14. Arabella

Chapter 14

Arabella

T he rest of the week flew by without incident. Okay, mostly without incident. Rhys was still on his shit of being a bully to me, but I tried to ignore it and just focus on myself and my friends. Harper admitted she had no idea what was going on between her and Stark and she was just as confused as Isis and I were. Isis was full-on supporting Harper exploring things with Stark and seeing what happens. In her opinion, our mates rejected us, but that doesn't mean that we don't have more mates out there in the world or that there isn't someone out there for us even if the Divine didn't hand-pick them. I agree to an extent. Harper shouldn't try to improve or change herself just to make her mate happy. Whatever is going on with Stark can seem exciting at first, but she should still be careful. I know what Stark was like in school. He was a bully, not as bad as my ex-mate Maverick, but they were best friends. I just don't want to see Harper get hurt for any reason. It happens, don't get me wrong, I know that, but if I can protect my friend, I'm going to. Isis, however, was on a whole different level. She said she had three different dates set up for the weekend in the nearby town. How she even talked to that many people already is mind-blowing to me, but also, like, you go, girl.

Isis wasn't the only one going out this weekend. I just had to wait until today. Sunday. Except it wasn't a date like the ones that Isis was having. Warrick asked me during our mentoring session on Friday to go out for lunch in town today. I wish it was more and that he would actually talk to me about what it meant that the Divine chose him for me as well but he has made it clear as day that talking about that night is off-limits. He asked me to get together as friends, and I couldn't say no. I miss my best friend. We used to spend every day together and now only seeing him every once in a while has honestly been weird, especially with everything that has happened between us. I would love to fix what happened and have my best friend back. If this lunch is the first step in that process, then fine; I'll do whatever it takes.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Harper asks from where she's sitting on my bed. I had asked her to come in and help me get ready for lunch. I know it isn't a date, but I still wanted to make an impression on Warrick and I wanted to feel good about myself.

"What? Going to lunch with my best friend?" I ask, turning around in the mirror to get the full view of my outfit. I chose to wear a pair of ripped black jeans and a plain white off-the-shoulder top. It's simple but also extremely cute. I'm also planning to pair it with red high heels. Now, that might be a bit much, but a pop of color in an outfit is always fun. "Of course it is."

"But you don't look like you're going out with your guy best friend. You're dressed like you're going on a date. I mean, at least lose the high heels and wear some comfy shoes," she sighs, standing up to go into my closet and begin digging through the shoe options.

"I like the heels, they make me taller and make my legs look a little longer," I turn to stare at myself in the mirror again."But," I sigh, already regretting what I'm about to say. "I can see how it could be a bit much if I'm just grabbing lunch. My outfit alone can wow him some, and I can save the heels for when I actually go on a date again in my life."

"Exactly," Harper smiles, "and these are the perfect shoes." Standing in the doorway to my closet, she's holding a pair of black motorcycle boots with studs and roses on the sides. They are the perfect pop of color to complement my outfit, and instead of bringing a sexy edge to it, they bring in a badass edge, and I'm all here for it.

"Gimmie," I demand, taking a seat on my desk chair and kicking the heels off. Harper hands me the boots and a pair of socks so I can change into them. "You weren't wrong. These are perfect, but I forgot that I owned them. Thank you, Harper, for helping me with this."

"You're welcome." She gives me a quick hug when I stand up. "Now, go get out of here before you're late. You better tell me all about it when you get back from your date."

"It's not a date!" I laugh shaking my head as I walk to the door. It's most certainly not a date despite how much I wish it was. I've always wanted to date him since I turned sixteen, but with him being ten years older than me, it was taboo and never going to happen. I never even thought he saw me in the light even if I thought we had some close moments. In the back of my mind, I hope this lunch can turn into something more, but I'm also afraid to hope and believe in it.

"Fine, when you get home tell me all about your not date. Now go!" Harper shoves me out the front door while handing me your purse. "Don't forget there are taxis at the front gate so you can catch a ride into town. You don't want to fly and mess up the gorgeous curls in your hair."

