.

He found Cassie sitting in one of the chairs. She stared at the empty chair across from her with her hand propped under her chin. She was obviously as lost in her thoughts just as he had been on the drive over here. Without moving anything other than her eyes, she looked at him.

There was comfort in their visual connection. If he felt it, he knew she felt it too.

"Braden, please. Join me," she motioned to space across. As soon as he sat down, they stared at each other wordlessly a moment longer. She brought up a hand to her lips and started playing with them. The act didn't come across as seductive, it seemed more like a type of nervous tic.

"What is your name?" He asked.

"Cassandra," she responded on an exhale. "Call me Cassie."

He nodded. "Do you have any questions for me?" He asked her.

She straightened in the chair. "So many but I just can't seem to figure out where to start," her eyes seemed to shine with unspilt tears. "Can you really turn into a wolf, too?"

Her question made him flinch with surprise. He expected her to ask common questions about the wolf pack; what was the name of his pack? what was his ranking? where were they were located? "Of course," he blurted out. "Why does this happen to us?" She asked immediately.

He frowned. "Why does what happen to us, Cassie?"

"Why do we turn into wolves?" She asked. "It's a freak mutation that causes this, right? Have you ever seen a doctor? How many others carry this disorder?"

"Disorder?" Braden was getting confused and he was sure the way he looked at her communicated as much. "It's not a sickness, Cassie. It's a gift."

Clearly undeterred, she continued. "I've been so afraid to bring this up to my doctor or my therapist because I don't want to end up in an institution or on the same slab where alien autopsy was performed."

"Cassie, slow down." He urged as he reached for her hand. The moment their skin touched, he sensed her energy was running rampant. He hoped their bond would help her calm. "Let me ask you a question," he sandwiched her hand with both of his and slowly began to stroke her skin with his thumb. "Help me understand something," he said softly. "Which pack do you belong to?" It was clear her pack needed Wolf History 101 if Cassie thought of their existence as a disease. "Pack?" she asked. "I was told I'd join yours. Isn't that how it works?"

He couldn't help it. "Who's being presumptuous now?"

She stared at him as her cheeks turned red. "Eva!" She pulled away from him and started pacing at the foot of the beds. "You made a fool of me!"

Braden laughed outright. "Who's Eva?" He asked.

"Evangeline." She responded. "My..." she hesitated. "My alter ego told me that I would join your pack as soon as we found each other," she explained. "She's really been my only guide to your lifestyle and she's really only ever lived... in my head." She started to laugh. "I sound like a lunatic. Morphing into wolves, smelling my mate, taking advice from my imaginary friend. Oh my god, it's all in my head."

Braden was amused. Either she was definitely insane or this was all truly new to her. He walked over to her. "Cassie, out of curiosity, where did you grow up?"

She stopped pacing but placed a hand on her chest. From his vantage point, it looked like she was taking long, deep breaths. "West Los Angeles," she answered.

He nodded. As far as the council was aware, there was at least one wolfpack in the area. "Are you from the Gibbous Moon Pack?"

She frowned at him. "More near where Olympic Boulevard intersects with Sepulveda," she answered.

Braden's eyes widened with surprise. There was no way she could have been on her own. She surely would have turned rogue. "Sit down," he motioned to the bed. Once she did, he sat next to her. "Cassie, where are your parents?" "Dead," she answered without emotion. "I never met my father, and mother was killed when I was two, but I don't really remember her."

"So who took care of you after your mother perished?" He asked gently.

She frowned. "My aunt Marie assumed guardianship of me."

"And she never talked to you about why you turn into a wolf?" Disbelief was laden in his tone.

Cassie shrugged. "The one time I tried to talk to her about changes happening to my body she gave me the sex talk. I was eighteen, I already knew about the mechanics of sex, so hearing her say certain words was just awkward." She scrunched her nose. "After that, I never brought the subject up again."

None of this made sense to him. Being a wolf was something to carry with pride not something to hide.

His frown burrowed deeper between his eyes. His mate was becoming quite the mystery. "Who were your parents, Cassie?" Do you know their names?" He asked in hopes he'd recognize them and be able to fill some important blanks about his Luna-to-be.

Cassie nodded. "Thaddeus Lykos and Diana Wolfe."

Braden's eyes widened in shock.

He wondered why Moon Goddess mated him with the daughter of the Alpha his pack murdered in cold blood?