Chapter 35 Tobias

"I can't believe you imprinted on Arya!"

This conversation was wearing on me, and my frayed nerves had already leaked every ounce of patience I was capable of.

"Yep," I said with a sigh.

"Holy shit," Ashlyn gasped, shoving both her hands into either side of her orange curls. "That's huge!"

"So is the part where I triggered my family's curse, and she told me to fuck off," I deadpanned, then I shot Niko an exasperated glance. "You really had to tell her all that?"

He shrugged. "When you're moping around and pissing all over not only your one chance at happiness but also your life, yeah. I needed to call in the cavalry."

I arched a brow at him. "If the accident-prone phoenix is the cavalry, then I'm more of a lost cause than I thought."

"Hey!" she snapped.

"Dude." Niko whacked my shoulder hard with the back of his hand. "She's Arya's best friend. If anyone could talk some sense into your soulmate, it's her."

I cringed at that vile, beautiful word.

"Thank you," Ashlyn said with a nod at Niko, then looked back at me. "This is just a small speedbump, a hiccup, just like all the other times you've fucked up with her. She's crazy about you. She always has been. We just have to explain—"

"Ugh, will both of you stop!" I shouted, my voice filling the small space of my room. "It's over! Even if there was some minuscule chance that she could forgive me for manipulating her, tricking her, lying to her about so many things, it's impossible now. The spell didn't work. The curse is still here, and Arya will never love me!"

They both stared at me with pinched brows for a long moment, and I hated the pity in their eyes—even if I was the most pitiful sack of shit I'd ever seen.

This entire day had been torture. The static charge to be in Arya's presence was so potent, it had every cell in my body aching. The tug to go to her was so strong, sometimes it felt like the invisible tether was going to yank me right through the steel walls to wherever she was, crushing my bones in the process.

So many times, I'd felt zaps of urgency, convincing me that she was in danger, but I couldn't tell if that was instinct or just my paranoia and desperation to see her. If I showed up and she was fine, she'd explode at me and only drive the knife into my heart further. But what if she really was being hurt, and I ignored the call? The not knowing was a torture all in itself.

But this would be my life now, this pain and delirium only escalating as I wasted away. I couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for her lack of presence to kill me.

There weren't any cases of estranged imprinted shifters dying because such a thing never happened. Whatever distance came between imprinted mates never lasted for long. They always found a way back to each other because both parties wanted and needed each other. There had never been such a thing as a shifter who rejected their imprinted mate.

The only thing we knew for certain was that the imprinted shifter died after their mate did. So then, would I survive in misery as long as she lived? Only to finally die after she took her last breath?

Niko put his hand on my knee. "Look, all we're saying is, you're giving up too easily, and that's not like the Tobias we know. You told me the curse got your mom, that she loves your dad, and he doesn't love her back. But they're still together because they respect each other, and I know your dad cares about her even if it's not love."

Familiar sorrow and resentment bubbled up inside me. "What's your point?"

"My point is, even if you didn't break the curse, it's not too late to still have a friendship with Arya," he went on. "You can still have her in your life. This curse doesn't have to be a death sentence."

My head fell against the headboard of my bed, and I let out a low, humorless laugh. "You're suggesting I bear my soul to her for a chance at the friend zone only to spend the rest of my life watching her fall in love with other men?"

He scowled at my blunt summarization. "Yes, because if you really love her, you'll do anything you can to ensure her safety and happiness. Real love isn't about being loved in return. It's about sacrificing your will for someone else, regardless of whether you get anything for it."

I chewed over his words for a moment. Could I be content with loving Arya, protecting her, and making her happy, knowing that she would never feel the same way? Could this imprint ever be satisfied by crumbs of her attention while watching her give all of her affection to someone else?

The truth was, I didn't really know what love was supposed to be. Draculs didn't do love, at least not successfully. My mother loved my father, but I had never seen for myself if just loving him was enough for her. The sadness in her eyes had always told me the opposite. I had never seen a true example of voluntary, selfless love.

Suddenly, it hit me. I had not only seen an example of that, I felt that for only one person in my life—Tamara. My love and devotion to my sister had never waned, even with the distance between us while she's away at college. And even when we'd fought in the past, swore that we hated each other, I had never failed to come running the instant she needed me.

