"When's the wedding again?" I forced a sweet grin at Rhea trying unsuccessfully once again to shrug Arthur's grip off me.
"Eighteenth" she replied promptly.
That's like twenty-three and half days? But if what Alison said is true then where does that leave me? Arthur gets to be with his first love so he wins. But what do I get? If at the end of it all, his animal is still possessive of me then there's no future for me. Not to mention that I'm actually aiding the Leolines in fooling the sweet woman in front of me.
This is a fucking mess.
But it isn't my fault. I refuse to take blame of something that's clearly the work of the devil holding my hand.
Let me trace back to where it all started: So Olivia's case gave me the idea of finding another mate for Arthur. I would have done more research if I could. I couldn't go up to predators and demand they give me all their knowledge of rejecting one's mate. Arthur could, but he didn't. He went with my plan of going on arranged dates all the while knowing that he had no plan of breaking the bond. But then Rhea came along and he got greedy.
I dug my nails angrily into his palm.
"Are you okay?" Rhea asked him as he winched, letting go of my hand in the process.
I smirked even as my fingers felt cold at the sudden loss of warmth. I scooted closer to Mia so he wouldn't be able to pull that stunt again.
"Fine" he smiled at her "I think my leg just slept there. I'll go take a walk. You guys carry on"
Rhea nodded smiling back as he leaned to kiss her cheek before rising from his chair.
My eyes refused to leave her face long after he was gone. What is it about her that he likes so much? What could she have done as a teen to leave such a lasting impression on him that I couldn't compare up to her even in the twelve years of knowing him?
What the f*ck am I thinking? I never tried to win over him. He's a predator for spirit's sake. Like Alison said, anything between us will be an abomination, a mistake of nature.
My phone jumped to life dragging my attention away from Rhea. I frowned as Keith's name flashed on it.
I excused myself to respond to it. I opened the door of the room and walked out gently closing it behind me. Before I could swipe on his call, someone pulled my wrist and I was shoved into the door next to ours. The phone stopped ringing in my hand.
It was him of course.
I was pushed against the now closed door and he loomed over me, my wrist above my head still in his grip. I glared up at him and was about to speak when he stopped me.
"Shhh.....the walls aren't sound-proof" he nodded to his left at the wall separating us from meeting.
So I did something that doesn't emit noise. I slapped him. Hard. With every bit of anger accumulated in my body over the past month.
He nodded and rubbed the side of his face with the back of his hand "Does that satiate your anger?"
"No, with what you did to me, I want to grab your hair and slam your head repeatedly against this door for everyone in the next room to hear until I'm tired" I hissed.
"You like my hair" he observed.
"You attacked people Arthur" I gritted out "You have no idea what you made me go through"
"thirty-seven minutes"
"What?"
"I held your hand for thirty-seven minutes under the table" He replied and then checked his wrist "and four more minutes of me holding you against this door" He spoke softly leaning over, his breath fanning my neck "If we also count the slap, you have made quiet a progress" he said rubbing his face
I frowned "I think it's the anger overpowering my senses"
"So when other emotions overpower your memory of that day, you do not feel disgusted by me" He nodded.
"One month Arthur" I pushed at him, he pulled his hand away from mine but didn't move "It's been a month since I last saw you"
"Don't tell me you missed me"
"You lied to me" I gritted out "Over and over again"
"You don't have to worry about it" he dismissed "Just come home tonight. Stop avoiding me"
"I'm not coming home. I don't want to get any closer to your animal"
He sighed in frustration "Look just come home okay. We'll talk"
"You will be there and not your animal?" I wanted to be sure I wasn't tricked again.
He nodded and gestured for me to move from the door. I did and he pulled it and walked out.
I went back to the meeting. Arthur returned almost fifteen minutes later claiming to have met a business associate who held him up. I guess I am a business associate.
With twenty-three days to the wedding, the plan moved rather quickly for them. Jenny has a meeting with the family tomorrow and things will only escalate from there. The panic inside me is burning my head with thoughts. I think I'm going to fall sick soon. It could also be because Arthur held me so long. I can't tell.
Once outside the meeting room, Arthur and Rhea were joined to the hips until they got into their car. With her leaning against his shoulder and his arm around her waist, they looked picture perfect.
Him leaning into her to kiss her once inside the car was the point where I tore my gaze from them and walked away.
Fool.
___________
"You are going home"
"For the fourth time Mia, yes" I moved around arranging my day's work scattered across the table.
"You think that's the right thing to do after what Alison said?" she asked.
"He promised not to bring out his animal" I hesitate at the memory of those golden eyes staring at me like I was all he could see.
"And you trust him?"
I shouldn't.
"He's hurting you Amy" she continued with a sigh "He's hurting you so much and I can't even do much about it. Sophie's going crazy reading every book she can find, talking to as many people Ricky could contact in his circle but we don't have anything concrete yet. At the end of it all, you are still at his mercy. They have the power to destroy you"
I know" I nodded weakly.
"It's not fair"
I nod again.
"What if you accept the bond in public?" She asked "Sophie was considering that as the last resort if we can't separate the lion from you. That way the Leolines can't hurt you. Our council might actually help us with that. What do you think about it?"
