Spell Bound

Lucian

I watch Arabella as she intently stares at her own reflection in the bathroom mirror.

She is still unsure about the impromptu haircut that she gave herself earlier.

While I may prefer her with long hair, I still think that she is just as gorgeous with her hair shorter.

I am hesitant to speak my opinion out loud. Her reasoning for cutting her hair in the first place was because I kept vocalizing how beautiful it was. I wouldn't put it past my little spitfire to shave her head completely in an effort to spite me. Even if she did I know that it would not change my attraction to her.

"You promised that you would speak to me after we got done eating, Bella." I say alerting her of my presence.

She slowly turns her head in my direction until the two of us make eye contact. "That is all you ever want to do. Talk. I am sick of it." She huffs as she storms out of the bathroom. She stands in front of me, her arms crossed over her chest, while her glare is trained on me. I have never found her more attractive.

"I just want to get to know you, and I want you to get to know me." I reason with her. I sit down on the edge of the bed and pat the area next to me. "Ask me anything, give the connection that we share a try." I plead.

She rolls her eyes before she began to walk towards the bed. She dragged her feet as she pouted, clearly she isn't interested in speaking another word to me.

She plops herself onto the bed, making sure to keep a bit of distance between the two of us. "Why are you so interested in getting to know me?"

I laugh as she narrows her eyes at me. It is a small win for me, because it was technically a question. "Is it so wrong for me to want to know the woman who easily subdued me and held me captive?" I ask before reaching down to hold her hand.

Just as our fingertips brushed against one another she smacked the top of my hand. I let out a sigh before retracting my hand.

She will reciprocate my affections in due time.

"I am interested in getting to know you because I am interested in you." I continue. "We have an undeniable connection, we are soulmates, Bella. Meant to be together."

"I was only able to capture you because you allowed it. Why did you do it? You obviously could have stopped me, but you didn't want to. Why?" She demanded.

I should have known that she wouldn't focus on me saying that her and I are meant to be together. She has yet to acknowledge her feelings that are growing stronger for me everyday, but she will.

"I have already told you this, Bella. I want to help you. I am willing to do anything for you." I explain. "I will do anything to prove it to you. Give me the name and the location of the coven that you want eliminated. The warriors in my pack will be desperate to prove their loyalty to you. You won't even have to lift a finger. They will be gone from this land before you know it."

She laughs. "You really think that you have wolves to spare while you are in the middle of getting your asses kicked by a different coven of wolves?" She asks.

I watch as she laughs at my expense. Her body shakes as she tosses her head back. This is how I want her to be, happy without a care in the world. Even if she is laughing at me.

She is technically correct, it would be unwise to send my warriors away from the pack at this very moment. They need to be guarding my pack, especially in my absence.

When she pulls herself together she turns her body to face me. "Okay I am assuming that you have a question for me, so please go ahead and ask away."

"I know that you are intelligent, Bella. Have you thought of any ways that you could possibly save Marisol's life?" I ask.

"I have a few theories, but nothing set in stone. The last thing that you would want to do is to aggravate the magic that is running in her system. It could only make the negative effects worse." She explains. "There are healing herbs that you could try, but I there are a few things that I believe could happen. These are just theories, so I am not one-hundred percent. The herbs can work and she will be fine, or it can cause the magic to act like cancer cells and take over all of the moon goddess magic and kill her completely, or it could do nothing. I don't think that herbs are the best thing that we can do for her."

I can't help but be surprised that she has been open to telling me how to save Marisol. It just lets me know that I am one step closer to earning her trust. "Is there anything else that you have thought of?" I ask.

"Two questions in a row?" She asks with a smirk. "That is so unfair."

Witnessing her rapid mood changes has somewhat put me on edge. I am currently unable to look into her mind because her emotions are a bit too unstable, so I am not exactly sure on what to expect from her. "You are right. You can ask two questions next, but first answer mine." I demand.

"Well I think what would make the most sense would be to have your moon goddess heal her. Especially since she is the one who saved her." Arabella shrugs her shoulders. "It is the safest option, just have her pure magic flush out all of the blood magic."

