I could not help but stare at the texts that my brother had sent to Brax, as I rode the train.. they were.. oddly sweet which surprised me.
ME; Do you have a second? I really need to talk to you about us.
HIM; 2 missed calls
ME; I cannot talk.. it is not safe, sweetie. Look, I am sorry. Things are crazy here and I need to think about my family. My feelings have not changed, my sweet Omega. But I can no longer risk your life for the sake of us. Please, please forgive me. A x
HIM; Aria.. I do not know what to say. But I guess I understand.. I need some time alone. I am sorry.
Brax did not even fight this break up text.. which meant he was probably hurting a lot.
I closed my eyes and whimpered slightly.
I needed to see Brax.. and he needed to know that I did not send those messages.
No matter how hard I tried, however, he ignored my calls.. so he must have really thought we were over. Would he even accept me when I arrived in town?
I took a deep breath and dialled my sister's landline.
"Aria? It is not safe to call here, you know this!". Annabelle scolded me.
'Wait, wait, wait! Please do not hang up. Is.. Brax okay?'. I muttered sadly.
"You have a nerve to ask that, what do you want really?". She snapped.
'It was Dexter'. I whispered.
My sister went silent for quite some time.
"Does he know about me?". She sounded worried.
'No.. he just thinks that I have betrayed the Coven.. I have not and for now he believes me'. I sighed.
She let out a relieved breath and then sighed deeply down the line.
"Where are you now?".
I sucked in a deep breath.
'Look it does not matter.. maybe it was a stupid idea to call.. I should go. Goodbye Anna'. I whimpered, as I was about to hang up.
Here I was, sat on the train, staring at humans ogling my sad face.
The very thought hurt me immensely.. what if Brax did not care for me any longer.. would I be forced into a relationship in the long run with either Blaze or some other Warlock? So many questions ran in my head. And I had zero answers for them.
"Aria". She Anna scolded.
'I am assuming that you are on the train, on the way here to explain everything to Brax?'. She added, sounding smug.
'Yes.. I am on the train.. I should be there in thirty minutes'. I whispered.
I suddenly felt incredibly awkward about this ordeal.
"Very well.. I will have somebody meet you at the Station. I am afraid my husband will not let you in the House unless you have something to stop the flow of your magic, as it is too dangerous. Do you understand?". She spoke unhappily.
'Yes, I understand.. but can you try to get Brax to meet with me? I need to explain myself to him'. I frowned.
And maybe, just maybe, it would be a blessing to have my magic bound for a while.. I might actually get to feel normal for once.
'I.. will do my best. But please understand that he is very upset right now'. She sighed softly.
I whimpered in response but nodded nonetheless and hung up the phone. It was understandable that he was hurt.. I was hurting too.
Thirty minutes passed in such a blur, I stepped off the train and took a deep breath, taking in all the different smells of Crimson Falls.
I smiled widely.. this place was beautiful; there were sparkling lights all over the train station and everything was just so pretty.
One thing that caught my eyes was my escort's long wild white curls.. Brax had actually came to meet me.. I do not know how she did it but Anna was proving that she was held in high regard in her Pack.
BRAX.. I wanted so badly to run to him and hug him tightly.. but his sad smile told me otherwise.
I felt tears build up in my eyes and his nose went in the air, taking in my scent. Brax then brought his gaze into my direction again, despite his sad smile.
He gave me a sad smile, as he took in my tears.
I simply reacted in a way that caught us both by surprise.. I dropped my bags and ran at him, hugging him tightly.
To my surprise, he pulled my face to his.
'Oh Aria.. I missed you'. He whispered, against my lips, as they met abruptly.
I hugged his waist sharply in response and he deepened the kiss; our tongues were frantically assaulting at each other's.
Until, finally we drew apart, smiling at each other. Sadly, his facial expression changed so quickly. He now looked at me apologetically and in pain.
'I- I am so sorry.. I should not have done that. We have to go and get your bracelet.. follow me'. He added sadly, as he turned and began to walk away.
'Wait.. please. Brax let me explain!'. I cried out.
'I believe all that needed to be said was said.. but if you are adamant to talk about this.. there will be plenty of time for it later. We have to go and see a Troll about some.. jewellery'. He smiled.
I took a step back.
'Wait.. a real live Troll!?'. I gasped.
'I will protect you Aria'. He smiled, as he ruffled my hair.
I closed my eyes, feeling sad. I liked this man so much and yet my brother might have just destroyed our relationship.
