Spell Bound

Arabella

I hear the door start to open, but I don't pay it any mind to it. I have had enough of the alpha. I have seen more in these two days of my captivity, then I saw him when I held him captive for a week. I had the respect to do what I need to do, occasionally gloat, and then leave him alone. I should have known that wolves would never grant anyone that same respect. They are too busy being viscious savages.

"Arabella!"

Hearing Valetina's voice snaps me out of my self pity.

"No." I whisper softly as she runs to me. "How did you get here? You need to leave now! I can't leave because-"

She cuts me off by throwing her arms around me, a soft sob exiting her.

"I first went to Alpha Lucian's pack. I thought you were there and I was sure I would be able to save you! When I stepped on the territory I was immediately surrounded by wolves and it was as if my magic had just left me completely." She squeezes her arms around me tightly. "I am just so glad that you are okay!" She cries out.

"When you didn't come home last night I became so scared." Valentina continued ranting. "So I went to the motel to make sure that you were there and you and the alpha were gone! It didn't even look like he broke the chains! They were in perfect condition. So then I spent the rest of the night coming up with a plan to rescue you! I thought that I had planned for everything, but they ended up making a fool of me and capturing me!"

I knew exactly how she felt. Alpha Lucian has made me feel foolish on more than one occasion. Also, the chains being in perfect condition? That doesn't explain to me how he got out of them. I keep that piece of information to myself, not wanting Valentina to worry more than she already has.

"I don't know where we are, but I know that we aren't in Alpha Lucian's pack. I studied those grounds and I know his territory like the back of my hand. When I attempted to escape it was nothing like the maps that the humans had shown me." I sigh before pushing her softly away from me. My hands clasp the tops of her shoulders. "I can't leave this place. That damn ritual that the alpha tricked me into ties me to him. When I attempted to escape I almost died."

“He told me!” Valentina began to shake as she begins to cry. “He said that the two of you cannot be apart until you finish the ritual.”

That damn alpha, using my friends fear for my well-being against me.

“This would have never happened if you would have listened to me in the first place!” She scolded me as tears fell from her eyes.

I can’t argue with her when it comes to that. the guilt that I am feeling weighs so heavy on my chest it is almost suffocating. I should have listened to her, left the entire situation alone and just moved far away from the pack lands.

Through fault that is all my own, I am stuck with an alpha who is using me to make sure some random female is safe.

“You’re right.” I agree with her. “This is all my fault.” I pause in between my words. “But I have a plan. I am going to-”

"Whatever that plan is it better include completing the mating ritual." She cuts me off before I can finish my sentence. Usually I would get frustrated with her overzealous behavior, but after everything I have put the both us through I know that I deserve it.

"Yes, my plan involves doing that." I am surprised when I don't feel the disgust that I normally do when thinking about people getting together with wolves. A few days ago I would have absolutely been repulsed by the thought.

It has to be this bond he tricked me into, it has been messing with my mind.

"Okay, I need details. There isn't really anything that I can do to help. My magic is blocked." She lets out a sigh. "I don't know how they did it, but I know the backfire from me attempting would be painful."

"I know exactly how they are doing this." I huff out. "Witches who leave their covens to join wolf packs. They are traders, there is no other way that these uncultured wolves know anything about magic. But my plan is simple. I complete the ritual with the alpha, the." I pause between my words, holding up my arm that has the gold bangle around it. "I found this at the siphon's abandoned library."

Valentina scrunches up her nose. "It is coated in black magic."

"Exactly. Even though they can block me from performing magic, they cannot block me from absorbing magic. The alpha has been feeding me his blood, so I am assuming that with the ritual the two of us are supposed to exchange blood. After the ritual is complete I will siphon some of the magic off of the bracelet and work it into my blood stream."

Valentina smirks at me. "You are a fucking genius." She states before she starts laughing. "I take back everything that I have ever said about black magic. Turning your blood to poison to kill an alpha? You will become a legend."

