Spell Bound
Twenty-One

Arabella

The cackle that escapes my mouth as I snip through my hair could be described as hysterical.

I watch as the chunk of hair that I just cut slowly floats down to the ground.

It would have been simpler to just use my magic to get my hair to how I want, but unfortunately I am restricted for now.

My memories are filled with watching my mother snap her fingers and her hair turning into whatever she wanted it to be that day.

I used to dream of the day that I would finally be able to do without worrying about using the little resource I had to draw magic from running dry.

Yet, because of this damn wolf I am forced to do things regularly.

I look up and see Lucian’s shocked face in the mirror and smile at him. “You said you liked my long hair so I thought I would do something to rectify that.”

I know that this is ridiculous but I am desperate for a win against him. I know that I will eventually get the win when he dies, but I want to be able to revel in something.

Plus, it isn’t as dramatic as it seems. It’s just hair, and I can always fix it when I get my magic back later.

Lucian’s eyes connect with mine in the mirror. “Would you like me to cut the rest?” He asks as he steps in the bathroom.

I shrug my shoulders at him. How my hair looks is my least concern.

He steps behind brushing the hair that I didn’t cut behind my shoulders. The tips of his fingers brushed the side of my neck, causing my body to shudder.

“The scissors.” He commanded as he held his hand out in front of my body.

I don’t say anything as I place the scissors in his hand.

I don’t pay much mind to Lucian as I hear the snipping of the scissors. If he messes up I can always just throw my hair in a bun. Or, I could make him feel bad. I could convince him to disable whatever is blocking the magic around here and Valentina and I can escape quicker than planned.

“All done.” He states with a smile as he pushed some of my hair to the front. He plants a chaste kiss as he walks out of the bathroom.

I stare at my reflection. My hair that once reached my waist in its curled state now stopped right below my clavicles.

I hate it so much.

I choose not to vocalize that, instead I smile brightly at my reflection. I can cry over my hair when he’s not in the room.

“I was thinking that we could have breakfast together. There’s an area for eating that we can go to if you promise to behave.”

I roll my eyes as I step out of the bathroom as well. As much as I want to respond with something equally as disrespectfully I can’t replace it in me. Instead I say, “That sounds nice.” I plaster on a fake smile after I finish speaking.

He just chuckles as he walks to the closet that is a part of the room.

He comes back with a smirk on his face and a pair of sandals in his hand. “Can’t have you out barefoot again.”

I roll my eyes at the humiliating memory. It’s hard to believe that me trying to escape was three days ago, and now I am going to sit and eat with the very wolf that I was attempting to escape. Pathetic.

I reach for the sandals but he just pulls them from out of my reach.

He points towards the the bed, gesturing for me to sit on it.

I glare at him before turning to walk towards the bed. “I don’t see why I can’t put these on myself I am not a child.” I huff out before throwing myself onto the bed.

“I want to.” He responds as his hand grasps my left ankle, lifting it. He gently slides his hand down to the top of my foot, sliding the sandal onto my foot. “I know that you can do things on your own, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to help you.”

I don’t respond, but my cheeks flush as he slides the other sandal on my right foot.

He grasps my hand, standing me up from the bed. “You look so beautiful.” He lifts my hand to place light kisses on my knuckles.

“Thank you.” I reply as I snatch my hand from him.

As he leads me out of the room, I can’t help but wonder if I am going to run into anymore wolves. I may not be able to cast any spells, but I’m sure there are certain things that I can still do. I can make siphoning magic from them hurt like a bitch. From the way that others have reacting from me doing it I know that it is very effective in causing pain. Depending on the individuals tolerance for pain, they can even pass out from it.

Still it wouldn’t help me much, but I would be able to bargain them letting Valentina free.

Lucian’s hand wrapping around my wrist silenced my thoughts. “I can already see the wheels in your head turning. You promised to behave.” He hand slides from my wrist to my hand, intertwining our fingers together. “I just want us to have a peaceful breakfast with one another. I enjoy your company.”

I scoff at his words. “You cannot be serious. There hasn’t been a moment that him and I spent together where one of us is holding the other against our will. There is nothing pleasant about being a prisoner.”

He shakes his head and chuckles. “You are so much more than a prisoner my little spitfire.”

He doesn’t give me a chance to respond, he tugs on my hand forcing me to keep up with his long strides down the hallway.

I take the time to actually observe the long, intricate hallways. I got lucky replaceing an exit when I first tried to escape, but I doubt that I will be able to strike gold twice.

The walls were made out of concrete, and had very little decor on them. The walls only had numbers above each that specified which room was which. This was obviously a very large basement that has been converted into multiple panic room. If it wasn’t for knowing that witches have been killing children I would revel in the fact that the wolves seem to fear them. I can’t. My conscience just wouldn’t let me replace joy in this win.

