24. Two paths

Arthur:

"Stop grinning like a fool" Rhea said handing me a coffee mug.

"I'm not"

"Yes you are" she grinned sitting down next to me with her own mug.

I had to smile with her this time "I feel like I'm breathing again"

"I have been telling you all along that she likes you"

"That's taking it too far" I chuckled "She said she doesn't hate me. Don't just assume things because you want to be right"

"I'm right" she said airily "I am going to prove it to you and when it happens...." She stopped abruptly.

"You don't owe me anything Rhea"

"My mate almost killed you" she said softly

"And how's that your fault? I never blamed you for what that lowlife did to me. I only blamed you for not standing up for yourself"

"Let me do this, please Art" she stretched her lips trying to smile "I'm not doing this for you. I need this"

"You are only trying to mend his wrongdoings so the afterlife treats him better" I gritted out angrily "You are still praying for that monster, still ruining your life over him. That's what you did all these years didn't you?"

After that bastard's murder nine years ago, Rhea had made it her mission to find all his victims and build them up. Whether helping them emotionally or financially, she did everything. She used up all the riches he left her in giving back to his victims all in the hope that if they stop hurting, maybe the afterlife will treat that monster kindly.

"It's time to start living for yourself Rhea"

"I know" she nodded "You are my last stop I promise"

"You mean I'm your last charity case?" I raised a brow.

"That's sounds bad" She made a face "You aren't a charity case. You are my friend. I'm doing what I should as a friend"

"And that includes digging up my secret and forcing yourself in my business?" I asked with a smirk.

I couldn't hold a grudge against her for long. In her own stupid way, she thinks she's helping me. She found out about Amelia and got herself enrolled in the stupid list that Amelia made for me and then, once I actually sat down to listen to her, she told me about her plan. A plan that's sure to flop. At this point, everyone around me is plotting something, be it my mate, my friend, my sisters. I think even Keith has his own ideas and Keith doesn't give a sh!t about anything or anyone.

"Apart from the money, my mate also left me with some business tricks and a handful of loyal followers, well a handful of those who actually agreed to use their strength for good at least" she shrugged "I don't stalk people with bad intention" she declared proudly.

"Wait till Amelia finds out what you did. She almost killed me yesterday at the restaurant" I recalled her desire to break my head "The only thing that saved me was her inability to touch me for the occasion"

"Speaking of which, did you talk to her about Caleb yet?" she asked.

I shook my head "I don't want to bring that up. Nothing will change even if I tell her about him"

"You could try" she said "Where's he anyways?"

"I met him last week" I replied "He swings by sometimes. You want to meet him?"

She nodded.

"He doesn't know about her" I warned her.

"My lips are sealed" she made a show of zipping her mouth.

I shook my head at her, chuckling "He'll freak out when he sees you. He did some digging to find you. You hid yourself well"

"I wasn't ready to face you guys" she smiled "Now I am"

"Good"

"And I'm also ready for some PDA with you" she added grinning.

"No" I groaned rubbing my face with my palm "That was so awkward Rhea. Don't. Just don't make me do that again"

"It's working though" she grinned

"No it's not. She's not the jealous kind"

"Oh you should have seen her eyes dig a hole at my face when you kissed me. Has she been a witch, she would have burned me down in a breath with the intensity of her stare. She thought she was being subtle"

I shook my head at her "You are too set on your target. You are seeing things"

"Fifty days Arthur" she straightened her shoulder confidently "I told you I'll drag a confession out of her in fifty days. I'll not let you go through your plan of self-sacrifice. Did you get everything ready for when that happens?"

"Keith took care of that" I nodded.

"Mr. Reliable" She chuckled "What will you do without him?"

"I guess I'll yell a lot at empty spaces initially"

"We will get you a stone statue of him" she said "That will be pretty close. But really, it's only twenty odd days now. You should start preparing for either outcome"

I hummed in response.

_________

Amelia.

My soulmate.

The woman I was born to love.

That's how it goes for most predators. You love your mate the moment you lay your eyes on them and then continue doing so until you close your eyes the last time. Not for me.

The first time I laid my eyes on her, I was bathed in blood, the blood of someone close to her. I had to blink the blood blinding my eyes away to have a proper look at her. Fear was all I saw on my mate the first time I saw her and that's all I see to this day when I get close to her.

Happiness and relief were the first emotions and then came the confusion. She wasn't a lioness or a human or even another cat. No, she was a weakling and she was scared of me because she didn't feel the bond like I did. It scared me, the fact that she was scared of me and that I didn't know what the future holds for us. I was only eighteen for spirit's sake. I never heard or dealt with anything like that.

Putting my own fears at bay I started walking towards her when she fell down and eventually fainted. I went to pick her up but realized that I was drenched in blood. She wouldn't appreciate that. Every inch of me was yelling at me to touch her, just once. I couldn't.