"Yes, Mom," I laugh and wave goodbye to her. Knowing she's right and that I don't want to mess up my hair, I take almost twenty minutes to walk from my dorm down to the front gate to grab a taxi. Thank the Divine, it isn't extremely hot out, so it was a decent walk. Actually, it was enjoyable, and I wouldn't mind doing it more often on the weekends.

"How can I help you?" one of the guards asks when I reach the closed gate. He looks so similar to Guard Noah, but at least I lucked out, and it isn't him.

"I need to get a taxi into town. I was told I could get one here," I answer, looking around to see if there are any waiting. Knowing my luck, there aren't, and I will be stuck waiting here and running the risk of seeing Guard Noah, the one person for sure in this school that I don't want to see.

"Of course, there should be some waiting around the corner, let me escort you there so you know where to go next time," he explains as we begin walking down a small pathway to the right of one of the guard shacks. It was only a five-minute walk down the forest pathway before we reach a large parking lot. "This is where students park their cars as well as where you can get a taxi. They should be right over there. If one isn't there now, just wait about ten minutes and another should arrive. Good luck and have a good afternoon. Please remember to return before curfew at eleven tonight."

"Thank you," I call out and wave as he walks away, leaving me in the parking lot alone. I'm surprised by the number of cars in the lot. I never realized that students could bring their own. Not that I own one myself, but it's nice knowing that if I'm stuck here for a while, it's something I could think about getting if I save up enough money.

Walking over to where he said the taxis were waiting I smile when I see that luck is on my side. There are three taxis sitting in the area just waiting. Walking to the first one I knock on the window and open the back door to slide in. "Could you take me into town please?"

"Of course, Ma'am," he answers and begins to drive away heading toward town. I'm really hoping it's as pretty as everyone has said it is. It sounds like it is completely different from Aeris, and I'm excited to experience it.

"Thank you for joining me today for lunch," Warrick states as we begin wrapping up our meals at the Phantom Brew Pub. According to what I've heard from Isis, this is one of the top restaurants for everyone to come to during their downtime during the week. On Fridays and Saturdays, this place is supposed to be packed wall to wall with all the different supernaturals.

During the whole lunch, we stuck to simple topics like school, home, and just what I'm looking for in the future. The closest we had gotten to talking about mates was him filling me in on the punishment Maverick received from his father for turning me down. I almost felt bad about it for a moment, but in the end, I decided he deserved it. He didn't even try to give us a shot, just flat-out decided it was never going to happen. His father wasn't too thrilled considering he was trying to do a deal with my father, so Maverick got the rough end of the deal in that respect but it's better than being sent to R.I.S.E. Academy and being meant to improve myself just to make someone else happy.

"Of course," I smile. "I'm glad you asked me to join you. It was good to get together again, away from everything, and just get to be us again."

"I'm glad you agree with that. This was good," he pauses to take one of the last bites of his pasta. "Did you get the package I left you? I tried to make sure everything was gathered."

"I did see your note with all my things. Thank you, honestly," I state a bit emotionally. "It meant everything to me that you got me some of my stuff so I wasn't stuck just wearing the school uniforms constantly. I did have one question." I'm not sure if I should bring up the journal to him but if not him then who? He's known me forever, and since he dropped my stuff off, then maybe he knows where it came from.

"What's up, Bella?" he leans forward as he pushes his plate away from him and gives me his full attention. A small part of me thinks he is worried I'll bring up the mate thing again but I know better than to try.

"Do you know who gave me the package wrapped in brown paper?" I don't want to tell him what was in it if he doesn't know already. It's risky asking this much, but I will take that risk with him.

"Um," he pauses and looks everywhere but at me.

"Just tell me, Warrick," I sigh. "We don't keep secrets."

"Your great-grandmother told me I needed to give it to you. She didn't provide me specifics or tell me what was inside, all she said was that it was important that you got that." Staring at him I wonder if he is telling me the full truth. I've never known him to lie to me about something involving her, but I guess our relationship is a little fractured right now, more than I expected if I don't trust him completely.

