Spell Bound
Thirty-Four

Arabella

I shrink back as he glares at me.

In these few, but eventful weeks that I have known him I have never seen him angry. After a while I just assumed that the rumors of his levelheadedness were one-hundred percent true.

Even if he did get angry I never thought that he would ever direct it at me.

"You foolish girl!" He yells out as his grip on my shoulders tightened.

His eyes travel down my arm before landing on the gold bangle.

He yanks it off of my wrist before throwing it across the room. "I don't know what I have done to warrant you attempting to kill me, but you will cease those efforts now." He takes a deep breath, attempting to calm himself. His eyes continue to flash from their normal obsidian black to amber yellow. "You are intelligent, the ritual that we completed turned us into one. If I die, you die, and I will not allow anything to happen to you."

I slowly start to feel the poisonous magic start to fade from my bloodstream.

I am the fool in this situation.

I just attempted to kill him and he's angry at me because I would have died as well.

He growls, before letting go of my shoulders. He climbs off the bed before storming to the closet.

I quickly sit up, and scramble off of the bed. I follow him into the closet.

“Lucian I-“

My words get cut off as a thunderous growl escapes his lips.

He turns to me, his amber eyes letting me know that his wolf is in control.

I feel my words get caught in my throat as his predatory gaze travels down my body.

he growls before turning and yanking his clothes off the hanger and forcefully pulling open drawers and grabbing what he wants.

He starts to get dressed. His movements are jerky and aggressive letting me know that he is still angry.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“I need air.” He states gruffly.

Just as he is about to walk past me I grab his wrist. “Can I go with you?” I ask.

His eyes cut to me, the obsidian shade letting me know that he has wrangled in his wolf.

Now I know why he is an alpha.

He is controlled. Not letting his emotions overtake his emotions, even though he is furious with me.

His power and authority fill the air in the room, and I know whatever he says I am going to have no choice to do.

I just hope after all of this he isn’t tired of me.

Tears gather in my eyes as we stare at one another in silence.

“I don’t want to be alone.” I admit softly.

His eyes soften as two tears slide down my face.

His thumbs swipe the tears off of my cheeks before he leans down and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Get dressed. I will wait for you.” He states before exiting the closet.

I breathe out a sigh of relief as I wipe the tears from my eyes.

I quickly get dressed, throwing on one of his shirts and a pair of shorts.

I look at the mirror that is on top of the dresser that I share with Lucian.

Staring at my reflection I can only smile as I wipe the last remaining tear from my cheek.

A siphon witch who may actually replace love.

I never thought that I would ever be able to replace anyone other than Valentina and my grandmother who cares about me.

I look like a hot mess.

My hair is standing on top of my head, a little matted mess of dry curls. My eyes are tinted pink from the tears.

Nothing a little magic can’t fix.

With just a wave of my hand my hair is back in its original state. My wild curls fall right below my shoulder and my eyes once again look normal.

I contemplate using magic to get my hair back to its original length, I think Lucian prefers it that way. Yet, at the same time there’s still a small part of me that wants to be defiant and not give him what he wants.

I shrug.

I guess my complicated feelings for him won’t exactly change my personality.

I step out the closet, my eyes immediately catching his.

The air isn’t as tense as it was before, maybe because we aren’t in an enclosed space.

His eyes roam over my body before he nods, standing from the bed.

I glance at the clock on the night stand, it’s a little past midnight. So, no one should be wandering around the pack.

I follow him as he silently leads me out of the bedroom and through the hallways.

I am immediately met with cool air as we step outside.

My anxiety skyrockets as I continue to follow behind him.

I ball my hands into fists in an attempt to keep them from shaking. My blood runs hot as my heart starts to beat faster.

If he notices he doesn’t say anything.

Moths flutter around us as he leads me to the garden he took me to last week.

I bite my lip as the silence slowly starts to overwhelm me. It’s slowly killing me.

“Lucian, I’m sorry.” The pain in my voice is pathetic, if the roles were reversed about a hour ago I probably would have laughed in his face. I tug on his sleeve. “Do you forgive me?”

He stops walking abruptly, causing me to crash into his back. He turns and his eyes soften as he cups my cheek. “Of course I forgive you.”

I close my eyes and let out a sigh of relief as his other hand glides through my scalp.

My eyes fly open as he grips the hair on the nape of my neck before yanking. Forcing us to make eye contact.

“What I won’t forgive is you ever putting yourself in danger again. The consequences will be severe. Do you understand Arabella?” He asks.

“Yes.” I whimper. Sharp stings of pain shoot throughout my scalp, his grip on my hair unwavering.

He pulls me into his embrace, and I immediately wrap my arms around him as well.

I breathe his masculine, calming scent. I don’t know how I hadn’t seen this before.

He actually cares about me.

He’s cared about me since the very beginning.

I’ve abducted him, used him for power, berated him and his people and done a lot more disrespectful things in the short amount of time that we spent with one another.

Yet, he only got angry when I put myself in danger.

