Chapter 154

[Liam’s POV]

I haven’t been feeling like myself lately.

The certainty and confidence that would normally come whenever I would be around Ella had shifted, without a doubt. Was it because of this new development between the two of us and Arthur...Very possible.

I remembered the look on Arthur’s face when I gave him the okay to spend time with Ella. He was stunned beyond words and part of me was seriously questioning my sanity. Did that mean I was accepting it? Was I okay with the idea of having to essentially share Ella with someone, let alone Arthur?

It was a question I had been asking myself the whole weekend and had been happily avoiding as well. Seeing my parents over the weekend was nice to some degree. They were happy to see how I was adjusting to the new campus and asked about classes. Of course, I humored them with the mere basics but didn’t bother divulging much else.

My mind couldn’t stray from the fact that I was missing Ella. She was all I could think about. I worried for her well-being and safety above all else.

Had I made the mistake of trusting Arthur to be the one to look after her?

In truth, I could have chosen to tell my parents that I wasn’t able to meet them over the weekend and gone to stay with Ella myself. But I didn’t...

Instead, I gave Arthur the chance to prove himself to her. Amongst the three of us, only Arthur knew of my hesitations toward this startling development. He knew of my uncertainty and trepidations which was probably why he was so shocked that I had told him to go to Ella.

Well, hell, I had to start somewhere, right?

But, it went without saying, that I missed Ella terribly. Our time had been massively reduced to mainly weekends and late evenings because of our schedules getting switched around which didn't help.

Goddamn Arthur. No. No. I have to let it go...

For what it was worth, I really was trying to let go of a lot of my hatred toward Arthur for the sake of the bond we all shared. What I really needed was time to think things through.

Yes, I told Arthur that he should be the one to look after Ella while she went through this difficult time.

And was I regretting it? A little.

What if Ella found that she liked being around Arthur more than me? What if she ended up feeling a deeper connection to him and I was to become the weaker point in the link between us all?

I knew I should have just come out and voiced my worries and concerns rather than let my assumptions eat away at me. But I couldn’t help it. At least Ella was finally back on campus and I would get a chance to talk things over with her.

Right as I reached for my phone, someone started knocking on my door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Liam? It’s Ella...Are you there?”

I flew to the door and nearly ripped it off its hinges. The second I saw her, I threw my arms around her, practically crushing her against my chest.

God, there were no words to describe how happy I was to see her.

“How are you feeling? Are you okay?” I questioned fervently.

I wished I had the chance to see her during the day, I would have already asked her these questions and made sure she felt acclimated again. Ella’s cheerful smile shifted to a look of pure puzzlement.

“Honestly? Really unsteady. There’s a huge part of me that still doesn’t believe in what’s going on,” she told me.

My heart lurched in my chest. While I was so worried about my side of things, I hadn’t even given a thought as to how this matter would be affecting her. I pushed my feeling of guilt to the back of my mind and brought her over to sit on the bed.

“Talk to me,” I said gently. “Tell me everything that’s been going on.”

“Well, as you’re well aware, this past weekend didn’t exactly go like I would have expected. I just feel like a bomb has gone off inside of my head and I’ve been struggling to figure out how to piece everything back together again,” she huffed.

She tore her eyes away and let out a humerus laugh. “For Christ’s sake, Liam. I’m a fucking werewolf.” I fought back the urge to smile. “I have no idea what to do about this. And then to find out that I’m not supposed to be mated to one person—no, I have to be paired with two people! God, as if things couldn’t be any more complicated, I have finally been told the truth about my dad.”

Jesus, she was right. It was a lot to deal with. As sick as it sounded, I was partially glad that she was feeling as conflicted as I was about everything.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close. “I know, I can’t imagine how these past few days have been for you,” I said whole-heartedly.

“And to think, I spent them with Arthur,” she said softly.

My stomach dropped. There was not a single ounce of malice or disdain in her voice. I wasn’t sure what that meant in my case.

“And, dare I ask, how did that go?”

“Arthur, was very caring and patient when it came to telling me what I would expect from this sudden change. He helped me out until I gained control of my balance and my body temperature settled back to normal.”

It was slightly difficult to picture Arthur as caring and patient. But I wasn’t about to question her on that account.

“How are you adjusting now that you’re back?”

She bit the corner of her lip. “I’m having a hard time controlling my emotions. They seem much more heightened now than before. I sort of growled at my English teacher this morning because she made an off-hand comment toward me. Actually, I’m pretty sure she’s had it out for me since I transferred.”

“What?” This was the first time I was hearing this. “Why didn’t you say anything before? That’s ridiculous. We need to go down to the administration office to report her.”

Ella shook her head and reached for my hand. “We’re dealing with enough right now. Anyway, I mainly came up here because I wanted to see how you were feeling. You know, about everything.”

“I told Arthur this before. I’m not entirely one-hundred percent okay with how things are developing,” I said. “There’s so much we don’t know about this double bond.”

“Arthur suggested that we have a research day to see what else we can find out about the bond. He also said that he would help me look into the Moon Wolf Pack.”

So, I guess that means that Arthur hasn’t told her about the Winslow’s disturbing connection to the Moon Wolf Pack then.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I hardly paid any attention to the sound of my phone going off. Nothing else mattered to me aside from Ella. Now that the two of us finally had a chance to really catch up, I wasn’t about to waste it.

Ella, on the other hand, glanced down at the lit-up screen out of curiosity to see who was trying to reach me. “Liam...It’s Aaron.”