"Okay," I answer. "Thank you for getting it to me. I have some questions. I guess I'm going to need to ask her then." Some questions are an understatement. I have so many questions that they feel like they are bursting out of my eyes. "Do you happen to know if there is any way I can reach her? My father didn't let me bring my cell phone here. Honestly, I don't think it even works."

"Let me see what I can do," he answers, shutting down the conversation at that. "Are you ready to get out of here?"

"Sure, but I'm not ready to go back to campus yet. I think I want to shop around and just explore." The second I arrived in town, I knew it was my chance to experience the world, even the small world it was presenting to me. No one here knows who I am. I can walk down the street without feeling like I have eyes on me, and that is the most exciting part for me.

"I saw a community garden near the center of town. Want to take a stroll through there?" He asks as we walk out of the restaurant. It's like he knows me so well.

"If it has fountains, then you know I am more than down for that," I smile, linking my arm through his offered one. In silence, we make our way down the street and to the center of town. It's a nice day out and not a single person has given us a second look as we walk down the street. It really is refreshing to experience life this way. I know I've been wanting to get back home but the more time I spend here at RISE Academy, the more I wonder if it really is the right choice. Maybe staying here and finding happiness within myself is the answer. Forget my family, or well forget my father. I don't need him.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about away from the school and prying ears," Warrick begins once we make it into the garden area and find a private area. The spot he picks for us to talk is secluded and off the main pathway. The hedges are tall around us and in the center of the area is a small fountain. It's beautiful and peaceful.

"What did you need to talk about?" I ask hesitantly. I'm terrified of what he wants to discuss. There are so many different options that my mind is now racing at the possibilities.

"It wasn't fair of me to not explain what happened at the mating ceremony. You deserved answers that night and deserved them when you asked me about it on Wednesday," he begins. My heart rate picks up, knowing he's ready to give me the answers I've asked for. I'm terrified of what answers he is going to give me. "You know that it's possible for angels to have more than one mate, especially angels that are powerful, right?"

"Mmhmm," I nod, waiting to see where this is going.

"You are powerful, Bella. More powerful than even your father realized. I know you hide your powers. Others think it's because you don't have control, but you do. You have more control than anyone that I know. You can control all four elements. Do you know how rare that is?" He chuckles lightly. "I knew that you would have more than one mate. Heck, I'm almost positive you have more mates than just Maverick and me. He doesn't know what he did by giving you away and rejecting you."

"What are you getting at, Warrick?" I'm terrified he will reject me the same way Maverick did. He's talking like he is in awe of me. I'm worried this is his way of letting me down gently. I know that I'm powerful but I don't have the control he thinks that I do, it's why my father forced him to work with me for over a decade on my powers.

"I'm fucking this up," he growls, running his hand through his black hair, making it even messier than it already was. "I was protecting you by not letting you mention our bond. It was there just not as bright as Mavericks. You are my mate, Arabella. I'm not going to deny that to you. However, if we had come out at the ceremony it would have made your life a living hell. The Seraphim Council has already been breathing down your neck since you were a child. If you were to have two mates presented to you at the ceremony it would have put an even larger target on your back that I wasn't willing to put you through. I knew the risk of losing you if I didn't speak up but I was trying to protect you."

"That's not a good enough reason, Warrick," I shake my head and step away from him. I drop my voice lower not wanting anyone walking by to overhear me. "I deserved better than that, Warrick. I want my mate, my partner, to stand by my side, believe in me, and support me. You didn't do that."

"That's where you're wrong, Bella," he pleads with me. "I was supporting you but it wasn't in the way you wanted and I understand that. I'm ten years older than you. I've been training you in your magic for a very long time. Can you see this from my side at all?"

"I'm trying to," I sigh, frustrated at how this is going. He's giving me answers, but now I'm wondering if those answers are good enough for me. "What do you want me to do? I want your honest answer to this."