There was nothing in this world I wouldn't do, wouldn't give, to make sure she was happy and safe. That was because, despite our differences, we shared a bond that was unbreakable. My bond with Arya was the same, only more powerful.

I suddenly realized there were all different kinds of love, and Niko was right. And, once again, I was being a selfish, ignorant dumbass. Well, no more.

I straightened away from my headboard with sudden determination, slipping off my bed and patting Niko on the shoulder. "Thanks, man."

"You're going to talk to her?" Ashlyn asked excitedly. "What's your plan?"

"I didn't get the chance before to tell her the whole story or how I really feel about her," I said. "So I'm going to tell her, and I'm going to make her listen this time. I'm going to prove to her that I'm never going to abandon her, whether she wants me or not."

Ashlyn clapped her hands and squealed. "Yay! Do you need a wing woman?"

I chuckled under my breath and shook my head. "Nah, I gotta do this on my own."

"There's the old Tobias," Niko said with a wink. "Just don't be an asshole."

My eager expression wrinkled into a deep frown. But I couldn't really argue with that because, well, he had a point. "Noted. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it."

"Good luck," they called to me as I charged out of my room.

My heart soared with joyous anticipation at the thought of seeing her face, even if it would contort in rage at my approach. She needed to hear everything from the beginning. And I needed to stop being selfish. That was all I'd ever done since I met her, doing everything to protect my feelings with little regard for hers.

It was time to step up and be the man she deserved, even if that meant supporting her from the sidelines. Even if that meant being her warrior and not her lover.

I knew exactly where she was without even having to think about it, my imprint bond tugging me right to her. I didn't have to go very far.

Two guards in military uniform were stationed outside her room on either side of her door, and they watched me warily as I walked up the hall. I stopped before them and reached for the doorknob, but they stepped together, closing the gap between them and blocking my entrance.

From the pins on their lapels, I could see that both were ursas—made sense considering who they were guarding—but their bears couldn't possibly compete with my dragon if it came to it.

"Let me in," I demanded with all the authority of my last name.

"General Dracul expressly ordered that no one disturb the siren," said the bearded one on the right.

I puffed up my chest, giving my best impression of my father. "I am Tobias Dracul, and if you don't let me pass, I will gladly report to my father your insolence toward his son and heir."

The two exchanged curious glances between closely examining my face for the unmistakable resemblance. The guard on the left lifted his wrist in front of his mouth and tapped the smartwatch there.

"General, a man claiming to be your son wants entrance into the siren's bedroom," he spoke to the watch.

Great, looks like I'm going to have to fight these guys after all.

There was a pause, and I prepared myself to shift, already feeling sorry for whatever staff would have to clean up the mess afterward.

"Let him in."

What the—

"Affirmative," the guard said, then the two separated with a nod.

I tried to keep the surprise from showing in my face as the guard on the left swiped the keycard through the slit to allow me inside. What was my father's angle here? Could he have possibly grown a conscience, developed some compassion, or was he simply using my presence here to his own ends?

It didn't matter. As long as I got to see her, speak with her, nothing else mattered.

The guard opened the door, then quickly closed it after I went inside. Arya was sitting at the head of her bed, her knees curled up against her chest with her arms wrapped around them. A stony scowl was fixed on her face, and it only intensified when her gaze flicked to me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she seethed in a low voice, and even as threatening as it was intended, the blissfully familiar timber warmed my heart.

The musk that I'd smelled on her days ago was so much more potent in this confined space, and I now recognized it as distinctly ursa. How had I not realized it before? Oh, probably because I was so wrapped up in myself to pay attention. A mistake I would never make again.

I took a step further into the room. "I need to tell you the whole story. There are things you don't know that—"

"I don't want to hear it," she interrupted with a slow but forceful inflection.

"I know, but you need to," I said, surprising myself with my own level of calm. "And I'm not leaving until you do."

"Not even if I go full ursa on your ass?" she growled menacingly.

My thoughts flashed to the destruction of the greenhouse, the wrath she was capable of. I lifted my chin. "If that's what it takes, so be it."

She glared at me for a long moment, but I didn't balk at the rage and hatred I saw in her cerulean eyes.

Finally, she turned away from me, casting her icy stare at the wall beside her. "Fine. Say what you came to say, then leave me the hell alone."

