The Bully's Hated Mate
The Bully’s Hated Mate – Chapter 31

LUCIUS’ POV:

Darkness loomed outside the castle and the air was a bit chilly.

LUCIUS’ POV:

Darkness loomed outside the castle and the air was a bit chilly.

I could feel the cold from the open window of my room, two floors above the living room.

Usually, I would climb up to the roof on nights like these and watch the stars, but today was different.

The sky was unusually dark and the sounds that the wind brought with it were unfamiliar.

That feeling of foreboding made me stay put in my room and listen to the sound of my mother’s singing, reaching me from down below.

Her voice carried more than was necessary, considering that she always warned me not to be too loud or careless as the rogue wolves abound everywhere.

I closed my window slowly, almost as if missing the night but I knew it was time for bed and didn’t want Mom to catch me awake.

I pulled my blinds shut and just got into bed when I heard a whistle, low enough to be mistaken for the cry of a bird but high and familiar enough to get a wolf at high alert.

I sat up gingerly on my bed and craned my neck towards my window. It sounded again and I could no longer ignore it. I crawled out of bed and creeped towards my window.

Drawing the blinds apart by an inch, I peered out. It was too dark to see but goosebumps had formed already on my skin. The sound of multiple claws hitting the ground purposefully was enough to terrify just about any living thing.

My mom had stopped singing and even though we were separated by a multitude of stairs, I knew that she was scrambling about trying to make sure they could never get in.

It was a futile effort, a losing battle.

The rogue wolves were here.

I stood transfixed by the window, scared that if I moved, I would clue them in on my location. They probably already picked up my scent though, and it was only a matter of time before they got to me.

And Mom.

Mom, where was she?

Just as the thought crossed my mind, my mother burst into my room. She did not need to say anything for me to know she was afraid. But Dad was out of the house and she was alone with me.

Her eyes told me that she was willing to fight till the death.

She grabbed my arm agitatedly and pulled me up.

“They are here.” She whispered, her eyes wilder than I had ever seen them.

Her nails dug into my flesh, and I wriggled out of her hold to look down at the red bruise her nails left on my upper arm.

A tear slipped down my cheek more because of the charged atmosphere than the pain she inflicted.

“Hide. Now!” She said and shoved me into the half open closet in my room.

“Don’t come out no matter what happens.” She said firmly.

I was scared of the look in her eyes but at the same time, I sensed that her mind was made up.

“Mom, I’m scared. Let’s stay here together.” I whispered.

The closet was still open but I had begun to feel claustrophobic. I did not like the stance that Mom had adopted, and I did not like the crazed look that made her eyes look bloodshot.

“Shh.” She mimed, holding one finger to her lips while her eyes danced around the perimeter of my room.

“Mom–” I protested but she held up a firm hand to silence me before she knelt down before me and held me close.

“I’ll send them back and in doing so, I might get hurt. But no matter what happens, you can’t make a sound or come out of here. Promise me that.” She said hurriedly.

I was too choked up for words and so, I nodded frantically. She stroked my hair with a tired smile playing on her lips before turning away from me.

She did not make it out of my room.

Before I could blink my eyes twice, six rogue wolves ran into my room and attacked her.

Despite their strong offence, she managed to morph quickly into her wolf form and fight back.

The closet was open a crack and from where I was crouched down, trembling, I managed to watch what would become the worst memory of my life play out.

My mother lunged at one of the wolves, delivering a fatal blow that left the wolf unconcious.

But she was brutally overpowered and it soon became clear that she would lose.

Ignoring her warning, I screamed out in anger when I saw that she had been cut down and was now bleeding quickly from her side.

Unfortunately, my howl went unnoticed in the brawl that was ensuing.

“Run away and make sure you survive.” My mother breathed as she tried to shove off the wolf that had latched onto her back.

I wanted to say that I was sorry that I couldn’t help, but I was too shocked to say anything.

I saw my mother fall to the floor, like a bag of chips that was carelessly opened and whose contents were spilled senselessly on the floor.

B***d seeped out of every channel in her body but her eyes still remained open. Even as she drew her dying breath, her eyes were open as if she couldn’t bear to close them and leave me alone.

My tears poured down in torrents and the hand I placed over my lips could not stop the gut wrenching sounds that escaped my mouth.

It felt like my soul was on fire, like I would never find happiness in my life ever again.

I screamed out with every anguish I felt in my body and burst out of the closet.

And after that…

“Lucius! Lucius. Are you okay? You’ve got to wake up.”

I opened my eyes to see the worried face of Cassia looking over me. My muddled brain was finding it difficult to puzzle this situation together.

“What happened?” I whispered.

My throat felt dry and my voice came out husky. I sat up on the bed and realized that I was sweating too much.

“I don’t know. You were tossing and turning and making groaning sounds in your sleep.” She said, wiping the sweat off my brows with her fingers.

I grabbed her hand to stop the gesture and drew back. If that had been a dream, then why was it so vivid?

“Are you okay?” She asked again.

She was whispering now, as if we shared a secret too heavy to say out loud.

“Yeah, ofcourse.” I said briskly and turned my face away from her scrutinizing gaze.

