8. One night - Two burglars.

He came back sooner than I wanted him to. He was in a comfortable lower and t-shirt that read 'King of Jungle'. How original.

He took his seat on the couch he was lying on earlier. He seems to have found a favourite there while I'm still stuck to the door, too afraid to run away and even more to move forward.

"You can sit on the couch" he told me.

"This is my house. Of course I can sit wherever I want to" I reminded him.

He shrugged "Come over then"

"Which of these couches have you not touched?" I enquired walking towards him. It's not like I can talk sitting ten feet away from him. At least he hasn't killed me yet.

"I have touched all of them" he responded making me halt in my steps "Don't pretend like my scent affects you" he continued "I probably had sex on all of these couches before you arrived. Do you smell it?"

My eyes widened as I looked around frantically probably hoping to find a naked woman hidden behind the kitchen counter "Did you?" I asked scrunching my nose "This is my house Arthur"

"Shut up and sit down" He sighed "You are missing the point again like you always do"

I looked at the couch nearest to me carefully. It looked pretty much the way I left it a week ago. Assuming it was safe, I gingerly sat on it "What are you doing here?"

"You have majorly disappointed me Amelia" He leaned forward to place his elbows on his knees as he entwined his hands together "All I ever asked from you is to stay away from me and my business and you couldn't even honour a simple promise"

I scoffed. He really is putting the blame all on me and making it all my fault isn't he?

"Are we really going to talk about it today?" I asked "if we are, I have a lot of complaints too. Let's do all the Q and A's today. It's been long overdue" I said leaning against the couch to show him that I was ready for a long chat.

His jaws tensed at that. I knew he has a lot to hide. He has been deceiving me all along.

"What are you doing Arthur?" I asked him "If you want me out of your life, all you have to do is break the bond. Why haven't you done it yet?"

"That's none of your business" he said.

"It is my business" I spat back "My life and happiness is on the line here. Were you ever planning on letting me go?" He stood up and took an angry step towards me "Is that what you are going to do every time I ask a difficult question? Threaten me with your closeness?" he stopped his journey at my words.

I could feel his anger suffocate the room as he glared at me. I held his gaze even though my instinct was telling me to shut up and run. I could see the gold in his eyes glow brighter as he finally spoke.

"No" He gritted out "No. I had no plans of breaking the bond"

I shouldn't have been surprised but I was. I couldn't help the gasp that escaped me.

"What did you plan on doing to me?" I managed a whisper.

"Nothing" he replied with a sigh and went back to his seat "Like I said I want you to stay away from me and my affairs"

"That's it" I asked exasperated "You want me to suffer like this for the rest of my life?"

He scoffed "Suffer? You call this suffering? Just because I don't allow you to sleep around, you are suffering? There are millions of humans and preys living a loveless life. Go find happiness in something else"

"What do you mean allow?" I growled "Why do you behave like you own me? I have until now kept my promise out compassion for you"

"You are mine. You belong to me" His eyes gleamed with something wild "Had it been the ancient times, you would literally have been at my mercy"

"You sound like you have dreamt about it countless number of times" I said in disgust.

The reminder of the ancient practice of enslaving a prey boiled my blood. It reminds me of the huge invisible wall that separates us from the predators. They are devils pretending to be civil. Arthur Leoline is not different from his predecessors. He is the same untamed beast waiting to pounce on us.

Predators. I bet they laugh at us in private. It must be an inside joke for them, the hard work we put into building our lives. It must be amusing to them knowing how they could easily take that away from us.

They think they are the blessed creatures. The ones the spirits look after. Well the joke's on Arthur. The spirits certainly hold a grudge against him.

"If that would have ensured owning you" he said with no remorse "Yes"

"I want to slap you so bad"

"I don't think you can" he replied "You are too weak to dare that"

"Why do you want to suffer with me if you think so little of me? You don't even want me" I don't understand him.

"Because no matter how disgusting and unnatural that sounds, my animal wants you" he said calmly "He wants to love and protect your weak animal"

"Break the bond" I repeated even though his confession was making my skin crawl. I have never felt this insulted.

"I can't" he said "He wouldn't ever have another mate and the longing will hurt him"

"But you can always have a replacement and complete the bond with her" I frowned.

"I can" he nodded "He can't. Animals aren't flexible like the human part of us. He would have coexisted with my second mate's animal if my first mate never existed or had expired but that doesn't mean a true mate is replaceable. I thought one of your clients would have mentioned it at some point"

"I don't discuss philosophy with my clients" I replied still processing the information he just fed me "I simply find them a replacement"

"You aren't so good at what you do, are you?"

