Forbidden Lovers

The Most Beautiful Soul

It was midnight when Arthmael sneaked inside Evelyn's room using the balcony doors, and it felt like his heart fell from his chest when his eyes laid on her, curled down on the floor, her arms around her gathered legs and her chin above her knees.

She looked small, tiny even. Hopeless. Staying like that in the dark, not even looking at him although Arthmael knew she had noticed he was here. She looked helpless.

"Evelyn?" He walked to her, falling to his knees besides her, and for a second he thought she was going to push him away, even shout at him, tell him to go and never come back, however, for his surprise she did absolutely nothing. And for some reason, the silence weighed in his heart even more.

Evelyn wasn't even crying, the tears had dried on her face already, leaving their traces there, making it obvious she hadn't tried to wipe them away. Her eyes were red rimmed though, her trembling bottom lip curled between her teeth, and he noticed her hands around her legs were slightly shaking too.

She was near the breaking point.

And so was his heart.

"Evelyn, look at me," he whispered in the softest voice he could master, stroking her hair gently as if only putting a bit more pressure would break her like a porcelain doll. "I'm here, Evelyn, just look at me. Please."

Slowly, her eyes met his, making Arthmael see just how broken they really were. How empty of any trace of life. Instinctively, her hand went on the golden collar around her neck, and only then Arthmael really noticed it. It looked thick and heavy; expensive even, but the price Evelyn had payed for it was much bigger.

Instantly, he gathered her in his arms and she didn't even protest, she just stayed there, hiding her face in his chest. Right now, his chest felt like the warmest place in the world to Evelyn.

"You can let it all out now, I'm here with you. Just let it all out."

He heard a small sob escaping her lips, being followed by some other louder ones. Breaking down, she cried in his chest, clinging into him like her life depended on it. And maybe right now, it did depend on it.

Maybe right now, it did depend on him.

Arthmael held her impossibly close, stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head from time to time, trying his very best not to bust into tears too. "It'll be alright," he whispered in her ear smoothly, hugging her with all his might. "Everything will be alright, I'm here, I'll never let him do anything to you."

"There's nothing more he can do to me." Her voice came out muffled on his chest, and because of how much she had cried. Smoothing her hair off her face, he cupped her face with his big hands, wiping her tears away. "He stole my identity. The only thing I had left in this hell were my powers and even those he took away from me. I'm not me anymore." Looking away as some other tears rolled down her cheeks, it felt like she was almost ashamed of herself now. Arthmael had no idea what she was really going through, but he could try to imagine. It was just like he'd feel if someone would take his wolf away from him; a half man.

"Of course you're you." He kissed her forehead gently, moving his lips to kiss her tears away.

Evelyn shook her head almost violently, looking down at her hands. "I'm not, I'm only a shell of myself now. I'm not an elf, nor a human. I'm no one."

Lifting her chin up so her eyes could meet his, he stroked her cheek tenderly. "Don't you ever say that again," he scolded, but his voice was loving and almost heartwarming. "You're amazing, and your powers aren't the only thing that make you amazing. You're much more that some magic powers, Evelyn, you're beautiful. The most beautiful soul I've ever met."

Other tears filled up Evelyn's eyes, but this time they were caused solely of him. Arthmael had no idea how amazing he was himself. Evelyn raised her hand slowly, stroking his dark beard and only then the curtain of her tears allowed to see the deep bruise in his cheek. "Did he do this to you?"

His lips curled into a small smile. "It doesn't matter, Evelyn."

Her thumb stroked the bruise gently. "Did you stand up for me? Is this why he did this to you?"

"I told you, it doesn't matter."

"I'll kill the son of the bitch." 

For a second, Arthmael saw that source of fire she had inside of her, that fierceness that always drove him crazy over her. And his heart swelled inside his chest; Robert had just broken her inside out and here she was, worrying about a bruise in his face.

