18. Of Beds and Duvets.

"I'm not sleeping in my parents' bedroom and I'm not letting you sleep there either" I declared after the phone call with Caroline's mother and a promise of taking the little troublemaker out of my hair as soon as possible.

"Don't you have a guest room?" Caroline frowned.

"Yes" I glared pointedly at Arthur who looked totally awkward and out of place sitting on the opposite couch "I'm currently using it"

"Ah!" Caroline seems to be smart for a teen who runs away from home at every given opportunity. I always assumed those kind of kids had potatoes for brains. "I don't mind sharing a bed. I'm really tiny" She pointed at herself "I wouldn't take much space and I don't kick in my sleep"

That seems to be the only option.

"No" Arthur spoke up "No" he repeated firmer this time.

"Do you have a better option?" I sighed in frustration "Because I surely am not sleeping on the couch. You might have kicked me out of my bedroom but...."

"You can have it"

"....I am not going to let you.....wait what?"

"You can have your bedroom back. I'll take the couch". Look at the kind man, will you? He is so giving. It left me speechless and wide-eyed.

"Well now that it's all settled. I'll leave you two stare the creep out of each other while I check out my new room" Caroline's declaration made me snap out of the shock.

"Phsss...." I rolled my eyes "His kindness just blew my senses away for a moment. Don't worry about it" I waved my hand dismissively.

"Aren't you so brave when we have other people around?" Arthur sneered at me "Go jump around your room kid. I need to talk to my mate" he told Caroline without moving his gaze from me.

"I almost don't want to go now just because you asked" Caroline replied haughtily.

Arthur spared her a glare before standing up "To the bedroom" he told me "Now" he then proceeded to shove his hands casually in his pant pockets and walked away.

"Wow" Caroline whistled softly after him "He's almost scared me. Remember I said almost" she emphasized "He's right isn't he?"

"Huh....what?" I looked away from the bedroom door Arthur just disappeared into.

"You are only brave when you aren't alone with him?" She smirked "You kind of look like you are itching to sprint after him through that door. I kind of want to know the arrangement between the two of you. I think I got the gist of it though"

At any other time I would have appreciated her skills. She's going to be a great asset to the company. She reminds me of myself, nose in everyone's business and quick to catch on dramas happening around. But right now, she's getting on my nerves.

"You are thirteen Caroline" I glared at her and stood up "Go jump around your room" I started towards the stairs.

"See you even copy his words" She called after me "You are a chicken"

I am not. After last night's fiasco, I was planning on talking to Arthur myself. It's good that he isn't avoiding me and is equally concerned about it.

I shut the door to the bedroom after me solely for Caroline's benefit and turned to Arthur who was standing by the window.

"Please tell me last night was a usual behavior for predators" I leaned against the door after shutting it which ensured a room length distance between us with the bed acting as a barrier.

"I wanted to kiss you" he stated plainly.

"I understand" I nodded "What I'm asking is that you were expecting it right? You said your animal will resist your advances towards Rhea. It's that reaction right?" I asked hopefully.

He frowned "I don't know"

"What do you mean you don't know? You are the predator, you should know about stuffs like this"

"I mean I don't know" He gritted out "I never met anyone who rejected their mate. This is as new to me as it is to you"

"Stop yelling, there is a child four rooms from here" I hissed "And you never met anyone who did that? Really?"

He nodded "Prides aren't big and widespread like the wolves or the hyenas. We are very few in number and we don't breed like them either. And because we mostly stick to ourselves other than work related associations, I never personally met or heard about people who reject their spirit given mate for a chosen one"

"You couldn't have done a little research and talked to people of other species who experienced it?" I asked

"And tell them what?" He replied "Oh! I want to reject my mate, do you have any suggestions for me?"

"You have a network of people. Don't give me that excuse"

"To be honest, there was no plan of breaking the bond until recently. So I didn't put much thought onto it" He admitted.

"Thank you. It feels great to know that you were going to neglect my freedom for the rest of our lives"

He sighed rubbing his temple "This discussion is going nowhere"

He's right "Fine" I nodded "Explain last night and tell me how you are planning on avoiding anything like that in the future" I said in a business-like tone folding my arms against my chest.

