The Bastard Princess

56.

-HER-

I heard him climb upstairs after some time. I had changed back into a dry and clean set of clothes and was preparing my bed to sleep in. I froze when I felt his presence. I decided to keep my back to him while I pretended to mind my own business.

"Arsinoe," He called out for me gently, "I bought sweets for you," He spoke.

"I don't want anything from you," I gritted, still not sparing him a glance. Although, he continued to speak, "I want to apologize for what happened yesterday. I almost lost control over my wolf,"

His words were met with silence on my side. A momentary pause followed before he continued, "Arsinoe, please," He pleaded very sincerely. I felt this strong urge to turn around and see if his face held the same desperation as of that audible in his voice.

Just to check, I looked over my shoulder to find him waiting at the stairs.

"You're forgiven. Now leave me alone," I grumbled before I finally laid down on my bed, with my back still facing him and pulled the blanket over me. Although, I was soon disappointed by the thinness of the fabric because it provided little to no warmth.

"Thanks, so will you have the sweets?" I had to close my eyes and ground my teeth as annoyance threatened to choke my reasoning abilities.

"I'll have them tomorrow," I told him patiently but even after that, I didn't hear him move.

"There's something more I want to talk to you about," He stated next.

"Good night,"

"Arsinoe, please. This is important. We need to talk about this," The sudden urgency in his voice made me anxious. What was it that he wanted to talk about? I wanted to find out about it but at the same time scream in his face to leave me alone for tonight.

"Are you listening, Arsinoe?" He asked.

"What is it?" I hissed as I sat up and faced him finally. I didn't care to wipe off the look of irking from my face. He stared at me for a couple of moments before asking instead, "Can I come in?"

"No," I spoke clearly. He sighed before commenting, "Okay, I'll be right here then,"

"Now, what do you want to talk about?" I asked him sternly, crossing my arms on my chest. I made it sure to hold his gaze to let him know that I was serious and he would regret it if he wasted my time.

"I was trying to have this conversation with you last night but it headed in the wrong direction. I apologize for that again,"

"Stop beating around the bush and come to the point," I told him instead. Another momentary stare followed before he asked very sternly, "What do you think about me?"

His question took me by surprise but I set my jaw and tipped my chin high as I stared him down, "That you're disgusting," He fought hard not to roll his eyes at my words.

"You know we are mates. What do you think about... us?" He asked with the same intensity and sternness as he did with the previous question.

"I wasn't asked when that pretentious goddess paired me with you. I will never accept this. There's no us," With that statement, I turned my back at him and laid down.

"No one gets to choose their mates, Arsinoe. Mates are paired based on compatibility," He continued to speak.

"The fact that she paired us is enough as evidence that she is a fraud and a trickster," I gritted.

"We are in no position to judge her. The only thing we could do is trust her decision of pairing us and see if we could make this work," His words hit me on a different nerve.