However, pure pain replaced the fire that had taken place in her eyes for just a split second. "But how will I do that, I don't have my powers anymore." Her voice cracked, her lips trembling and for a second Arthmael thought she was going to break down once again. "I can't even heal you anymore."

"My wolf will heal me," he reassured her.

"But... but..." He didn't let her finish, immediately, he wrapped his arms around her body once again, taking her in his lap there at the floor and burying his fingers in her long raven hair.

"We'll find a way. A way out of this, a way to get your powers back," he whispered, however this time he didn't believe his words himself. There was no way out of this and they both knew it.

Evelyn didn't respond. She just cried in his chest silently until she was tired of it.

"I'm sorry," was the last thing Arthmael expected her to say. "I'm sorry for calling you a hypocrite and for reminding you that day and everything else."

He shook his head silently. "You were angry and you were hurting. Besides, you were right; I am a hypocrite."

"No." Evelyn hugged him even tighter. "You aren't... you're the best thing that has ever happened to me."

He sighed, but said nothing. Oh, she really knew the way to steal his heart.

She rested her head in his chest, closing her eyes but her hands never left his. Arthmael didn't know how much time they had spent in each other's arms, sat down in the floor but it was probably a lot; time seemed to fly much faster when he was with Evelyn.

Lifting her up bridal style when he thought she was asleep, he placed her on her gigantic bed, under the softest sheets. And in the last second, she grabbed him from his wrist. "Stay. Please, don't leave me, not you too. Please."

It was then when Arthmael realized nothing else in the world mattered anymore but Evelyn. Exactly then.

Slipping under the sheets, he held her close, brushing his lips in her hair and whispering sweet nothings to her.

How broken was exactly this woman? This little girl, because right now she was no different from a little girl who just needed someone to be there for her. Behind the act of the powerful Elf Princess, fierce and strong woman who didn't bat an eye even against the ruthless Alpha King, how lonely was she? What had life done to her?

"You didn't leave." It had been an hour or two that she had peacefully slept in his arms and all along he had only kept her in his arms, watched as she slept. Watching her sleep was suddenly his favorite thing to do.

"I wasn't going to leave."

She gazed up on his, moving her body and now he was well aware of her breasts pressed to him. And they hardened under his strong chest as they kept looking into each other's lips, the tension in the room growing as if with magic. His eyes couldn't help themselves, they kept lingering on her full plump lips. They were begging to be kissed and his... his were begging to kiss.

He leaned forward, catching her lips in a tender kiss, taking his time to savor them. And only when her hands curled on his hair and her tongue met his, he broke the kiss, realizing what he was doing in the process.

He felt like an asshole. She needed comfort, a shoulder to cry into and he had taken advantage of that. That wasn't like him, that wasn't like the noble, hero Arthmael. That was mostly like the Arthmael insane over his mate it wasn't the time for that now.

"Why did you stop?" Her voice was strained as she tried kissing him once again but he turned his face away, although that had been too hard to do.

"Evelyn..."

"You don't want me anymore? You don't want me now that my powers are gone and—"

"God, no." He kissed her forehead, maybe for the millionth time tonight. "Not wanting you isn't possible, Evelyn."

Evelyn stubbornly kissed his lips again and it took all his will-power to gently push her away. The way he wanted to give in could not be explained in words but he couldn't. Not only she was still his King's wife in papers despite what happened today but most importantly, she needed time to heal. Lots of time, and he wanted to be there for her.

"Then kiss me." Her eyes were pleading, her lips half-parted, and he groaned almost painfully.

"You should sleep." However, his lips were already on hers, leaving just a peck there and separating his again before it was too late. "Rest, Evelyn, things will be better tomorrow. And if they won't, I'll be there for you the day after tomorrow too."

The smile on her face was sad. "You will?"

His lips lingered on her hair as he filled his lungs with her warm jasmines scent. And for the next words, he was sure, more sure than he had even been in his entire life. "I will. I promise."