I laugh a little bit with her. "Yeah, I guess I will." I don't want to admit that the thought of his death and me being the cause of it bloomed a bit of guilt within me. All it took was two days of being his captive and I am showing signs of Stockholm Syndrome. I truly am pathetic. "Yes, and after that we make our escape. I think just living in my grandmother's native land would be for the best. I know you would enjoy the library, and my grandma would always say that the men over there are handsome." I say with a laugh. It's not the bond that is affecting me, it is the fact that he is the only man that I have interacted with in the past decade. Once I met another one that is just as handsome as he is he'll be old news.

The way that Valentina is gaping at me I would have thought that I had grown two heads.

She places her palm on my forehead and then my cheeks. "Are you okay? What has this alpha done to you?" She asks. The concern in her voice is real so I know that she isn't trying to make a joke out of the situation.

I grasp her arm so she would stop touching my face. "Yes, I am fine. The only thing that damn wolf did was trick me."

Valentina continues to stare at me like I am some mad person.

"After you've done all of this in the name of revenge, you're just willing to walk away?" She asks.

I let out a sigh. "It does seem ridiculous doesn't it. I got us into this situation because I refused to listen to reason. You have been trying to convince me for years to let this go, to just go to the land where my ancestors were born. You were right all along, and I see that now."

She shakes her head. "No. This alpha has done a number on you."

I frown at her statement. Is it so obvious that she has noticed that I have a slight attraction to the wolf? "No, I just realized that I need to listen to you."

"Who would have thought that a wolf would be the one to bruise that gigantic ego of yours." She starts to hysterically laugh, and all I can do is glare at her. "If he wasn't a wolf I would say that the two of you would be a perfect match."

I feel my cheeks burn at her comment. "I am finally listening to your advice and instead of praising me you insult me by saying my perfect match is a wolf."

It takes a few seconds for Valentina to get her fit of laughter under control. "I'm sorry, but you just don't seem like yourself. We are being held hostage by wolves and you have barely cursed their name at all, now you're saying that you are just going to let our coven get away with what they did?"

I don't answer her, because I know that she is right. These past couple of days I have felt a shift in myself.

"You and the alpha seemed to be weirdly into one another now that I think back to the motel." She continues. She furrows her eyebrows slightly. "And when he spoke to me earlier it seemed like he genuinely cares about you."

I raise my hand up, my palm facing her signaling her to stop speaking. "That's enough. All of this is just the stupid ritual that he forced me into messing with my head." I roll my eyes. "Once I kill him I am sure that everything will go back to normal."

Valentina nods. "Even if things don't go back to normal, after everything that has happened I just want you to be happy."

"Okay." I brush off the last part of her sentence because I don't have a clue on what she is talking about.

She smiles at me. "The alpha said that he would give us two hours to talk, so if you truly want to escape we need to come up with a plan after you poison the alpha."

I nod, once again ignoring the doubt that she has for me. I can't focus on that right now, the only thing that I need to focus on is her and I making it out of here alive.

Lucian strides into the room. I say nothing to him, but I do take notice to the vase full of pink Teuila torch flowers in his hands.

I narrow my eyes at him, and he smiles brightly at me.

At first I thought the flowers were a coincidence, but now I know that something is up. Everything surrounding the alpha is starting to make me nervous.

Him knowing that I had planned to abduct him before I did, him tricking me into the ritual, him being able to get out of the chains without damaging him and him having flowers from my ancestor's native land.

"Lucian." I call out just his name, probably for the very first time.

He places the vase on the nightstand, replacing the ones that I had destroyed previously. He turns to me, still smiling his bright smile. "Yes, Bella."

"Where did you get those flowers?" I ask him.

He turned to glance at the flowers that he had placed on the nightstand. "There are over a thousand Polynesian islands, it took a few of my pack members a while to find them."

I feel my heart start to beat faster in my chest, and the chain makes a rattling sound as my leg starts to shake from the nervousness that I feel running throughout my body. I have no way of telling Valentina that our plan has a slight change and we can no longer move to my grandmothers native land.

I don’t know how, but Lucian has been able to always be one step ahead of me. It doesn’t make sense, and I know that there is no use in trying to figure out how.