Caleb had shifted back by then. I asked him to go inform a local about it. I took the time to have a proper look at my mate. She was stunning. A mare, only a pure-blood mare can be this beautiful when it comes to her kind. She must be a sight to behold with her eyes open and face not drained of color. The thought of anyone other than me looking at her drove my animal insane . How am I going to stop others from looking at her?

I did manage to stop some starting from ruining her prom date to the one I put to hospital a couple of weeks ago. Spirit knows I wanted to hurt that man so much more. I usually don't do that on my own, Keith does it for me but I couldn't stop myself this time. It was fortunate that my mate's clever, she hired people to protect him. That angered me further and I probably badly smashed the young tiger coming at me.

I was eighteen when I first met her. I didn't have an identity, a footing of my own. I was tempted to seek my family's help but one word 'abomination' from my father stopped me from ever considering that again. It was a lifelong battle that I had to fight alone. Not even my mate would ever understand or stand with me in this struggle.

So I did. I built up my own people and my own resources, the most important one being Keith. The first couple of years were hard. She banned me from entering her town and she was still in high school and I didn't have enough hold over the situation. But once she started college, it was easy to plant people around her to protect her.

She hated me. She hated me so much that the sight of me traumatized her. It stabbed my heart everytime she glared at me. It was after so many stabs that I got immune to it. I tried hating her back and it didn't go well for me. I then took the route of minimal contact. There was a time when she didn't see me for three years. I of course saw her.

There were occasions when I wondered if it was all worth it. I we really were an abomination. Surely something that was a gift from the spirits can't be this painful?

But it was okay. I wanted her to keep hating me. The good thing about her hating me was that it kept me in check. She was still a stranger to me, a rather rude stranger whom I wasn't comfortable marking. She was my mate but I wasn't in love with her, she gave me no reason to. I couldn't love a woman who despised the sight of me. That's not the kind of fool I am.

She wasn't kind, caring or loving like the mates I grew up watching. It was what stopped me from believing in us, from believing in a future together.

That's how twelve years went by and had things gone as planned, that's how the rest of our lives would have looked like. But then that stupid mate of mine decided to go ahead and ruin all my plans by dragging me into her world, into her home.

I found out what a home with her will look like.

It was crazy and unconventional and everything I never wanted yet the thrill of it made me feel alive like I have never been. I wasn't opposed to the idea of watching her descend down the stairs with unkempt hair in her yellow pajama every morning. I didn't hate the idea of her being the person I go back home to every evening. I thought she would make me hate that. She didn't.

She did just the opposite. I don't think she realizes how she treats me in my animal form. Other than the one week I spent with her in my animal form almost a decade ago, there was no direct interaction between us. I thought she would treat my animal like she treats me but I was in for a shocker.

I was so taken aback by our interaction the first time I shifted that I had to keep away from her for an entire day in fear of marking her. She was breaking the wall that I so carefully built to keep her away. It threw me off the cliff. I knew there was no going back now. I can't stay away from her. I can't keep doing what I did for twelve years. No. That isn't enough for me. I want more.

There is only one thing I want from her now. Her acceptance.

The day she tells me that I don't disgust her anymore, the day she decides that I'm good enough for her to spend a lifetime with will be the day I'll face the world for her. It's not the world I'm afraid of, it's her rejection that scares me.

I can take care of us. I can take her so far away that this world can't touch her. But I will need her with me for that. She has to come with me willingly. I don't enjoy caging her like she thinks I do. I want her and the only thing keeping me away is her consent. It isn't the world, it was never this irrelevant world or its rules that stopped me from claiming her.

Rhea says she wants me just as I want her. I don't want to be too hopeful. Yet I think I am foolishly hopeful when it comes to her. I keep doing those stupid tricks Rhea teaches me in the hope of a miracle because the alternate is to let her go forever.

Last evening added fuel to my hope. I kept telling myself that it was just her compassion. She pitied me. She said she didn't hate me. That doesn't mean she loves me. That doesn't mean she would stand with me against her own people. Yet my head has been drawing extreme conclusions. Do you blame me? She touched me on her own.

I don't have much time at hand. My family is soon going to catch up to my lies. It's only a matter of time and if I have to save her, I'll have to act before my father catches up. The only strength I'll have over him is the surprise element in this situation.

The wedding news is keeping them deluded. Rhea has declared that she wants a grand wedding and has sought the help of both my siblings and parents. That has momentarily taken their mind of whatever doubts they had in their minds regarding me and has bought me time.

Twenty days. At the end of it, if she rejects me, I'll suffer without her for a lifetime and if she accepts me, I'll take her away from here to a place where there will be just us. Yes, it wouldn't be the happiest situation but we will have each other. I have prepared for either outcome. There is nothing more I can do but wait and hope my mate chooses me.

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Ready to see more of Amelia's antics via the Arthur lens?

Happy reading :):):)