Chapter 153

As my breathing finally came to settle, all that remained was the feel of Arthur’s hands on my face. The very air felt like it had gone still around us.

A strange flicker of warmth started to spread through my chest. Arthur’s eyes were filled with a silent intensity that caused my heart rate to pick up. His words were still bouncing around in my head.

“...You will learn how to control your wolf, Ella...I promise.”

My cheeks flushed as he gently brushed the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. Whatever worry and anger was left in me, had gradually dissolved. And I knew that it had to be because of him.

How? How was he able to subdue the rage that was searing through me?

I know that Arthur and I had agreed to take things slow, but something within me didn’t want to wait. The feeling he gave me—so secure and promising—was proof that there was more to him than what we were led to believe.

In the past, I had only ever felt this sort of way with Liam. But Arthur?

No, he always brought out the frustration in me. Wherever he was involved, my immediate reaction tended to have a negative connotation. However, this moment was placing him in an entirely new corner of my mind.

I was so tempted to explore this new feeling. I felt damn near compelled to stay with him and discover all I could.

“Arthur...I—”

The sudden sound of someone clearing their throat led me to pull back from Arthur and turn my head. Arthur gave out a disgruntled snarl under his breath and turned to see who was trying to get our attention.

My brows pinched together in bewilderment. I didn’t know who this person was.

“Um, Ella? Is it?” he asked sheepishly.

“Yes.”

A slight shade of pink touched his cheeks. “Hi, my name is Ben. You and I are going to be partners for the English project.”

My features softened. Suddenly, I was the one feeling an embarrassed heat spread across my face.

“Oh, hi, um...It’s nice to meet you.”

Oh, great. No doubt he saw my little outburst back there like everyone else had. Or worse, he’d just witnessed that weird display between Arthur and me.

I didn’t want Ben to think that I wasn’t willing to work with him. Ben must have picked up on my feeling of mortification.

He offered me a soft smile. “Do you happen to be free later today?” he asked. “Maybe we could meet at the library and figure out which story we want to re-work.”

“Okay,” I said. “How about we meet up around seven-ish?”

Ben nodded his head before turning off to his next class. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. Good God.

Well, that introduction could have gone better.

...

Thankfully, the rest of the day seemed to flow by without any further problems. Of course, the constant muffled sound of people chatting about me was still floating around. But it was nothing that I couldn’t handle.

When seven o’clock rolled around, I made my way to the library and took up one of the tables in the back. Amongst all the things that were flying through my head, I forced myself to push them aside for the time being.

I laid out all my notes and started weeding through the possible ideas for our project.

“Ella!”

I glanced up to see Ben waving. He took his spot across from me at the table and began taking out his own set of notes.

To be honest, I wasn’t keen on working on group projects. Normally, I would always be stuck doing the bulk of the work and having to share the overall grade with everyone else.

However, Ben was proving to be rather insightful and very hands-on. Not only was he well-inept on the subject but he seemed to enjoy English as much as I did. He had very little trouble translating Shakespeare’s work and suggested we do our project based on the play ‘Macbeth’.

I genuinely believed that I had lucked out with partners for this project.

Even though I had only known Ben for such a short time, he didn’t seem to be the kind of person who was looking to pick on me or bring up any annoying gossip. At least, not at the very beginning...

As time went on, I could feel the air around us begin to shift. A very unsettling feeling began to creep over me as I struggled to keep my focus. Ben’s attention started to gradually shift from the work to center fully on me.

“So, Ella, what made you transfer to Eastwood?” he asked.

I wasn’t about to tell him that I transferred because of Liam and the insane deal he made with his father.

“Oh, um...Eastwood just seemed like a better fit for me as opposed to my previous school,” I lied.

Ben nodded his head and moved on to the next question. “You moved here the same time that Liam did. Are the two of you...you know, together?”

My stomach churned. Why was he asking me this?

“Yes, Liam and I are together,” I stated firmly.

Ben narrowed his eyes and gave me a pointed look. “Really? Not that I was intentionally prying earlier, but you and Arthur seemed rather familiar with one another—”

“Yet, you’re prying now,” I muttered with an edge of bitterness.

Ben appeared to be contemplating his next handful of words while I sat back in my seat. I eyed him with curiosity. It made me wonder if he had seen that bizarre social media page like so many others had.

“I’m just trying to get a better understanding—”

I fought to keep the anger at bay. “And why the hell would you need to understand the relationships that go on in my life? It’s complicated, alright?”

“So? Are you saying that Liam is aware of this and the three of you are in some sort of relationship with each other?”

My eyes nearly jumped out of my head. I grabbed my books and shoved them back in my bag. I got up from the table and headed toward the door. Without any way to numb the anger that was quickly spreading, I had to regulate my breathing all on my own.

I stormed into my dormitory and headed straight to my room. Part of me was glad to see that Bonnie was still out. The last thing I wanted was for her to see me in such a state.

Why the hell would Ben bombard me with those sorts of questions when he and I hardly knew each other?

I placed my bag down and contemplated resuming the work I had skipped out on in the library, but my mind was far too distracted.

Ben’s clear insinuation about my relationship with Liam and Arthur was gnawing at me to no end. It bothered me that he kept trying to drill me for information, but what bothered me even more was how I didn’t know how to answer any of his questions.

Because I don’t know how to properly go about this situation.

Ben believed that I was openly cheating on Liam with Arthur. The mere thought sent a painful jab to my chest.

I would never do that. But, needless to say, it was important to know where Liam stood in all of this. Without wasting another moment, I grabbed my phone and keys and headed toward the floor above me to speak to Liam.