Again we lie

Cassandra had been awake for over a week now, she still didn't speak to anyone though they came in and talked to her, they tried to teach her but it got overwhelming for her sometimes. Adam and lily refused to leave her bit she found she was no longer comforted by them. She felt alone and scared and like something was missing. Her children were stranger's to her and she cared for them but she found she was unable to feel motherly towards them because of the guilt she felt. She sat in the dark room by herself, she had locked the door so the children couldn't get in. She was curled up by the fire, she started into it lost in her own nightmarish thoughts.

Landon streamed through the door and said, "Cassandra, Apollo should be able to see you tomorrow. You should feed. He will worry if you don't care for yourself."

She didn't answer him, she was lost in thought, landon worried how much she spaced out, when she got this way nothing seemed to snap her out of it

"When he gets back, it will stop," he said.

She reached her hand in near the fire, she wished she could feel the pain, feel anything, yet even as the fire burnt her skin she felt nothing

He grabbed her hand and said, "Must we do this again? Will the illusion of him help today? Or will it make things worse tomorrow?"

She looked at him with vacant eyes and looked at his hand that was grabbing hers, she leaned down and bit his wrist

He sighed and said, "Hungry again. Apollo needs to hurry up. You and the baby need him."

Landon knew when he went back to allessia he would have to let her have her way. She had been understanding about cassandra condition, he was proud of her for how she was handling it. Yet she has gotten into this habit when he came home smelling like her or knew she had fed from him that she was determined to reclaim him as her own. He had to stop himself from growling and anticipation from the thought of what she will do when he gets home to her. Cassandra stopped feeding and landon had to close it. She then laid down next to the fire, still not speaking

He sighed and said, "I'll tell Adam what you did today. He will heal you."

She didn't answer yet he saw her start to cry silently

"I promise, when Apollo returns, the pain will end," he said.

"Please..." She said , it was the first thing she had ever said to him in days

"I wish I could bring him to you," said Landon. "One more day, and you will wake with him holding you."

"Who...is he?" She said in a lost tone

"He is the other half of your soul," he said. "That's why it hurts so much. But everything will be right again. Will you allow me to put you to sleep or will you visit with your children?"

"I don't have children..." She said in a emotionless tone and he instantly knew something was wrong

Xavier, I've never seen anyone get to this level, he said. She has gone past suicide to destroying her own mind to forget the loneliness.

then we can not wait any longer you and maddox will bring her to apollo, you leave now

Very well, he said. I will take her to Apollo. I hope he is ready.

either he is or he loses her

Landon led her to the hall where Maddox followed until they came to a chamber that seemed to pulse with the strength of the barrier. Landon took it down and let her go inside.

"Cassandra?" Apollo asked. "What's wrong? Anjo, why have they brought you to me early?"

"Looks like you haven't fed," said Landon.

"Self-punishment," Apollo said. "But I have plenty of wine bottles full. I should be fine."

"She is with child."Apollo looked at Cassandra, shock and fear on his face.

Cassandra didn't open her eyes, she remained still and unresponsive

"What's wrong with her?" he asked.

"She feels the separation," Landon said.

"Cassandra, open your eyes," Apollo said. "Look at me. I am here now."

She didn't move or open her eyes but he saw tears roll slowly from her eyes

"Cassandra, I need you to open your eyes now," he said. "You have to see me."

She slowly opened her eyes, they were the gold of her wolf

"There you are," he said. "Feed from me, Cassandra. Regain your strength."

"Apollo..." Landon began.

"I will be fine," Apollo said. "I have blood here. You should leave."

Landon left. Apollo held Cassandra to him and waited.

She didnt move but he could hear her taking his scent in with deep breaths "See?" he said. "I'm real. It will be okay."

She groaned softly and her breathing quickened. Suddenly she sat up and saddled him. With one quick motion she ripped open his shirt and bit deeply into his neck

He growled and ripped her clothes from her, followed by his own. His hand found her moist center and two fingers entered her hard and moved fast. When she was dripping, he skewered her, matching the speed of his fingers.

She threw her head back with a loud moan as she took in his largeness. She licked the bite, not wanted to waste his blood and closed the wound. Her nails racked up his back drawing blood, the cuts were not deep but they added pain to the pleasure that spoke to them both. It was like a floodgate had been opened inside of him. He held nothing back from her. He bit into her, nearly crying with how good she tasted. Better than he remembered. He thrust into her hard, bring her pleasure unlike anything she had ever felt before.