He lowers his body next to mine on the bed, we’re so close that our shoulders are almost touching. “I thought that it would be nice for you to have a little bit of home here.” He continues.

I have no idea where I am going to spend the rest of my life, but now I know that I can’t spend it where I want to be. This is his way of letting me know that. I know that wherever I go Valentina can’t be with me. Alpha Lucian somehow seems to know every step that I am about to take, and will never stop claiming his vengeance. I can’t drag Valentina through that with me.

“Bella.” He says before he grasps my chin, guiding me to face him. “I just want you to feel at home with me. I will fill my pack with your culture. The food, the art, and the music. The pack will learn the history and the traditions, you will still be connected to your roots with me.”

I don’t react to his words at all. My nervousness is stopping me from forming a single sentence. He sounds sincere when speaking on filling his pack with my culture, but I can’t grasp why he would want to do it.

Valentina’s words about our behavior when I had him locked in the motel run through my mind. If it wasn’t for the woman that he is trying to save I might have agreed with her delusional thoughts.

I roll my eyes as I think about Valentina’s words. She just watched too many romance movies.

I feel him run his fingers through my hair. “I just want you to be happy with me.”

If it wasn't for me knowing that he is just using me, I would think that his words and his actions meant that he cared about me. Fortunately I know the truth, instead of getting my emotions tangled up I am able to play his game.

"I don't see how I am meant to be happy with a chain wrapped around my foot." I state before lifting the foot that is constricted.

He chuckled lowly. "Well I only chained you for your own protection. You have already tried to escape once."

"That was before I knew the pain it would cause." I roll my eyes. "Do you really think that I liked being humiliated and in pain the way that I was?"

"Are you saying that you didn't feel any pain before it became unbearable?" He asks, raising his eyebrow at me. "I know that you felt pain the moment you stepped outside, because I felt it. You ignored it and you kept going."

I cross my arms over my chest, refusing to acknowledge the he is correct.

He keeps winning against me. Whether it be small victories like proving that I am wrong, or large victories like knowing where I planned to flee. I keep my anger about this all on the inside. He might be winning these battles, but I know that I am going to win the war.

When he notices that I am not going to answer he sighs. "We will continue to speak in the morning. For now we will both go to sleep."

I roll my eyes at him. Another typical trait among wolves, being controlling as hell.

I crawl from the foot of the bed to head of it, pulling back the covers and getting under them. It was a bit of a struggle to do it with the chain around my foot, but I managed. "See I obeyed you. Now let me rest."

He stood up from the foot of the bed, and I watched in horror as he pulled back the covers on the other side of the bed and slid in next to me.

I sit up as fast as I possibly can giving myself a minot whiplash, but I don't care. "What do you think you're doing?" I screech out as I began to try to push his body out of the bed.

"I am going to sleep here, Bella." He smirked as I continued to try and push him. "Where do you think I slept last night?" He grasped my wrists, forcing my palms to rest on top of his chest.

A small noise rumbled out of my chest before I began to try to yank out of his grip. It was all for naught, he was just too strong.

A warm tingling sensation stemmed from the contact that him and I were making and traveled throughout my entire body.

He let go of my wrists, and wrapped his arms around me pulling me to him. My palms were still on his chest as our bodies pressed against one another.

My mind was screaming at me to push him away, to fight this moment. Yet, my body melted into his.

He lowers us slowly onto the mattress. "You can fight my affection in the morning." He says softly. "For now just go to sleep."

My brain is screaming me to protest, to fight because I know that he is using me. Instead of listening to logic, once again my selfish and impulsive nature shines through.

"Okay." I whisper, before I slowly slide my palms from his chest to his back. I swallow the lump in my throat before I place my face in his neck and take a deep breath. Wearing his shirt is nothing when compared to breathing his scent on his skin.

He palms my head, holding me in place. "Good night my little spitfire." He states.

"Good night." I whisper back before closing my eyes.

This is all just for tonight. Tomorrow my plan will be put into motion. I may be letting the bond that he enforced onto me affect me now, but when the time to get my revenge against him comes. There isn't a damn thing that anyone can do to stop me.