She did not let me off the hook easily.

“Look at me, Lucius.” She said, grabbing my face and making sure I could only stare at her.

I sighed in exasperation. “I’m looking at you.”

“I know that something is wrong. You looked tormented just now and you even cried, so don’t try to deny this.” She took her hands off my face but her eyes still remained fixed on mine. “It’s okay. You are okay now. It was only a nightmare. Everything is fine.”

The concern on her face got to me and something in my chest gave way. Without thinking, I pulled her closer and hugged her tightly. It was comfortable and I could feel my nerves begin to calm down.

“Why are you hugging me?” She asked.

I couldn’t see her face, but I sensed the surprise in her voice.

“I don’t know. Something about holding you puts me at ease. You have to believe me. It’s not something I can explain with words.” I confessed.

I was beginning to realize too that something about her made it okay for me to lay my guard down, to be vulnerable.

I held her tighter and moved in such a way that we both lay back on the bed without having to let go of her.

“You know, I can’t go back to sleep.” She mumbled against my chest.

I moved my hand to her hair and stroked playfully.

“And?” I asked.

“And I’m not in the mood to argue with you either.”

I narrowed my eyes, taken aback. Did I miss something? Why did she think this was the time and place for an argument?

“Why would you talk about arguing with me?” I asked warily.

“Why else? It’s fun. Honestly, it’s amusing to fight with you. You have such great reactions.” Her voice was light, teasing.

It made my heart jiggle a bit.

“Since you can’t sleep, would you like to go somewhere with me?” I asked.

She lifted her head from my chest and stared at my face.

“Where?”

I smiled. “It’s a very special place. You’ll find out soon.”

***

CASSIA’S POV:

It was rare to see Lucius smiling. Not the devilish, mischievous type of smile but a genuine one.

It was a change I was willing to welcome.

“Are you really going to be this way? I’m really curious.” I whined.

Sure, I wanted to go out together and do something with Lucius but I wished he would stop being such a tease.

“Didn’t peg you as the impatient type.” He replied with a smirk.

He got out of bed and I reluctantly tore my eyes away from his perfect body.

“You should get ready. We leave in fifteen minutes.” I could hear the smugness in his voice.

He most likely thought it was hypocritical of me to turn away from the sight of his naked body when we had s*x just a few hours earlier.

“Sure. I can even make it in five.” I replied.

Like I said, I wasn’t in the mood to argue with him.

I spent the greater part of the next twenty five minutes trying to decide whether to wear my black jacket over my grey shirt, or my grey jacket over my black shirt while Lucius looked on with something similar to awe at my indecisiveness.

At last, I settled for the former and we left our room much to Lucius’ relief.

The hall was quiet and mostly empty, which was a good thing. I didn’t want to become the subject of gossip, especially after what happened at the library earlier in the day.

Frankly, I knew that the story had gone round the school already and a tiny part of me was dreading running into any one of our classmates outside the castle.

We walked out without meeting anybody and I relaxed a bit more. It was really nice to be out of the room and out under the moon and the stars.

It was even nicer because I was with Lucius.

Which was also weird, but his somewhat civil presence brought an unexplainable tingle to my heart.

“We’re here.” He said, stepping on to a paved path that led to an enormous mansion.

My jaw dropped. “This is–”

“My father’s house, yes.” He completed for me. There was pride on his face.

The type of pride that came with a great accomplishment. I would give him this, he succeeded in stunning me.

“You know I never bring anyone here, right?”

“I heard. Not even Ariadne?” Honest to goodness, I don’t know why I asked that.

He smiled conspiratorially. “Not even Ariadne.” he confirmed.

“It’s my father’s old castle. You know the best part of this house? The roof.” He informed me and beckoned for me to follow his lead.

We sat side by side on the roof, gazing at the stars and exchanging knowledge on astrology, and I realized that maybe it was not so bad to be out here with him.

My brain was saturated with the image of him under the moonlight, the way his eyes glittered, the way the wind tousled his hair.

It was a nice feeling, magical even. But it was also not nice because I did not want to be feeling this way.

I did not like the things that his mere touch could arouse in me.

As if reading my mind, he abruptly stopped talking and stared at me. His gaze was so intense that the butterflies in my belly went into a frenzied dance.

“I don’t know what you are doing to me.” He said finally and my heart skipped about a dozen beats.

He turned his gaze away from me and stared up at the moon.

“And I don’t like it”. He sighed, and returned his gaze to me. “Did you actually cast a spell on me?”

I smirked.

“Who feeds this fat ego of yours?” I joked, and he laughed. His laughter, a deliciously carefree timbre.

“I don’t like it either.” I admitted.

He turned to me and arched his brows.

“This thing you do to me. I don’t like it either.”

A look crossed his face. It was fleeting but I saw joy and desire and something else there too.

He slipped his fingers between mine and pulled my head onto his thighs.

“You can sleep. I’ll sing you a lullaby.” He said softly.

“You’ll do what?” I asked, laughing.

He laughed too. “It’s a tune my Mom used to sing for me when I was younger.” He said.

He started to sing, softly at first and then, more confidently. Maybe, it’s just me but his voice was the sweetest thing I had heard.