Mated to the Enemy

Chapter 3.1

         Arabella rolled over, falling off the bed and landing on the ground with a thump. She groaned and sat up, using the bed to pull herself up and glare at the mattress.

         "Stupid bed." She mumbled before standing up and brushing herself off. She smiled seeing the shirt Alexander lent her last night. She began to make the bed and stopped when she saw a yellow tulip on Alexander's pillow. She picked it up and smiled, bringing it to her nose and walking out of the room. She looked right and left, finding the scent of her mate and following it to the kitchen.

"Do you think she'll like it?" She heard Alexander's voice with a bit of worry in it. "I should have picked the rose." He cursed under his breath and she took that as her cue to walk in. She saw a man, about the same age as Alexander, a smaller build, blonde hair with a little bit of brown mixed in.

          "Ah, you must be the dashing Arabella." The man held her hand and bowed with a fake English accent. She giggled and blushed. "It's a pleasure."

          "Pardon me, sir." Arabella chose to play along with his antics, giving him the best English accent she had. "But I didn't quite catch your name?"

          He stood straight and smiled kindly, clearly happy she was playing along. "The names Charlie," he paused, "Lord Charlie of Honeydew." She tried not to giggle as she curtsied.

          "A pleasure to meet you, Lord Charlie of Honeydew." They held in their smiles before both of them cracked and started laughing. Alexander shook his head in amusement.

          "That accent was sooo good, Arabella." Charlie composed himself and wiped away the few stray tears of laughter. "Where did you learn to speak like that?"

         "Well, my father had me special taught in all languages and accents. So I'm pretty good at most of them." Arabella shrugged and then lowered her shoulders, hanging her head. "Of course that was before I ran away to be with Alexander."

          Arabella sighed and sat in the bar stool, looking up at Alexander and twirling the yellow tulip in her hand, smiling a little.

          "How did you know?" She asked him.

          "How did I know what?" Alexander said, completely confused.

          "That yellow tulips were my favorite." Alexander's eyes widened in realization and he scratched the back of his neck as a blush crept up his cheeks.

          "I don't know, it just uh...it just seemed to fit, you know? I just kind of looked trough every flower in the garden this morning until I thought I found the right one. Guess I chose right."

          Arabella stood and walked over to Alexander, standing on her tip toes to place a soft kiss on his cheek. He looked at her shocked, and smiled. Arabella blushed and hid her face behind the tulip. He moved her hands down and looked into her eyes, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek, causing her to blush harder and a smirk appear on his face. Their moment was ruined when Charlie cleared his throat, causing Arabella's blush to deepen to a darker shade of red.

          "Not to interrupt or anything but your dad wants to talk to her, Alex." Alexander ran a hand through his hair and turned to Arabella.

          "Do you think you're ready to talk to my dad about what happened?" Arabella shifted from one foot to the other, looking down and messing with the stem of her flower. After a moment she nodded and Alexander's arms wrapped around her securely. "You don't have to tell him everything, Bell...is it okay if I call you that?" She nodded with a smile.

          "Will he hurt me?" Arabella couldn't help but ask, after all, it is forbidden where she was concerned. Alexander pulled her at arms length and held her face in his hands.

          "I won't let him even if he would." He kissed her forehead and took her hand, leading her to his father's office. She hid behind Alexander and Charlie as they knocked on the large office doors. She grabbed onto the back of Alexander's shirt as they heard a soft "Come in" and the doors opened.

          They all three stepped inside, and Arabella looked to the couch, having the urge to cuddle up on it and not have to deal with this right now. However, she knew that Alexander wouldn't let his father hurt her, and he surely would do anything for her after the events of last night. That's when she thought about Luca, and the pain filled roar that echoed into the night air, creeping its way into her bones, chilling her at the thought. Tears brimmed her eyes, but the deep voice of the older man in the room reeled her back to reality.

          "You must be Arabella," He smiled warmly and gestured for her to sit. Not wanting anything than her mate right now, she chose Alexander's lap, surprising him. He recovered quickly and pulled her close to his chest, wrapping his arms around her stomach and resting his chin on her shoulder.  "Now, I need you to tell me what happened and why you came here." The man said. "Oh, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Alexander's father, Ron. Which is what you can call me, or simply dad." He nodded and motioned for her to explain.

          "W-Well, u-um..." She gulped, watching her trembling fingers hold the tulip. Alexander placed his hands over hers.

          "Take your time, Bell." She nodded and closed her eyes.

          "After I saw Alexander's wolf, my friend Luca came to check on me, like he does every day. After Alexander left, L-Luca and I had a conversation about me meeting my mate, and that he was a were." She paused and took a breath. Alexander rubbed soothing circle on her thigh and waited for her to continue. "He argued with me over it briefly, before telling me he loved me." Alexander growled lowly. "But I told him I had a mate and that I needed to see him. So I told him not to tell my father, but he wouldn't listen to me. He said that Alexander was a were and accused me of not loving him, said he wanted me and only me because he would never find his Lioness mate. I'm not even a lioness, and I got mad at him for it. So I ran home and went to talk to my father, letting it slip that I had a were for a mate. My father wanted me to reject you," She looked at Alexander and then to the tulip, tracing the edges of the petals. "But I refused. He wanted me to mate with Luca and when I refused, he got this look in his eyes and slammed his fist down. I said that he had never treated me the same after my mother died, acted like I didn't even love her." Arabella sniffled and then continued. " He said that since I wouldn't reject my mate, and mate with Luca, then I would be punished. Then he...he told me I wasn't his daighter because I was a disgrace...a mere kittenshifter. I left my father's office after telling him that since I wasn't his daighter then there was no problem with being with my mate. I planned on leaving that night, but Luca stopped me and apologized, suggesting we leave right away. So I went to my room to pack a few things and we both started our way here. But on the way, the lion patrol caught us and I was tackled to the ground. Luca shifted to protect me and told me to run. I remember, as soon as I crossed the border I could smell my mate, I remember the pain in the roar I heard. Of loss, of emptiness. I felt a hole form in my heart, I couldn't breathe. I looked for Luca, waited for him to come sprinting out after me, but he...he didn't...he..." Alexander pulled her closer to his chest and told her not to say anything else.

          Ron paced the room while Arabella accepted the comfort of her mate. After a while, Ron stopped pacing and turned to Arabella and Alexander.

          "You look tired, yesterday was rough. Get more rest. Son, watch over her. I'm going to make a call to her father." Ron saw the fear in her eyes. "Don't worry, Arabella, I won't let him hurt you. I just need to see if your friend is alive, and why he sent those lions after you. I protect my own and you are now one of us." He reassured her and she nodded, getting off of Alexander's lap and hugging Ron. He smiled and returned her hug with a light squeeze. "Get a bath and some food in you. I'll see what I can find out about your friend Lu-" He paused, and she looked up, pulling away from him. "It seems that your friend has turned up."

          "Luca?" Hope danced in her eyes as she looked at Alexander with a small smile. Alexander grabbed her hand and kissed her forehead before leading her to where they seem to have spotted and injured shifter.

          "Lulu? Are you there?"

          "Ara?"