"Why are you telling me this now" I asked "Why give me hope all these years. Why tell me that you will set me free one day"

"You were young and you hated me with passion back then" he replied "The wounds I gave you were fresh. You would have killed yourself to escape me"

"You would have liked that very much, wouldn't you?" I smirked coldly.

"I would be lying if I say the thought never crossed my mind" his jaws tightened "When the pain got too much to bear, there were weak moments when I wished you were dead"

Something inside me went cold at that.

"And then once the spell was over, I would punish myself. My animal would punish me" he added "I don't think you will ever understand the pain you put me through"

That did nothing to the numbness I felt. All I can think is that one weak moment of the predator in front of me could have been my last breath. And to think that I trusted him because I thought my death will hurt him. Spirits! How could I be this delusional?

"You were wrong you know" I said slowly "I still prefer death to living a life tied to you"

He took his time replying "You don't have another choice. I will not let you die. You will have to live this life out without love and companionship like me. That's what the spirits chose for us. If you believe in multiple lives then perhaps the spirits will be kinder to you next time"

"Like you?" I repeated his words.

He rolled his eyes at that "You think my animal will let me have anyone else? That's our compromise. If he doesn't get what he wants, I don't get what I want"

"Is Rhea what you want?" Why did I ask that? What's wrong with me?

The guilt on his face however told me that I wasn't far from the mark so I gathered my courage and asked "Is that your true compromise. Did you promise your animal to keep away from Rhea if he stays away from me? Is that why you have been avoiding her all these years? Because you still want......."

A loud crash from the kitchen area made us both jump from our seats. Arthur immediately stood in front of me shielding me from whatever or whoever broke into my house through the kitchen window.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" I heard a familiar voice "Wh....what are you doing here Mr. Leoline" Mia tried to sound intimidating.

Arthur roared and took a shifting stance.

I moved around Arthur to show Mia my face "Why are you breaking into my house?"

"Oh dear Spirits!" Mia clutched her chest dramatically "You are safe"

I felt Arthur relax beside me.

"I'm fine Mia. You could have knocked or maybe rung the bell?"

"I did. Several times" she said "When you didn't answer, I thought he really did something" she nodded at Arthur "You screamed over the phone and then I couldn't reach you"

"I broke it" I pointed at the floor to where the remnant pieces of my phone were.

Mia nodded "So....." she drawled looking between Arthur and I "What is he doing here?"

Arthur cleared his throat awkwardly "I had to sit down and talk to Amelia about a certain misunderstanding" he explained "I am not here to hurt her" I scoffed at that.

Mia nodded and then looked at him expectantly.

"What?" he asked.

"She is wondering whether you are done here" I snorted "She wants you to leave. She doesn't do well with predators"

"Amy" Mia hissed from where she was standing "You are being rude"

I shrugged.

"Right" Arthur nodded pulling his phone out "I'll go fix the window while you talk" he pointed at the now empty frame of steel that once held a plate of glass "I should add some iron bars to it"

Did he just say all of that in front of Mia?

I discretely glared at him "We are done talking business Mr. Leoline. You need to leave"

"We aren't done talking Ms. Philip" he uttered the last words sarcastically "In fact we went totally off track. We haven't decided on your punishment yet, have we?"

Mia's already wide eyes widened further as she gasped at his words.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

He took one step into my space and whispered for me to hear "This is the first of many punishments to come" he promised "by the time I'm done with you, you will regret putting that big nose of yours into my business"

He smirked frostily as he walked out of the front door dialing someone on his phone. He reappeared at the other side of the kitchen window.

"Not a disco bar Keith" We heard him speak on his phone as he inspected the damage "An iron bar that keeps burglars away. For windows...."

I stood there frozen as a stone until Mia pulled me away from the living space and dragged me towards the stairs. When I couldn't hear Arthur anymore, I took the lead and took her to my study. I saw Arthur use my bedroom earlier. I don't know what he did to it. I don't know how I will explain his things in my bedroom to my friend. The study was a safe choice.

"What the f*ck was that" Mia dramatically raised her voice and hands as I closed the door after us.

I will find a clever enough response if I could have like thirty seconds to think. But Mia doesn't give me the luxury. She walked up to me and shook me by my shoulder.

"Why is The Arthur Leoline repairing your window, Amy?"

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A/N: Will be gone for a week. Could only upload this because it was prewritten. I will meet you guys in about ten days :)

Happy reading :):):)