When he took her to the floor and pinned her she exploded with pleasure. When he merged their minds he found nothing but pure lust and pleasure there from her her. Her primal need called to his and his woman was use to rough handling

He kissed her hard, his eyes matching her own. It was an alpha and his mate coming together and raw passion erupted from them. This was more than a meeting of lovers. This was more than satisfying a need. This was a wild claiming that neither would be able to forget.

He broke the kiss and flipped her over on her stomach, his teeth pinning her by the shoulder, with a cry her hands gripped the floor until his hand came up and entwined with hers in a strong grip "apollo" she said his name in not only pleasure but recognition, she had come back to him, in this wild moment she was here with him

I'm here, Cassandra, he said in their shared mind. I'm never letting you go again.

She went submissive under him like she recognized him on a primal level

His growls came with every thrust, his desire meeting her primal need. He couldn't count how many times they fell over the edge. And it didn't matter. In that moment, they were whole once more.

Usually he would use his elbows to hold himself off her but with how rough they had been he knew it was unnecessary. They were both breathing heavy, he pulsed inside her as her core milked him dry. He rolled so they were on his side, her head resting on his arm, his other hand held her breast and kept her against him

He couldn't keep from kissing her, couldn't keep his hands still. It kept them both ever ready as her body kept squeezing him as his hands played with her, causing the cycle to ever continue.

A few hours later

She laid against him, her back on his chest, they couldn't move, their breathing was uneven, they had kept going until the point of exhaustion, even thought he drank all the bottles in the room in-between she still satisfied and exhausted him

I missed you, Cassandra, he managed to say in her mind.

She remained still in his arms as he held her, the haze of their pleasure was slowly receding and her mind was starting to comprehend all that had happened, he felt her silently start to cry, he felt her emotions come to the surface of her mind, relief,fear,sadness, panic. All things that came with the ending of a separation

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Why are you sad? Relief, fear, and panic I can understand, but what has you so upset?"

“Everything...” she said in a low tone, she didn’t want to be pregnant again, she felt broken and worn down and the sadness in her heart was great, she knew she could not be a good mother, she felt like half of her was missing

He stroked her hair, getting every tangle out as he did so that her hair flowed graciously around her, as he said, "Talk to me, Cassandra. I am here for you, a rock when you need me, a shoulder to cry on, and anything else you need. When you need me to be a leader, your alpha, I will be him. I'm afraid too, coração forte. A child is a lot of responsibility and we have not known each other long enough for such a thing." He cupped her cheek as if she were looking at him even though her eyes were still shut. "I want you happy, Cassandra. Happy and healthy. Nothing else matters to me. What do you need in this moment to make the world seem right?"

She was silent for a few moments, just when he thought she was not going to answer she sat up, slowly as she was sore and tired from their love making “to run......” she said in a low tone and he saw flashes of your running in the forest, he felt her fear and how much her body burned, he knew something was chasing her, through her ears he could hear the inhuman growls coming from behind her “that’s what you want right?......that’s why you punished me...because I wasn’t good...”

"It was not a punishment for you," he said, holding tighter, yet his grip was gentle. "I was the one punished. I let my new emotions rule because I was scared of losing you. I defied the prince and let your son perform forbidden magics. If I didn't have you, the sentence for me would have been death and another male would have been closer to losing his soul. I was made to atone and came close to turning at times. No, little one, you did nothing wrong. The fault was mine."

“I don’t understand...” she said as her stressed rose “why was I punished...” she said in a scared and confused tone “please..” she said turning towards him with begging eyes “tell me what I did wrong...” she said “I don’t want to be punished like that again please..”

"You are my life," he tried to explain. "In my punishment, I was unable to comfort you as I should have been able to do. Your suffering was my punishment. The worse part was that I knew you were in pain and I could not ease it. I mere glimpse of the magic used to save you could have caused if things had gone wrong. But it is over and I will be more diligent. Never again, Cassandra. Never again will I allow my failings to hurt you."

She went to meet his gaze and quickly looked away “I’m sorry...” she said moving away from him “I am dumb....I don’t know my place here yet...I’ll do better to understand and please you...I’ll pick up the pieces she said and grabbed her head “I lasted...to long...I can’t remember who I am or what I was..I just have submitted sooner..I should have been a good girl sooner...” she said gripping her hair and squeezing her eyes shut

He took her hands as he said, "I am proud of for not giving in sooner. You are the strongest person I know. If I had found you sooner, had looked harder, I could have saved you from that torment. You will find your place, or we will make one just for the two of us."

She frowned at his words “please stop being nice to me...it scars me...” she said in a low tone and he saw her shiver

He kissed her forehead and said, "We will discuss this when we can leave this place. Sleep, rest, heal. This night, you are safe and there will be no pain."