"I want you to try to see where I'm coming from," he pleads. "I want you to see this from my side. I care about you so much, and I just want to know what is best for you."

"Don't you think me having a mate is what is best for me?" I question. I know I'm being sort of standoff-ish but I can't help it.

"Yes," he answers, his eyes softening as he takes a step closer to me. When I don't back away he takes another and then another until he stands right in front of me. "You are everything to me, Arabella." He raises his hand and brushes a few strands of hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear as he rubs his thumb on my cheek. "I regret every day not speaking up at the ceremony even if I know it was for the best. There is so much that I want to tell you, but I can't, not yet. Just trust me, everything that I do, I do it for you. You don't understand and I know that. I also know that I lost some of your trust, and I plan on gaining back if it's the last thing that I do."

"It's not that easy, Warrick," I whisper, trying to stop myself from crying. The old Arabella would have caved and given in to him immediately. The new Arabella is more cautious. He broke my heart. Wow, that's something I haven't admitted before. Warrick broke my heart in a way I had never seen coming. It's not something that I can easily forgive.

"Tell me what I need to do to fix this," he pleads, leaning forward to place a soft kiss against my forehead. "I'll do anything. Please, Arabella, let me fix this for us."

"I need time," I mumble, freezing in his hold. God, I hope that I don't regret this decision. "You need to show me that you have my back, that you will support me in the way that I need. I don't want to be that girl that I was back in Aeris. I'm finally discovering who I am. Can you support me in that? Even if it means pissing off everyone back home?"

I can already see the indecision in his eyes the second I brought up pissing off people back home. That's exactly what will happen if I go down the path of finding answers about the journal. If Warrick can't back me no matter what then this won't work between us. Losing him will destroy me I know that. Maverick rejected me hurt but it wasn't the end of the world. Losing Warrick may just be the end of the world for me, but I know I need to do this for myself. For the first time in my life, I'm choosing me and my happiness.

"I'll have your back. No matter the ask, no matter the risk. I will stand by your side," he's so sure of himself with his answer and I can see the determination in his eyes. He means what he says. He will have my back and that means more to me than I can ever imagine. "I don't know what you are doing that is going to piss off everyone in Aeris but you know what, fuck it. They did you dirty there and this is about you. Whatever we are going to do, let's do it. I don't have anything for me back there. I stayed for you."

"Thank you, for this," I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him tight. He will never understand what it means that he is supporting me in this. I'm not ready to tell him what's going to happen, but knowing he hasn't even asked tells me he trusts me no matter what. That says everything that I need to know.

"I will always be here for you, Arabella," he whispers, holding me tightly to him. "When you're ready, we can talk, but take your time. I also know what I'm about to say is going to piss you off so I'm not letting you go. We can't tell the school that we are mates. Not yet, not until you are ready for what that means."

"I don't want them to know either," I agree, stepping out of his hold. He let me go easily, thanks to my surprising agreement with him. "There is a lot going on and I need to figure things out for myself but just knowing that you have my back and eventually we can do the ceremony to bind our souls is good enough for me right now."

"I'll let you keep your secrets for now but you do need to tell me eventually," he reaches out to grasp my hand. "Now, how about we get back to campus so you can go tell your roommates? Yes, I know you will," he gives me a pointed look before leading me away from the fountain. "They both were hounding me during our mentoring sessions with questions about you, about us, and our relationship back in Aeris. You have good friends surrounding you. You keep them with you."

"I'm planning to," I laugh. "Both of those girls would have my back in a heartbeat, and I would have theirs."

"I'm so glad you are finally finding friends and your place in life. I knew you would thrive here, Bella and it means everything to me that you are." I can hear the pride in his voice as he talks to me. Warrick is so damn proud of me and the friends I've made. He is right I am thriving here and it means everything to me that he can see it and experience it with me. How I'm going to tell the girls about this lunch is about to be a whole new problem. One that I'm honestly excited for. I had every intention of us leaving this lunch just being friends and never breaching the topic of mates. The fact that it didn't go that way surprised me but I'm totally here for it.