Romance: Tied To The Wolf: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (Werewolf Romance, BBW Paranormal Romance, Shifter Romance) (6 page)

Chapter 6

The next day was the day Cecilia was due to return home, yet she dared not leave her room for fear of seeing Aaron. She didn’t want to see him.

What was worse, was that she didn’t want to see him just to say goodbye. He was her only friend, and at the same time, the reason her heart beat warmly these past few weeks. He was not wrong, about her being unable to resist Lucas.

The following night, she had felt a tug in her chest that spurred her to approach the balcony. To her immense chagrin, Lucas was there, standing by the rail, fists tight at his sides and shoulders coiled into fierce knots by his neck.

He seemed to sense her presence because no sooner did she step close to the door of the balcony, he was turning around and fixing her a strange look that made her shiver.

“Cecilia,” he spoke and she
felt
it in her chest.

But she didn’t want it… even though it felt right in her stomach and it felt right in her blood. It was as though the only thing that rejected it was the simple little organ that beat these traitorous feelings through her system.

“I can’t deny it.” She said, her voice distant like his had been that night they first kissed.

“But you want to,” Lucas said.

Ceci frowned.

“I can feel it just as much as you can.”

“I want to be with Aaron, Lucas.”

She said, wrapping her arms around herself. Lucas nodded, taking several steps close to her before stopping inches away.

Her body was reacting, wanting to reach out and touch him, to sink into his arms and the comfort of his hold. Never in her life had Cecilia felt so torn between two people.

“I know,” he said, and she could feel the way the words wrapped around her in repentant waves.

“But… I want to be with you.”

His confession was bizarre to her ears.

“I felt it when I first saved you, when I gathered you in my arms and brought you here. Like a spark or a flame or something like it… I’ve heard from my mother that it only happened twice in a lifetime.”

“So can’t you just find someone else?” Cecilia asked softly.

“You’d have to die.”

He said and he was shaking his head vehemently.

“I can’t bear to think of that.”

“I can’t love you, Lucas,” Cecilia said, feeling pain rocket through her skin.

His eyes tightened beneath the waning moonlight, and she knew this pain wasn’t hers. It was his.

“I mean it when I want to be with Aaron. Please… tell me what he would need to do.”

“Do you hate me this much?”

There was a strange vulnerability in his voice that made her choke. Made her heart jump to her throat and want to escape so the rest of her body could fall into him.

“No,” she breathed, torn.

“But…”

“I’ve done nothing to deserve you, Cecilia.”

Lucas said honestly, “That much I am willing to admit… but for you to be with Aaron… Aaron would have to challenge me for the position of Alpha. One of us would have to die.”

Everything stopped to a terrible standstill, and Cecilia nearly fell to her knees at the pain that left her feeling so empty inside.

Lucas looked at her, pain deep in his eyes as he looked at her, “For you to be with my brother… he would need to accept the role as leader of the pack—something he would never want, something that would probably make him more miserable. He hates the part of the wolf, Cecilia. It is why he is so fond of you, because you allow him to be human.”

No.

“I can never force him to do something that would make him lose himself.”

I would be betraying my brother.

Yet the way they had stared so fiercely into each other’s eyes had made Cecilia certain they hated each other… but now it all seemed so clear.

Everything Lucas wanted was for his brother to join him, to be a part of their clan. Everything Aaron wanted was to be removed from this place that reminded him of the side that betrayed him to the beasts.

To be with Aaron… Cecilia would be forcing him to accept a part of him he could never accept.

“What do I do?” Cecilia whispered, pleading.

Lucas’s face hardened.

“You leave.”

It hit her like a punch in the gut.

“I don’t want to.”

“Then you’ll need to choose,” Lucas replied, and then he took another step toward her.

“Would you be happy with me?”

“I don’t know you like I know him.”

“Give me time then…” Lucas insisted, and when he reached for her, Cecilia couldn’t flinch away.

His touch was gentle and made her body ache for more.

“I can love you like you deserve.”

She wanted to believe him, desperately. But she couldn’t forget the brightness of Aaron’s eyes.

She couldn’t, no matter how hard her body tugged her in the other direction. Tears fell from Ceci’s eyes, falling to stain on Lucas’s fingers.

“I can’t.” Her heart felt like it tore in half.

And with that Lucas was gone. His warmth taken by a cold gust of wind.

Cecilia did not sleep that night, the sobs that wracked her body scratched at her throat and pulled it raw.

She found herself staring into the ceiling and there was a part of her that hoped that if she just remained still, she would fade into the mattress beneath.

A knock to her door made her leap to her feet, but it was not Aaron at her door to peek in.

Marlo stood instead, his eyes piercing her with pity, anger, and disappointment.

“Have you made a decision?” The butler asked.

“Caleb…?” The name fell from her mouth, and the butler sighed.

“He’s as good as dead. Our leader is hunting him down as we speak.”

“How do you know?” Cecilia asked, almost hysterical.

Marlo fixed her a glare, “Because Lucas is not alone in hunting him down. He ordered us to make sure you were on your way home by noon if you had not made a choice then.”

“I don’t want to leave,” she cried, pressing a hand to her lips.

“Please, don’t make me leave.”

Marlo shook his head, “Choose.”

Cecilia let out a soft sob, spinning away from the butler.

A sudden noise startled her, made her whirl around and look at the old man. Marlo was leaning heavily against the door, his expression screwed tight in pain.