I chuckle. "Yes, you are correct that would make the most sense, but the moon goddess does not want to interfere." None of us understand why. Marisol is getting weaker and weaker, and the one who saved her is now almost turning her back on her. While it doesn't make sense to any of us, Marisol and Benjamin have made sure that we do not question her.

Arabella rolls her eyes. "That's convenient." She sighs in-between her sentences. "I do have one more theory, but it is a long shot. It involves me getting away from you, I would have to go to my home to retrieve it."

I reach up and brush my fingers through her now short hair. "I will think about it." I push my fingers through her scalp until I reach the back of her head and pull her closer to me. "You would have to promise to return to me." I state before placing a light kiss on her cheek.

Her skin is not as tan as it was a week ago, so it flushes a pale pink under my lips. Her hands come up to my chest and she lightly pushes me away. "You picked a mating ritual. You could have tortured information out of me, instead you locked me in a mating ritual." Her body is tense while she stares into my eyes.

"I should probably tell you now that Marisol is no threat to our relationship, you are the only woman for me." I reach over and grasp both of her hands in mine. "The reason that I hold her in such high regard is because she is mated to my king."

She bites her bottom lip as I lift her hands up and begin to press light kisses onto her knuckles. I grasp onto her elbow and slowly start to pull her closer to me. "I may bow to her as a sign of respect, but I worship you." I whisper as I start to caress the shell of her ear. "She is the reason that I met you, she helped me find you. The last thing that you need to worry about is another female catching my attention. If I have made you feel any other way please know that I am sorry." I smile as I feel her body relaxes against mine. "I chose a mating ritual because that is what we are, and I want to be tied to you for the rest of my life."

She nods along with my words. "Because of this ritual you can hear my thoughts." She softly accused. "That's why you knew what hair products and body washes that I use."

I am honestly surprised that she didn't catch onto sooner, though I haven't been flaunting the information that I have learned. "Yes, I can hear your thoughts. For now it is only when your emotions are stable." I confirm. "But, I found out what hair products from your dreams. I also have access to your memories. " There is one major thing left, that I have access to some of her magic. I know that she isn't ready to learn that yet, so I keep it to myself. I will tell her in due time, when she is more accepting to the bond that is forming between the two of us.

There is a peaceful quiet between the two of us for a little while, as she absorbs all of the information that I have given her. I listen for her breathing, and I can guess the thoughts that are running through her mind. I have decided to stay out of her mind in this moment even though it isn't as cloudy as it was for me this morning. She needs time and privacy to work through her feelings on her own.

She shifts in my hold slightly, maneuvering her body so we are face to face. "I think that my third option can help save your Marisol."

I sigh as I hear her refer to Marisol as mine. If she were to say that in front of the wrong person it would mean my head on a spike, but worse she still might not believe me when I say that I only have eyes for her. She is as stubborn as she is beautiful.

"How can you be so sure?" I ask.

She bites her lip as her eyes nervously shift from the left to the right. Again, without listening in to her thoughts I already know what she is thinking. Even though her coven betrayed her doesn't mean that she should betray all of the other covens by helping a wolf. Even though her prejudices are slowly breaking down, there is a war going on her mind. A war that I will actively fight in to make sure that she stays in my life.

I brush her hair out of her face, and cup her cheek, guiding her to face me. "Please help me, Arabella." I plead.

Her eyes connect with mine, and she slowly nods her head. "There are many types of magic. Light, dark, elemental, blood, pure and a few others that are not as important as those. Those that are born with an affinity for dark magic rarely practice it because it is seen as a sin. Because it is treated like it is evil, the people with an affinity to practice it become evil. Those with an affinity with light magic are usually very powerful, yet they do not know that they have this unique power because they usually aren't witches."

"If they aren't witches what are they?" I ask.

"They can be anyone. Humans, vampires, wolves, witches. I have an idea on what they might have in common, but again I would need to leave to confirm it." She nods as she speaks. "If what I think is true then I am certain that I will be able to save her." Her smile grows as she contemplates over her words.

I am hesitant to let her leave. She is being complacent now, but I worry that if she gets a taste of freedom she may decide that she would rather be away from me.

"It will be taken under consideration Bella. Now, I just have one more question before I let you go see your friend." She perks up at my statement.

"Hurry up and ask me." She urges me.

"What did your former coven do to warrant you wanting revenge against them?"