Is it like this for all wolves when it comes to their mates?

I squeeze him tighter, trying to get even closer to him.

Valentina was right.

I roll my eyes at my thoughts.

He’s perfect.

“You need to tell me what I did that was so horrendous that you decided that you had to kill me.” He said.

I tense at his words.

There is a conversation that needs to be had, since my mother is here somewhere.

He grasps my hips before stepping out of our embrace.

“This is not up for debate, Bella.” He states gently.

He grasps my hand in his, leading me to the same bench we sat at the last time we were here. “I need to understand why. If I did something to upset you that much you need to tell me so I can fix it.”

I sit down on the bench, and continue to observe him.

Him and I sit and observe one another in silence.

His blonde hair was a little messy, and a few strands fell into his face. His muscles flexed as my eyes sweep down his body.

He really is the most beautiful male I have ever seen.

“You need to tell me what happened.”

Lucian’s voice startles me, my eyes shooting back into his.

“I will only know if this is something that I can fix if you tell me.”

I nod my head agreeing with his statement before taking a deep breath.

“When Valentina and I went to the library her and I came up with a plan. I was going to first kill my mother, save Marisol and then go into hiding for the rest of our lives.”

Lucian grunted at my words, but urged me to continue with a nod.

“Her and I realized that I wouldn’t be able to take down my entire coven, so that getting revenge on my mother would be the next best thing. I did a locator spell, and she’s here.” I rushed through my words. Having to tell the person that I have complicated feelings for that I plan on ending one of my parent’s existence isn’t the greatest thing.

He can see that I’m the monster that I constantly accuse him and his people of being.

Lucian’s eyebrows raise before he drags one of his hands down his face. “I should have known.” He whispered.

His eyes connect with mine once again. “Marisol kept making comments about your looks. We all brushed them off but now I know why. Your mother is the witch who attacked her during her coronation.”

His knuckles crack as he balls his fist up. “I should have listened. That’s why you did it? You thought that we made some kind of plan with her?” He asks.

I look away from him before nodding.

He abruptly stands up causing me to flinch.

“Bella.” He says softly before dropping to his knees in front of me. “Please forgive me.”

My eyes widen, but he doesn’t pay it any mind as he begins to leave soft butterfly kisses on each of my knuckles. “Just know that I wouldn’t do anything to betray you like that, ever. I love you too much Bella.”

I feel my cheeks warm at his confession. This isn’t the first time that he has said it, but it’s the first time that it feels real.

I run my fingers through his beautiful blonde hair, and he closes his eyes and lets out small purrs.

Valentina is never going to let me hear the end of this.

She is going to ride the way of being right probably for the rest of our lives, but that’s fine.

I roll my eyes as I think back to the plan.

Get rid of my mother, save Marisol….

Marisol!

I jump up, pushing Lucian’s shoulders, almost trampling him as I begin to pace.

“Bell-“

“You said that my mother is the witch that attacked Marisol?” I ask. It was more of an accusation, but it doesn’t matter.

Lucian looks at me warily as he slowly stands up. “Yes.”

My shoulders shake as hysterical laughter escapes me.

“Arabella, tell me what’s wrong.” He demands. He grabs me by my shoulder, but I immediately push him away.

“Oh it’s just the irony.” I said before wiping a stray tear from my face. I shake my head before I roll my eyes.

“The final straw for my coven was me using the blood of other beings as a source for my magic. Blood magic. My mother was so angry that they wouldn’t put me out for being a siphon, so she was so happy when it was discovered that I was dabbling in blood magic.” I slowly walk back to the bench before dropping myself on it. “It wasn’t like I was doing bad things to get it, but they didn’t care.” I shake my head. “And now she along with the entire coven are using what they learned from me to destroy others!” I slam my fist down on the bench. “They are using the exact same magic that I was shunned for!” I scream out before hot tears run down my face.

Lucian immediately wraps his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. He didn’t speak as he began to rock me, pressing light kisses against hair.

“They are hypocrites.” I spit out.

“Yes.” He agreed.

I sit in his embrace for a moment, but even his scent and touch wasn’t enough to cool the rage that was running through my veins.

I want them all dead.

To know that it was my former coven who told me how much of a monster I was for making deals with fairies and vampires for their blood. Now the same coven is killing children in order to obtain the things that they want.

It’s unacceptable.

There is no saving them, they all need to die.

I rip myself out of his embrace, and I turn to stand over him. “I have heard a few things about your king and his mate, and I don’t care if they want to spare the lives of those who have done them wrong.” I shake my head. “We are going to do this my way. When it is all said and done no one that is apart of my former coven will make it out alive.”

Lucian stares up at me before slowly nodding. “Anything that you want, Bella.”

He slowly stands up cupping my face before gently bringing his lips to mine.

I grasp his forearms as the kiss becomes deeper, and softly moan into his mouth.

He pulls away, laying his forehead on mine.

“I will ensure that they suffer for hurting you.”