“Marlo?” she asked, hurrying toward him.

“What is it?”

The sound of something crashing made the two of them turn in the direction of the hallway.

“Master Aaron…!” Marlo grunted.

Fear pierced through Cecilia’s chest, she hurried toward the old man, grabbing him firmly.

“What is it, Marlo? What’s wrong?”

A sharp howl of pain reached her ears and Cecilia cringed at the sound.

“Something happened…!” Marlo insisted, clutching to his chest.

Suddenly, he grabbed her around the arm and threw her out the room.

“Get to him, now!”

Cecilia stumbled over her feet, running at Marlo’s insistence before she was flying down the hallway and toward the spiral staircases.

She hurried as she approached, seeing one of the maids—Sarai—gasping at the end, her eyes wide and pupils contracted.

“Sarai!” Cecilia exclaimed, “What’s wrong?”

“Master Lucas,” the woman explained through clenched teeth.

“Something must have happened to him…”

“What about Aaron?” Cecilia asked, her body feeling numb.

“Aaron is closest to him in the bloodline,” Sarai hissed, wincing and baring her teeth in pain.

“You need to get to him!”

Another crash exploded from the dining room, Cecilia glanced back at Sarai. The woman glared at her.

“GO!”

Ceci ran, hurrying toward the direction of the sounds. The dining room was all but destroyed.

In the center, Aaron was clinging to the edges of the table, his hands morphed into claws and his mouth elongated into serrated teeth that dripped with saliva as he huffed.

“AARON!” Ceci shouted, horrified.

The sound of her voice managed to get Aaron to look at her, his green eyes narrowed into that of an animal’s, she could still tell it was him. See the way his body hunched in severe pain.

“Ceci—” Aaron choked out gruffly through the length of his maw.

“It’s Lucas…He’s in danger—STAY BACK!”

He shouted as she tried to approach him.

“Something went wrong in the hunt. I don’t know what, all I know is that Lucas is wounded.”

A war of emotions tugged at Ceci’s insides, made her want to collapse to her knees and think of something.

“You need to help him,” Ceci said, remembering Lucas’s words.

“You need to go!”

Aaron wheezed, fingers digging harsh rivets through the fine wood of the table.

“I…I can’t. I don’t want to become a monster…”

Ceci’s eyes burned with tears.

“You can’t let your brother die!”

“Because you love him?” He asked, and the words were pained. Cecilia shook her head.

“Because it’ll kill you if you don’t, Aaron!”

She cried, wanting to jump into his arms and hold him.

“I can’t lose both of you like this! Please!”

Aaron paused, his eyes wide as she begged him, watched his body convulse. Before he could so much as respond, the earth beneath them began to tremble.

Confused, Cecilia looked around, seeing how the table shook slightly and how some of the vases shuddered on top of the furniture.

Looking in the direction of the long glass doors, Cecilia tried to see if the earth was doing the same outside.

Everything fell to a standstill when she saw several pairs of eyes and parted jaws of wolves in the distance, rushing in the direction of the house. Cecilia barely managed to shout for Aaron before the wolves suddenly burst through the glass.

Glass scattered everywhere and Cecilia ducked away from the shards. Something sliced into her shoulder but Ceci didn’t dare move until the clattering was over.

“Well, well!”

She heard and when she looked up, she saw the unforgettable face of the source of her nightmares.

Caleb sauntered in, his body taking form of man as his eyes honed in on hers.

“What a pleasant surprise!”

Cecilia began to scramble away, reaching for Aaron’s hunched body. One of the animals jumped toward her, tackling her to the ground. Cecilia let out a scream, cut off by the force of a huge paw on her chest.

“Cecilia!” She heard, but couldn’t shake off the immense limb from her body.

“I have to say,” Caleb laughed.

“I was not expecting to find my bride so… ripe for the taking!”

“She doesn’t belong to you!” Aaron roared.

The wolf above her gave a series of wheezes that resembled laughs. Cecilia shuddered away, smelling blood and flesh in its breath.

“I’ll say,” Caleb replied from feet away.

“She was almost taken by my enemy! Sometime later and we might have had an issue on our hands!”

“What did you do to my brother?” Aaron growled.

Cecilia tried to look from the stare of her current predator and towards Aaron.

“He’ll be dead soon,” Caleb replied flippantly.

“We managed to surprise him, I guess he wasn’t expecting as many wolves to fight him. Although, he was a bugger to beat.”

Something inside Cecilia caved to a violent desperation, “No!”

“Oh yes, darling!” Caleb’s voice sounded closer, his feet cracking over glass and ruined flowers as he approached her and the wolf above her.

She saw him grinning down at her happily.

“Your
almost
mate is well on his way… lucky for you, when he passes, you won’t die in the process. So everyone’s happy!”

“Fuck you!” Ceci snapped, surprised at the profanity that spewed from her tongue.

“Oho!” Caleb giggled, “I like my women with some bite. You’re nothing like the pathetic little girl from before, are you?”

He took another step close, kneeling by her head to reach toward her. Cecilia tried to inch away in vain.

Tears burned down her temples as she sobbed, livid at the way Caleb touched her face with false tenderness.

“Don’t you worry,” Caleb chuckled.

“After I’m through here… I’ll be claiming you so hard, you’ll wish you’d died here.”

A powerful and vicious snarl ripped through the air.

Suddenly, Caleb was flying in the other direction and a large set of teeth clamped down over the neck of Cecilia’s predator.