Arranged Bonds

Bonus chapter 3:

Chapter 4: Punishment

Nox's POV

Strong emotions engulf me in despair, twisting inside me like a snake, winding and winding its way around my body until I'm suffocating.

They aren't mine.

They are Wrenley's.

She feels used and hated. She feels violated. I can't blame her.

That's exactly what I am.

A user.

A violator.

A disgusting man.

Lily is the only woman in my heart, but this female is entwined inside me with her vise like grip, her vice like strength that she tries to keep hidden so well.

The connection between mates shouldn't feel this way. It shouldn't feel so constricting. It should feel light and airy, swirling our two souls into one.

I guess this is my punishment.

I can't deny that I deserve it, but I don't want her to know about Lily. I don't want her to see the beautiful memories I have stored away in my mind of her. I don't want this female to know that I would rather be with a human than her, if only she were alive.

I try not to think about it after a while. I try to think of this as a new path, but I can't and I'm not ready for that.

She says her goodbyes, her steps small and careful. I can feel her discomfort cutting me up inside.

I hate the way this bond makes me want to care for her.

One of her brothers is glaring daggers into my skin. He's sniffing the air and I ignore it.

I have my reasons for this one sided bond just as they had their reasons to sell their daughter off for protection.

I try to keep my distance as she picks up her last few bags and tosses them haphazardly in the truck bed. I have to fight the urge to help her into the truck, to close the door for her, to buckle her seat belt and I silently curse this bond.

I curse it again as her feelings of self doubt, of hatred towards me curl in my stomach.

I don't say a word as I drive off and she eventually let's herself fall asleep. Her head is beating against the window and I wonder how she doesn't feel that.

I want to reach over. I want to pull her head across to use my lap as her pillow, but I shake these thoughts away.

I remind myself that only the animal in me has a care for this little bird. The human only cares about how Lily might feel right now.

After a while of driving in horrendous traffic, I pull over to the diner that had previously served me and mine in our youth. It brings back good memories,

and bad.

We order our food and I make sure that we aren't seated at my usual table, I don't want to destroy the only good memories I have here by sitting this brand new female at the table I first met Lily.