He hummed and bumped his head twice against the wall by the window he was leaning against "I saw you with him last night. My animal wanted to be close to you after I kissed Rhea so I had you tracked down. I was going to stay back and watch you. I didn't move even when he approached you or brought you a drink. I was in control up to the point when he touched you. I can't believe you let him touch you despite my warning" He glared. Do you smell the hypocrisy there? "Had it not been for Keith stepping in, I would have snapped his neck into two. That would have been irreversible. I could have ruined everything all thanks to you"

"You are kidding right?" I can't believe him "You can't blame me when you literally did the same thing"

"And did your soul feel like it was ripped into two when you watched me touch someone else?" He took a step forward "Did you want to rip her out of my arms and wash every trace of her from my body?" Another step and the bed stopped him.

"I.....I....." I fumbled.

"No right?" He hissed "That's why it's your fault. You are supposed to be the saner one here. I warned you time and again about the consequences. What I feel for you is so much more than anything you could ever imagine. It's beyond my control and it takes every bit of my self-restraint sometimes to even stand near you knowing I can't touch you"

I held my breath, listening to him. I have known that the bond does this but for Arthur to actually put it to words......it makes him seem vulnerable and the idea scares me. I have always known him to be invincible. He is someone who knows what he's doing. I'm the clumsy one. I make mistakes not him and he thinks I am supposed to be the saner one?

"Did I scare you Amelia?" He asked startling me out of my thoughts. He chuckled humorlessly at my reaction "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, about us. Things that are probably scarier in your dictionary. Should I give you an example?" He raised a brow sarcastically "This bed" he kicked the bed lightly to point it out "This must feel like a safe barrier for you, right? Do you know what it feels like to me?" he questioned "An opportunity. A f*cking opportunity"

"Stop"

"Did you even wonder why I kicked you out of this room?" he paid no attention to my warning "Because this room, this bed smells like you. Because this is your room, your bed"

"Stop it"

"And that's probably one of the nicer examples of what this bond does to me....."

"Why didn't you tell me all of this before today" I yelled to get his attention "Why now? Why today?"

"Because I can now see an end to this madness" he replied "There is hope right. I won't have to hold myself back anymore. She wouldn't look at me like I'm a monster. She wouldn't faint out of fear when I touch her. She wouldn't throw up out of disgust when I kiss her. She didn't"

My chest tightened with an inexplicable pain I never felt before. I couldn't be crying now of all the places, not in front of him.

I looked away quickly and held the door open "Why don't you go to her then"

"I will do just that" he stormed past me without a backward glance.

I held my breath until I heard the front door open and close. I shut the door and turned to properly face my bedroom after weeks. I walked up to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. Flattening my palm against the soft duvet I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

This room doesn't smell like me anymore. This isn't my room, my bed.

I looked at the duvet carefully and felt the need to confirm my fears. I pulled it closer to my face and inhaled.

It didn't smell like him either. I smiled at the thought, finally letting the tear I have been holding back fall.

It smelled like us.

My scent is so deeply ingrained in this room that even his presence couldn't completely override it. This room, this bed, smells like him and it smells like me. It smells like us. And what scares me is the fact that the thought doesn't surprise me, it doesn't disgust me.

What scares me is how belittled I felt when he compared me to her. How I wish I could prove him wrong. But I can't. The fact is that I will probably puke again if he kisses me, probably faint again if he holds me and to look at him like he's a monster.....

What scares me is how wrong he was when he said him touching her didn't affect me, that I didn't feel like ripping her off him. How I wish I could feign ignorance to myself a little bit longer. Not anymore. His words today broke the little hope I had for myself, the hope that all of this will go away if I resist a little harder.

Fool. Fool. Fool. How could I be such a fool? Why him of all the people? Why now of all the time?

I can't be the saner one in this equation. I shouldn't be trusted. He has an excuse for his behavior, it's the bond. He can't help it. Whatever he feels, it will be gone when he marks her but what about me? What's my excuse?

I have no excuse.

I have no excuse for falling in love with Arthur Leoline, a predator no less.

_______________