Eden Grace
"I said marry me, Eden."
Her shock gave way to disbelief, then her anger came hot and disorienting. "You have lost your mind…?"
"No? I have never been more sane." Cassian stepped closer, far too close, until the air between them felt thin and stolen. They were almost breathing the same space. "And I really mean it, Eden. Marry me and you will be safer than any being. No rogue, no council, no rival pack will ever dare to look at you twice."
Eden's pulse thudded painfully against her throat. But she forced a bitter smile, refusing to let him see how unsteady she felt. "Are you sure it's not some twisted desire of yours rather than for my safety? You always wanted whatever you could not have. Back then too. I chose Jake and you could not stand it."
Eden's words cut through Cassian and for a fleeting second something passed through his eyes brewing with raw intensity.
Rael also snarled softly, baring his teeth at the mere mention of Jake.
But then Cassian laughed softly, low and mocking.
"Is that what you tell yourself, that it mattered to me?" Cassian hissed, secretly pissed."A miserable little wolfless girl choosing someone else would bruise my ego…?"
His words were careless, sharp and deliberately cruel.
"You were poor, pathetic and invisible back then Eden. A broken doll I picked up only when I was bored, something to entertain me for a while. Do you really think I would lose sleep over who you chose to warm your bed…?"
The words stung exactly as he intended. The cruelty was deliberate.
Eden's chest tightened, but she did not look away. She refused to give him that victory. "That is why I did not choose you," she said quietly. "Because you never liked me in the first place. You just hated my presence, my everything."
The air shifted.
Cassian's smile did not fade, but something beneath it hardened, darkened. His jaw tightened ever so slightly, and for a single heartbeat the mask slipped.
"Yes," he said after a pause. "You are right. I never liked you. That is why I'm proposing the marriage to you. A marriage with feelings is a chain to me, and you are a perfect candidate for this."
The words struck Eden like a slow, sinking blade. For a moment, she could not breathe. This man wasn't offering protection, he was a predator extending a leash.
Is he serious right now? She glared at him.
"No," The word tore out of her before fear could soften it. "Absolutely not. I'm not marrying you."
She stepped back, every instinct screaming danger. "You are insane if you think I would ever trust you. You were dangerous then and you are dangerous now."
"500 million dollars." The number struck her harder than his proposal.
"What..?" Eden froze, certain she had misheard.
"Five hundred million dollars," he repeated, unhurried. "Transferred to an account of your choosing the moment you sign and agree to my conditions."
Her eyes were wide on him and he stood there watching her with that same unreadable expression and suddenly she was not just facing a powerful mafia heir. She was standing across from the boy who once cornered her in school corridors with lazy cruelty in his eyes, who treated people like objects simply because he could afford to.
Only now that boy had grown into something far worse. The eldest grandson of the Blackathorn family. Untouchable. Ruthless. An Alpha who did not lose what he decided was his.
Her voice trembled. "You're insane. I would never—"
"1 billion dollars."
Her pulse roared in her ears. That amount was obscene. Intact life altering. The kind of money that could rewrite destinies.
She hated herself for the way her thoughts betrayed her, for the way survival began whispering possibilities she did not want to hear.
"And this is not charity, Eden." Cassian added, his voice lowering. "It is necessity. Your blood is rare. Valuable. Strong enough to neutralize poisons meant to kill Alphas. Strong enough to shift pack balances. I am offering you the chance to use that power without being hunted for it."
Eden swallowed hard, "So what is this, a business deal?"
"Precisely," Cassian replied without hesitation. "I want you to sign a contract for three years. You will be my mate in name and in public presence. When I require your cooperation, you do not refuse."
The words settled like a weight on her chest. He was willing to pay such a big amount for what? Her gaze sharpened, "Why are you after my blood? Why are you willing to give so much for it?"
"Because what runs in your veins is a miracle," Cassian said quietly. "A solution no one else has. You know how rare that makes you. You know what you can do. Your blood neutralizes what should be untouchable, poisons designed to kill any werewolf without a trace. I am not asking to bleed you dry. I want your cooperation, your mind, your control. Only you would know the mystery and would know how to make an antidote. I need it."
Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating. Eden felt fear coil in her chest, not just of him, but of the truth he had just laid bare.
Her memories were clawing their way up from places she had buried deep, needles, whispers, her parents' desperate faces.
Her hands curled into fists at her sides. "And what if I refuse…?"
"You cannot," he replied calmly. "You have no job. No pack. No protection. No Alpha to shield you. Predators you do not even know exist are already circling. What do you think your life will be next..?"
"Whether you like it or not, Eden, your life is already in danger."
Her stomach twisted. She knew he was not bluffing. She had felt it since the alley, since the moment she woke up and realized who he was.
Also after her wolf Ishira had awakened, her life was in even more danger.
"Your only safe option is to marry me. Also if you marry me you can get additional perks too, don't you think?"
"Additional perks?"
"Yes. As my mate, you become a part of Blackthorn. A grand-daughter-in-law of the tycoon even the higher council is hesitant to mess with. I will erase every stain they dragged your name through. Every fabricated scandal. Every whisper that destroyed your career. I put you back where you belong. No board, no senior doctor, no corrupt committee will ever get to decide your worth again."
Her throat burned. Images of ruined headlines and closed doors flashed through her mind, the years she had spent shrinking herself just to stay alive.
She hated that his words found their mark. She hated that a part of her was listening.
"And moreover don't you think it'll hurt some people, Jake for instance..?"
The name landed like a blade pressed to an old wound. Eden's breath caught before she could stop it.
"He and his pack took so much from you... your reputation, your future, your dignity. What would their reaction be when you become a part of the Blackthorn pack itself? What would their reaction be when you would outrank them in every possible way..?"
Eden's fingers curled slowly at her side. The anger she had carried for years did not explode, it sharpened and focused slowly becoming something cold and deliberate.
Maybe survival did not have to mean silence anymore. Maybe justice did not have to be clean. She hated how much the thought satisfied her.
Her voice came out steady, surprising even herself. "If I say yes….you will stand by me, no matter what, right?"
Cassian's smile widened slowly, something fierce and tender crossing his eyes at the same time.
"No matter what," he said softly. "No matter who stands against us, no matter what storms come, I will not let go of you."