Chapter 159

It should have come as no surprise to me that Aaron would force such a ridiculous task on Liam, having only been at Eastwood for a few weeks. What bothered me all the more was that he was still determined to only see the worst in Arthur.

Perhaps it’s because of Cecilia and her prior influence over Arthur that was causing Aaron to misjudge Arthur.

I wasn’t going to lie, after having run into Cecilia during Parents’ Weekend, it was no mystery where Arthur obtained a lot of his previous personality. His mother seemed exceedingly judgemental and rather venomous in the way that she carried herself.

Things have changed now...Arthur isn’t the same.

I wanted to believe that Arthur was beginning to grow beyond that sort of mentality. Don’t get me wrong, Arthur was always going to have a slightly manipulative and mischievous streak running through him. It’s just the kind of person that he was. But what Aaron wasn’t understanding was that there was a lot more to Arthur than just that.

The more time I spent with Arthur, the more I was able to realize that he possessed a kind and caring side to him as well. Maybe if Aaron actually spent some decent time with him, he would notice this too. But no.

It was obvious that he only wanted to see the fault in Arthur. And all that did was place Liam and me into a difficult position. What were we supposed to do?

Because of this double bond, all three of us were connected and meant to be working together to figure things out. However, how was that supposed to happen when Liam was being pinned against Arthur yet again?

At least, Liam was starting to be a bit more open-minded when it came to Arthur. Based on our previous conversation, I could tell that he was beginning to think and feel the same way too which prompted me to suggest that we confront Arthur about what Aaron has been trying to do.

My heart thudded heavily inside of my chest as the two of us came upon Arthur’s door. I reached my hand out and gave a slight knock.

“Arthur, it’s us,” I said.

I heard him move across the room to open the door. He greeted us with a surprised look and allowed us to come in.

“So, what’s this about?” he asked with a raised brow.

Liam and I shared a look before I decided it would just be best to come out with the whole truth. It was imperative that he knew what was going on within his own family in order for us to figure out how to proceed.

“Liam has just come from a meeting with your father,” I said.

Arthur’s eyes widened once more while he stole a quick glance at Liam who was leaning against the door with his arms folded across his chest. He gave a curt nod to confirm my statement and went on to explain.

“You see, Arthur. Since the moment Aaron first reached out to me, he’s been openly confessing his feelings and misgivings toward you to Ella and me,” he stated. “He doesn’t believe that you would make a good candidate as the next Alpha for the Winslow family.”

I could see the hurt flicker across Arthur’s eyes.

“He really thinks so little of me that he’s been sneaking around, trying to backdoor me out of the candidacy?”

Something inside of me was prompting me to move closer to him. I left Liam’s side and took my new spot beside Arthur on the bed and reached out to rest my hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Arthur,” I said.

He shook his head and slumped his shoulders. “I guess I shouldn’t be so shocked,” he mumbled.

“He believes you to be this devious, manipulative person who's only going to destroy the family’s name and reputation,” Liam explained. “And, well...I’m going to admit it. For a short time, I thought the same thing.”

I felt Arthur go stiff. He lifted his head up to stare at Liam with a pending look as though he were waiting for the rest of his statement.

“...But?”

Liam gave him a tentative look. “But now I’m starting to see that there’s a lot more to you than I was willing to acknowledge before.”

A slight smile touched the corner of his mouth. I felt a spark of pride spread throughout my chest as I observed the interaction between the two of them.

I knew damn well that none of them was easy for either of them. But it

“Aaron has been putting Liam through these trials to prove himself to be an ideal candidate for the family’s next Alpha.”

“Well, that explains the hockey matches,” he muttered.

I swiftly snapped my head back toward Liam where the two of us shared the same look of shock and confusion. What the hell?

I nearly sputtered over my words. “Wait, hold on. You knew?”

Arthur nodded. “Not upfront. I sort of have to piece it all together. You see, I accidentally overheard our father talking on the phone to someone about the matches and how he would need them to begin the process of transferring the two of you to Eastwood,” he explained. “I already had a feeling that something was going on. So, what has he asked of you this time?”

Oh my God. I honestly didn’t know whether that was better or worse that Arthur already had some sort of an idea that this deception was going on around him.

“He expects me to excel academically. My midterm grades need to end up being higher than yours.”

Arthur practically rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Asshole. You know, he only hates me because I remind him too much of my mother.”

I inwardly winced at that assessment. Once more, he wasn’t wrong. “Arthur, we wanted to tell you this because you deserve to know what’s going on and we need to know how we’re going to proceed with this.”

Arthur reached across his chest to grab my hand and intertwine our fingers together. His eyes were bright and held a look of conviction. “Things are, indeed, different now,” he commented softly.

My nerves were jittering with a frizzling mixture of re-assurement and worry. Was Liam okay with the fact that Arthur was holding my hand like this?

I was almost scared to turn my head to see what sort of expression he was currently wearing. Oddly enough, he was indifferent and, dare I say, calm.

“I don’t trust Aaron,” Liam admitted. “I don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“You’re right not to trust him.”

“I’m not going to lie, the moment he brought up Ella in the conversation, I nearly barreled out of the room?”

My heart jumped into my throat. “Wait, what? What did he say?” I asked.

This was certainly news to me. Why the hell hadn’t lIam mentioned this before when we were talking earlier?

Liam sighed. “Aaron gave the insinuation that he may know about you not being one-hundred percent human.”

Arthur clenched his jaw. “He cannot know that Ella is a wolf.”

I noticed the firm look he gave Liam and wondered what exactly it meant. It was like the two were having an entire conversation between themselves. I made a mental note to ask Liam about it later.

Liam nodded his head in confirmation. “We have to find out who owns that account and have it taken down.”

At the rate we were going, that was something that was becoming easier said than done.