I let out a slow breath of silent relief as I came closer and sat on the edge of her bed, making sure not to invade her personal space more than I had to. As it turned out, respecting her wasn't as difficult as I used to think.

I told her everything, all the way from when my father first told me about her. I explained about my family's curse, and how that had been the foundation I'd lived on my whole life, that it had been the reason I'd tried so hard to seal off my heart. I explained how I realized I'd imprinted on her and how I'd tried to sever the bond to protect us both. I explained every decision I'd made up to this point and how much I regretted most of them.

"But I don't regret this imprint, or the fact that I fell in love with you," I said. "You are the most incredible woman this world has ever seen, and I'm honored to have been fated to serve you. And even if the curse means you will never love me, I need you to know that I am never going to stop protecting you. I made you a promise, and I meant it. I'm not going anywhere. You'd have to kill me."

She didn't meet my gaze the entire time I spoke, only stared at the wall like I wasn't there, but the small twitches in her jaw now and then told me she'd listened to every word.

My soul felt so much lighter now that I'd gotten all of that off my chest, and though my senses sang with gratitude at being in her presence, my stomach twisted with the apprehension of not knowing how she'd received any of it.

"Do you know what your father had me do during training today?" she asked in that same low, hostile tone, finally breaking the long silence that followed my confession.

I swallowed, my heart tripping with concern at the mention of Arthur. I knew first-hand how cruel he could be in his training, and I never wanted that for her. I almost didn't want to know what horrors he had put her through because I hadn't been there to protect her from them.

I shook my head and she must have seen it through her peripheral vision.

"He strapped me to a chair with silver wire and forced me to use my siren voice to compel a captive vampire to kill herself." She said this like she was describing a mundane action of a normal day, but I could feel the raw emotions behind her words.

Her radiating anger, helplessness, grief, and guilt seeped into me, fueling my own to the point I was shaking with the desire for vengeance on her behalf. I knew my father was a sadistic bastard, but he had truly outdone himself this time. And with my mate.

"And you know what? It showed me just how powerful my siren abilities really are," she mused, tilting her head. "They can compel someone to do the one thing that goes against the most fundamental drive of all living things, and if they can do that…"

She finally turned her head in my direction and looked at me, but where I should have felt relief, I found only trepidation. She leaned forward, angling her head awkwardly to look at my ear.

"Good, you're not wearing an earpiece," she said. "That will make this a lot easier."

"Arya?" I asked cautiously, unknown panic rising in my hammering pulse.

"You tried so hard to sever your imprint, and I think such effort should be rewarded, don't you?" Her eyes narrowed, and her lips slowly spread into a vindictive sneer.

Understanding slammed into me, and I shot off the bed, backing away from her with my hands raised in defense. "Arya, you don't know what you're doing."

She extended her legs and scooted down the bed. "I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm going to give you the one thing you've wanted since we met."

I stumbled further backward, crashing my back against the door. "You don't even know if that will work."

She stood and shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

"Arya, please, don't do this," I begged, every cell in my body and soul rioting in protest.

She opened her mouth, and I shoved my fingertips into my ears, pressing the openings closed with so much force that the sides of my head screamed in pain.

But it was no use. The melodic voice chimed clear as a bell in my mind.

"You are not imprinted to Arya Walker. Your bond is now and forever broken."

The sharpest agony pierced my skull, similar to when Petra had tried her naga hypnosis but infinitely worse. My ears rang with such intensity that I couldn't even hear my own screaming as I buckled and collapsed to the floor, rolling and clenching to escape the indescribable torment. A static charge coursed through me, exploding my nerve endings like a power surge popping every lightbulb on an electrical grid. It felt like my very essence was being shredded and fried.

When the cacophony finally subsided, I found myself on the floor of the hallway with the two guards looking down at me with wild concern on their faces. I blinked up at them, registering the earth-shattering and irrevocable change in my body.

The ache I'd grown so accustomed to, had come to thrive upon, was gone. The tug I cherished no longer pulled.

"Are you alright?" the bearded guard asked me.

"No. No, please, no," I prayed desperately to any deity who would hear me.

"General, there's been an incident," I heard one of the guards say.

But I didn't care. The worst thing that could have happened to me did. Arya had done it. My imprint was gone.