“This is where we will be eating.” He states when we reach a door at the end of a random hallway.

When he opens the door I see that the room is larger than it appears. The deception makes me realize that escaping a second time is going to be harder than I originally thought.

The room is like a medium sized cafeteria. There are multiple tables that have benches connected to them, and another door that probably leads to where the people prepare the food.

He begins to lead me to a table that already has our food prepared. “I had them make pancakes for you, Bella. I know that they are your favorite.”

I feel myself freeze at his words, and I attempt to pull my hand out of his. How does he know all of these things about me?

I feel myself freeze at his words, and I attempt to pull my hand out of his. How does he know all of these things about me?

He chuckles as he uses his strength against me pulls me into his body. “If you behave you can have a little bit more of my blood later.”

Immediately after hearing his words I stop struggling. As pathetic as it is, my body has been craving it, my mouth will water just at the thought of it.

As he begins to guide my body towards the table I have to bite my lip to stop myself from begging for his blood now.

When I sit down he brushes his hand through my now short hair before placing a chaste kiss on the mark that he left on my neck.

I feel my skin flush under his kiss. It’s unnerving how much

He sits down across from me and smiles. “Eat your food before it gets cold, Bella.”

Before I can really think about it, I begin to pick up my fork and listen to his command.

The more time that I spend with him, the more pathetic that I feel.

I was raised to despise wolves, to know that they are inferior to me in every way. Yet, after spending a short amount of time with Lucian I feel that belief I once held strongly start to slowly break down.

“Do you like the food Bella?” He asks before stabbing his fork into his pancakes.

His words break me out of my thoughts. I feel my heart rate spike as I watch his graceful movements. I expected all wolves, especially the alphas to eat like savages. Hunting down animals in their wolf form, eating whatever they can capture that day. I never expected this.

I never thought that I would replace someone eating attractive, but now I know I do.

My eyes shift down to my plate of food, my pancakes drowned in syrup the way that I like them.

“Yes.” Is my only response as I lift up my fork to continue eating.

It’s disturbing how much I am learning about wolves from simply watching him. There are many things that I assumed were true about wolves from the stories that I had heard when I was younger. He is slowly dismantling everything that I thought one by one.

“I was thinking for lunch maybe we can eat back in our room, and talk. I only brought you out here because I thought a change in scenery would make you more pleasant.”

I cut my eyes at his statement. “You don’t have to treat me like I am like a child.” I state after I finish chewing.

He chuckles. “I don’t see you as a child, I see you as a powerful witch who sometimes makes the wrong choices.”

There is no use in arguing with his words, because unfortunately for me his assessment is correct. “I don’t see why you care about whether the choices I make are right or wrong.”

“Because I care about you, Bella. I thought it was obvious.”

I roll my eyes before I continue eating. There’s no point in me believing his words when he is using me to help the woman that he loves.

“I’ve meant everything that I’ve said to you, Arabella. I wouldn’t have helped you achieve your goals if you weren’t special to me.”

My grip on my fork loosens, the clattering sound it makes when it falls onto the plate rings through my ears.

“What goal have you helped me achieve?” I ask bitterly. “Are you saying that my goal in life was to be tied to a wolf, not being able to escape him no matter how desperate I get!” I slam my hand against the table.

He smirks at me before picking up his cup of orange juice. He slowly takes large gulps of it. A small bit of the liquid escapes his mouth and slowly slides down his chin. Reminding me when I held the cup of water for him.

His obsidian eyes connect with mine as he slowly wipes the juice off of his chin with the pad of his thumb. “The goal of being strong enough to single handedly wipe your ex-coven from existence. The goal of never having to rely on another being for magic. The goal of being the strongest witch on the planet.”

His words stun me, and I have no choice but to concede to his words.

“Fine. You did help me accomplish those goals.” I admitted.

His smile takes up half of his face as he stretches out his arm and brushes his hand against mine. “I may have done it in a way that you don’t like.” He locks his hand around mine. “But I only did it because I wanted to help you. Now it would only be fair for you to help me as well yes?” He asks.

My eyes keep moving from our connected hands to his eyes, unsure which to focus on. “Yes that would be fair.” I grumble out.

Simple. I will save the woman that he loves and then I will follow through with the plan that I have with Valentina. I just need to update her on it.

“I’m finished eating.” I state before standing from the table. I turn to face him. “I want to see Valentina.”

He follows my actions. “You can go see Valentina after we go for a walk. First we need to go change.”

He intertwines our fingers once again, holding my hand in a firm grip that I wouldn’t be able to get out of if I wanted to.

“I want us to get to know each other.” He states as he begins to walk out of the room. “It’ll help us in the future.”

“Future?” I scoff. “There is no future between the two of us.”

He reaches up and brushes the mark on my neck. “I will allow you to believe that for now.”

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