"I thought the council will throw me away. With me being an abomination and all" I frowned.
"Ricky pointed out that we can argue that this bond his nothing to do with you. It's all on Leoline and his animal. It's not like your animal's claiming him as mate. We don't have birth-mates. They could actually sympathize with you as a victim and actually put the Leolines under the bus"
"Wouldn't that lead to a chaos among them?" Our council and the predators' council aren't the best of friends.
"They are at each other's neck anyways" she shrugged "They only need reasons to hate each other"
"I don't know" I mumbled. They are asking me to join them point my finger at Arthur instead.
"It's not a fool-proof plan of course. It could backfire on us" She said "We aren't going to use it unless he refuses to let you go"
"He wouldn't do that. He's happy with Rhea"
"If he does" she insisted "if he does that Amy, I want you to promise me something"
I frowned at her.
"You have to promise me that you wouldn't behave like a fool and run to him" She held my gaze.
"I don't...."
"I know what you feel" she said "and I'm not blaming you for feeling that way. Twelve years is a long time. With the bond, it would have been strange if you didn't have any feelings for him"
"I wouldn't......I......It will go away"
"Even if it doesn't" she said "you should put yourself first. The Leolines have enough power to get out of it albeit with scratches, but this will destroy you"
I nodded "I understand"
"Should I come along? I can inform Josh about staying with you for a night"
"I'll be fine" I replied "I'll probably go to Harvey once I'm done talking to him"
"Harvey's worried about you"
"I know" I sighed "He forcefully took me grazing the other day"
"You shifted"
"Yes" I nodded "It really helped"
"You didn't panic?" she frowned
"It was a public grassland. There were other shifters around" I shrugged "I guess my mare felt safe with them"
"I think you are finally getting to that point you know" she wrapped her arms around my shoulder forcing me to concentrate on her "I think you can finally let her go"
I lowered my gaze, playing with my fingers "I don't know. Maybe it's the stress. Maybe she'll be back in my dreams once things settle down"
"I hope I'm right" she smiled kindly.
"I hope so too"
_____________
"Why don't you stay home anymore?"
"Why did you lie to me?"
"You know my animal needs you"
"Why did you lie to me?"
"You let that stallion get close to you"
"Why the f*ck did you lie to me Arthur?" I yelled this time taking a step towards him "You lied to me, you f*cking stalked me, dictated my entire life and caged me like a prisoner. I'm tired of your games, tired of your tortures. What do you want Arthur. What the f*ck do you want from me?"
He stared at me, simply stared at me in daze like he couldn't believe me.
I took a deep breath to calm my rising nerves "What do..." I searched his eyes carefully "What do you want from me Arthur?"
"Something you can never give me" He replied softly "Something you can never understand"
"I've given you twelve years of my life" I said "twelve prime years of my life. I gave up twelve years worth of happiness because I understood you and your pain. There's very little left for me to give to you" I smiled holding back my tears "Tell me what you want and for this one last time, I'll give you that. I'll give you anything in return for my freedom. Give me my freedom Arthur"
He shook his head "You never understood me Amelia. You didn't understand me the first day I met you, you don't understand me at this moment. Every pain that I gave you, every happiness that I snatched from you, I punished myself twice as much as it hurt you. But you will never understand that. You weren't meant to understand and I've made peace with that" he took a deep breath looking away "Don't ask me what I want because you can't ever give it to me. I don't expect you to. You have a way out of this. Look harder for that and when you find it, don't hesitate"
Mia's words rang in my ears. He couldn't probably mean that. He must have known about the possibility.
He looked back at me "That's what I came here to tell you" he continued "I wouldn't let anyone hurt you. I may not tell you the entire truth but I'll give you enough clues to make an escape. Neither my family nor the world will raise a finger at you. You will get your freedom. Just trust me one last time"
"What if it hurts you?" I found myself asking.
He smiled "You should consider it as me paying for robbing you off twelve years of your life"
Before I could stop myself, I took that one step that separated us and wrapped my arms around him. Closing my eyes, I rested my forehead against his racing heart. Is he as afraid as me?
"I can't do that to you" I said.
He didn't reply.
I waited for him to respond or even breathe but he did neither. He simply stood there with his heart beating crazily against his chest.
I shifted to look up at him "I can't do that to you"
His blank eyes finally shifted and found mine "I disgust you" he stated "You hate me"
"I didn't know you" I replied "Now that I know you, I can't hate you"
"You don't hate me?"
I shook my head and tried to move away from him but he held my arm to hold me back.
"I kept so much from you. I manipulated you" he reminded me
"I know" I nodded "Maybe I sympathize with you or maybe it's the bond but I just want you to know that I don't hate you"
His eyes never left me, searching at my face he spoke quietly "Thank you. Thank you for not hating me"
It was in that moment that I realized how much it meant for him that I didn't hate him. My hatred must have been unbearable to his animal. His mate hated him. He carried this weight around for over decade. It must have been torturous.
"You are welcome" I replied softly.
__________________
Arthur's POV will be up in the next update :D
Happy reading :):):)