I know all we did was kiss previously, but it felt like I could trust Brax on a level that I had never trusted a man before.
I could only hope that he could find it in his heart to forgive me, for how easy it was to destroy us.
We began walking along a large bridge which was covered in graffiti and overgrown plants, it was like a completely different area.
'It gets a little slippery down here, so be careful, okay?'. He frowned, letting go of my grasp.
'I will be fine'. I smiled.
And just like that we began walking down a wet slippery slope, leading to an overgrown passage.
I screeched loudly, as I tripped over a tree root and slid down the slope, bumping into Brax, who in turn lost his footing.. covering us both, slick with mud and on our asses.
'Well this sucks'. I winced.
'Are you kidding me right now? This is hilarious!'. He grinned, as he helped me stand up.
Brax then took a step away from me and tapped on the rundown wooden door that was overgrown with moss.
'Open the door you big hairy bastard! It's Braxton Winter'. He sounded amused, as he shouted against the door.
'Who is the woman besides you?'. A gruff yet loud sounding voice bellowed from behind the door.
Brax looked over at me, as I frowned at him. He then ruffled my hair and smirked at the door.
'Relax, she is my friend'. Brax sounded slightly awkward, as he admitted our new relationship to this.. Troll.
Friend.. I frowned. Was that all I was to him now? I guess it made sense.. but it hurt deeply.
'Very well, give me a second to clean up a little. I do not usually get female visitors'. The Troll's voice echoed further away.
'I imagine they tend to avoid you'. Brax spoke in amusement.
This made me a little uncomfortable; was he purposely being mean to this Troll? Or was he joking?
I punched him on the shoulder and crossed my arms in annoyance.
'Relax the Troll is a friend of mine'. Brax rubbed his shoulder and smiled.
'I like her'. A deep grumble of a masculine voice echoed, clearly amused with my reaction.
Brax rubbed his arm, again, for extra sympathy.
'Olli, at your service, your Noble Witchiness'. The Troll, I know knew as to be called 'Olli' spoke teasingly.
One thing I noticed right away, is that he is larger than us by a couple of feet and he has a wide build with a fat stomach. He did not have any hair on the top of his head but has a deep burn on the left side of his face.
Olli wore a loose light brown tunic with light brown trousers. He did not wear shoes.. I expect his kind liked to feel the earth beneath their feet.
Brax was frowning deeply at him, as we joined Olli, he gestured at us to sit down on two tree stumps. He sat down on the cold-looking ground and smiled at us.
'Olli.. what happened to your face?'. Brax looked at him worriedly.
He sighed deeply and gave Brax a sad expression.
'Well.. my king did not appreciate me helping you without consulting his messengers. We are supposed to only help others if it can benefit our race.. and of course it did not that day'.
'Your king is cruel'. Brax growled, clearly he was protective of this Troll.
'No.. King Monty is simply a practical Troll and knows only what is best for my kind. You do not understand our customs, so it is unfair of you to judge us or my king'. Olli spoke out, defensive of his king.
'But you did not come here with your 'friend' to ask me about my king.. you came for the bracelet of binding, did you not?'. Olli smiled softly at us both.
I could not help but notice Brax's frown at Olli's emphasis on me being just a friend.
Olli clearly knew that we had feelings for each other..
'Wait, you were told of our arrival already?'. Brax tilted his head to the side in confusion.
'I asked Anna to have you meet me at the train station'. I muttered awkwardly, as Brax turned to glare at me.
'WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR GAME ARIA!?'. He snarled, leaping up and digging his nails into my shoulders.
I took a step back, as I winced in pain. But to my surprise, Olli grabbed a hold of Brax by his hair and threw him across the room that we were in.
'YOU ARE BOTH GUESTS IN MY HOME, NOBODY HURTS MY GUESTS BUT ME!'. Olli bellowed at him.
I frowned at them both and ignored the pain in my bloody shoulders.
'Brax I am so sorry.. please just let me explain'.
Brax scowled in my direction and then took a deep breath.
'Has Anna already paid the fee?'. Brax grumbled at Olli, avoiding my gaze completely.
'Yes.. she has. The bracelet is in the chest to the left of the door'. Olli added unhappily.
'Then we will take our leave'. Brax grumbled.
'I am not letting you leave with this girl, until you have calmed down. So you both will be staying until the morning.. I will set up separate sleeping hammocks for you both'. Olli sighed, as he got up and moved away.
Brax did not even look at me, we both just sat in silence.
This was not how I envisaged this to go.. in silence and feeling hurtful.