Aurora’s P.O.V
“You don’t have to show me around.” I told Caleb, as we walked side by side down the main hallway. “I mean…we could just go back to my room and you can catch a break?”
As per his parent’s ‘suggestion’, Caleb was taking me around on a tour of the pack house, but if I was being honest, I just wanted to lie down and rest. My mind was full of the new information that I had received during the lunch conversation with Caleb’s parents and I needed time to digest all of that.
It wasn’t easy to just wake up one day and be told that not only were the creatures of the dark a reality, but that I was now ‘bound’ to one by a Goddess herself.
It should’ve been like the fairytale that I had always wanted…but it wasn’t. Because I was afraid that once I opened my eyes, all this would have been a dream and my life would just go back to being a never-ending nightmare.
“Not yet, I have a place to show you,” Caleb spoke softly, guiding me towards the back of the house and into the elevator that led to the ground floor. “I think you’ll like it.”
I didn’t say anything; just let him take the lead.
Even if it was all a dream, standing next to Caleb felt comforting. I didn’t want to wake up from this dream, ever. The closeness of our bodies inside the tiny elevator made tingles shoot up my arm. But still, I moved away from him out of habit. The habit that had formed over the last four years in high school where I had avoided confrontation of any kind with every single person just so I didn’t get bullied. It hadn’t helped me in the end, but defence mechanism seemed ingrained into every cell in my body.
We stepped out of the elevator and Caleb began leading me outside the building and into the backyard gardens. The trimmed bushes and exotic flowers here made it obvious that Caleb came from a family with loads of money. The gardens bordered the woods outside and I knew for a fact that on the other side of the woods was the ocean. The sun rays hit the gardens just right to allow the growth of such exotic flowers that I couldn’t even name, but it was an amazing sight for sore eyes.
But when Caleb didn’t stop at the gardens and began leading me to the woods, I looked up at him with a frown. “This looks like the perfect scenario for murder.”
Instead of getting offended, Caleb laughed out loud, shaking his head as he looked at me with mischief in his eyes. “I promise…it’ll all be over very soon.”
I guess he did have a sense of humor…although I wasn’t entirely sure he was joking or not. But still, I followed him to wherever he was taking me, walking a step behind him so I could run if I had to…not that I would get very far on human feet.
The woods were filled with pine and oak trees that reached for the sky. But even though they were tall trees that blocked out most of the sun-rays, the woods were still surprisingly bright. However, after a few minutes of walking in silence behind Caleb, I found out just where he wanted to take me…and the place left me breathless.
A small pond stood in the middle of the woods, surrounded by tall trees on all sides, and at the edge of the pond was a gazebo, made purely out of white marble. It was a small area, with a sitting space that could hardly hold three to four people. Even the gazebo wasn’t all that large in size, but what had me mesmerized was the view of the pond behind the gazebo…and the beautiful lotus blossoms.
Pink and white, the flowers shot out of the water to open its petals to the world and they were surrounded by numerous large petals that looked could serve as umbrellas in the rain. The flowers didn’t have much of a fragrance but the pine and oak had plenty that it filled the air with its sweet, lingering fragrance as the wind blew through the leaves.
“It’s beautiful.” I whispered, looking up at Caleb to find him studying me with a small smile on his face.
“Would you like to see inside?” He held out his hand for me.
I paused a bit before placing my hand in his and felt that zap of electricity as soon as our skin came into contact. Was this how it would be from now on? This feeling of coming alive whenever he touched me?
Caleb led me inside the gazebo and it looked even better when the view of the pond was right in front of me. I wanted to pluck a lotus, to admire its beauty from up close, but they were too far away from the edge and I was afraid there might be snakes in the water.
Caleb must have caught me staring because the next instant, he let go of my hand and went to the very edge of the gazebo and reached out his hand to catch the stem of the nearest lotus and plucked it out of the water before handing it to me.
“For you.” He held it out to me and I took it gratefully, holding the flower close so I didn’t drop it.
“Thank you. You didn’t have to…” But even as I said that, I couldn’t help the feeling of warmth that spread across my chest at his polite gesture.
“Don’t thank me yet.” Caleb spoke softly, keeping a safe distance from me. “I have been a terrible person to you. So don’t thank me until I can become capable of earning your gratitude.”
“Caleb…” I knew I had to face this topic sooner or later, but I hadn’t been prepared for it now. “I…I don’t know if I can forget the past so easily.”
“You don’t have to forget. I know I haven’t been the best person for you, and that all these years of hurt and neglect aren’t going to go away in one day,” he spoke sincerely. “If imprinting on you has taught me anything, it’s to never treat a person in such a way that you can’t even look them straight in the eyes again. But I want to change. I want to be better; not just because of the mating bond, but because I want to make it up to you. Give me one chance, Aurora. Even if it’s the last chance you ever give me.”
I looked up at him unsurely, wondering what I should say to that. However, what I told him next was just as out of context as it was important. “You wanted it to be Caroline, didn’t you?”
Caleb’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did you-” But then he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what I thought in the past Aurora, the truth is that you are my mate and I have accepted it. I want to stay by your side and that’s the truth. Did Caroline say anything to you last night that made you think otherwise?”
“No.” I shook my head immediately. “Caroline had been nothing but kind to me. In fact, I think she wants me to accept the bond and to accept you as soon as I can. I guess a lot of people wanted her to be your mate…it put a lot of pressure on her.”
I didn’t know where that thought came from but I knew for sure that it was a valid one. Caleb and Caroline had always been together for as long as I had known. So it was natural that everyone thought they would turn out to be mates. But I think Caroline was kinda of relieved as well, to find out that she wasn’t his mate. I don’t know how I knew that…but I just did. It was a strange sensation in my heart, this feeling of knowing, and I couldn’t really explain what it meant.
“It put a lot of pressure on both of us,” Caleb admitted. “Especially since our parents are business partners as well as partners in running this pack. But I think Caroline will find a mate who would cherish her with all his heart. Just like I want to cherish you from now on.”
I didn’t answer him right away, since I wanted to sort out my own emotions first. But I think we had come to somewhat of an understanding today that I couldn’t have believed possible even a week ago.
This connection with Caleb was a new beginning for me, for all of us. And this was just as new to me as it was to him. So it was only natural that both of us would need to move forward one step at a time, come what may.
And I could only hope that from now on, my days could finally be filled with happiness and joy, and that this dream I was in, would never be taken away from me.