But his mind raced. Why would kindness frighten her? It was the same when someone was angry or neutral. All emotions directed at her sent a wave of panic through her. He had to understand why, but not only was he too weak to do it here, they had no privacy for such an intimate merging of the minds. He would see through her eyes the memories that produced such fear in his woman. It would also help him know how to handle her until she regained her courage and strength of will. He wanted to take her and her children back to South America where they were far from the school, the prince, and the memories.

------

Maggie looked out of the window. She felt like she was ready to scream. The earth needed her. It begged her. Something foul walked the grounds and she had to fix it.

"Manuel, the earth calls again," she said. "Please, just a few moments to heal it."

"Not yet it is not safe to do so " he said in a soft tone

"She is screaming," Maggie said. "Someone is hurting her on purpose. I have to do something and staying in the room is..."

"She will wait for you but if you go now you can not help her" he said in a serious tone

"Why is it dangerous?" she said. "I've worked hard so that I don't overextend myself. I do small parts of the school grounds so I don't get hurt. I make sure you are there if I go too far. And I don't heal without you with me. I take every precaution now. Please, Manuel. Tell me why it's dangerous now."

He sighed" because we are having security issues right now" he said in a serious tone

"What do you mean?" she asked, twisting her hair. "I thought this place was safe. Do you think the person behind it is the one hurting the earth?"

"I don't know" he said cupping her cheek "but you are safe" he said with a fierceness

"I know," she said. "I just can't drown out the sound of the earth. It hurts."

He smiled "shall I distract you then?"

She looked up at him, her eyes telling him more than she thought as she said, "Please."

He smiled but to surprise all that he did was pull her in his lap and suddenly she was somewhere else, a beautiful mountain underneath a lit up star filled sky

"Anyone tell you that you are pure magic?" she said in awe. "I can't hear the pain of the earth now."

"These are of my memories" he said softly "when the earth was calm"

She put her head on his shoulder and said, "Thank you. You haven't yet claimed me and you do this for me. It must be hard on you. I'm sorry."

"You are worth the wait and besides I am in no danger yet so I have the time to give you" he said "I'm also a old fashion man so it makes me happy I am able to court you"

Maggie blushed and said, "You know how to make a girl feel special."

“No I know how to make you feel special, that’s what matters” he said softly

She smiled at him. "It's the same thing right now. When will you claim me, though? I don't like the idea that you might be hurting, even slightly, because of me."

"Do not worry about such things" he said in a soft tone "I will be ok as will you"

"I trust you," she said. "Thank you for this. The room feels like a cage when the earth screams."

"I know" he said kissing her forehead "I think you will like the next part" he said as they suddenly began to fly

She held him tightly, burying her face in his chest. It came as a shock to her. However, when they leveled out, she chanced a peek and her breath caught in her throat. The view was beautiful.

“When I feel trapped I fly” he said softly

"I can see why," she said breathlessly. "I've never seen the world like this before."

“One day we will go flying together if you decide you wish to be converted” he said softly

"Why would I deny an eternity with you?" she asked. "You are fantasy brought to life. I never dreamed I would have someone like you."

He chuckled "you are as smooth as my brother's I am the one suppose to tell you how wonderful you are"

"Am I not supposed to say these things?" she asked mischievously. "I thought I could tell you how handsome you are, and how I think I'm falling in love with you."

She smiled and kissed her softly and briefly "and I you"

"What now?" she asked. "Can you show me something else just as amazing? I want to see more of your memories."

She was suddenly back in the room and he smiled "another time little one, you must get to your class"

She frowned and said, "With the earth screaming, I don't know if I can make it to class without healing it." She looked up at him with innocent eyes. "Will you come with me to keep me safe?"

"I have already arranged for another earth child to be with you" he said with a smile "a friend they could be " he said

"Okay," she said, trying not to sound sad. "Will you be safe on your patrol?"

He kissed her forehead "I will and I promise to walk you when I can"

She hugged him to her. It was like she was trying to make him stay with her.

He chuckled “you are making this hard my little bird” he said kissing the top of her head

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just feel like everything is alright when you are here, even when I'm begging to heal the earth. You make it better." Slowly, she removed her finger from his jacket, though it felt like they fought her will in doing so. "I know you won't abandon your duty because you see it as protecting me. I'll try my best in my classes."

“I know you will..things will get easier I promise” he said just as there was a knock on the door “now go ahead and go and hopefully make a new friend”

She put on her shoes and grabbed her bag before kissing his cheek softly and going out of the room. She tried talking to the person escorting her, but her mind seemed firmly stuck on Manuel.