Chapter Sixty Five

*Ariya*


My memories faded like usual as Boss was getting closer. Shortly after Boss walked into the room with Justin trailing behind him.
“This is becoming a treat, Ariya. You’re getting a new memory every day.” Boss said, ecstatic.
“I’m not sure how much you’ll like this one. It’s not really interesting. Not much really happened.” I told him.
“Well you’re not angry and going crazy, so I’m guessing you finally had a memory that wasn’t awful?” Boss asked.
I nodded, “I liked this memory, yes.”
Boss grinned, “There’s probably more to the memory than you think. Don’t keep me waiting, Ariya. Tell me what happened.”
I ran down the memory of being asleep and Ivan waking me up. Falling asleep on him. Then my Mom woke us up because she was worried.
“His room was in pieces?”
“Yes, I didn’t see it. Not in this memory at least.”
“So their first shift is pretty violent then. Wait, you said his eyes were blue. I thought Navi wolves had yellow eyes?” Boss asked.
“They do, usually. But Ivan’s were blue.” I told him.
“Interesting. Why did they live with you guys?” Boss asked me.
“I think their parents died. I’m not completely sure but that’s what I assume. My Mom said that they weren’t leaving just because Ivan had shifted. That’s all I was worried about.”
“Why did that worry you?”
I wasn’t expecting Boss to ask me why it worried me that Ivan was going to leave. I worried about telling Boss how I felt about Ivan but I knew that he would punish me if I didn’t tell him.
“I cared about him. We grew up together. Keo, Caleb, Ivan, and I. We all grew up together. We were really close.”
“There’s more to it.” Boss pushed.
I looked at the ground and whispered, “I had a crush on him and I didn’t want him to leave.”
“He was the one that saved you and Keothi at first. He got you away after I cut Keothi’s eye, right?”
“Yes.” I answered.
Boss grinned from ear to ear. I felt nothing but dread.
“Good. I can tell you this, Ariya. That boy. Ivan. He loves you too.”
“What?” My jaw dropped.
“He could have fought me and tried to kill me that night but all he cared about was getting you out of there. He shoved me down and dove under your legs to pick you up. If you hadn’t grabbed your brother, I’m pretty sure he would have left him and just gotten you out of there.” Boss explained.
“No. He wouldn’t leave Keo. I…he wouldn’t…”
“He would. Because he is in love with you. The more he remembers his love for you, the more likely he is to try to break in here and get to you. Which means I don’t have to find him. I just have to wait for him to come to me.” Boss grinned wickedly.
A puzzle piece clicked into place for me.
“No! Please! Please Boss! Please don’t hurt him!” I begged.
“Oh don’t worry, Ariya. When I have him, I’ll let you see him again. Hurting him will be completely up to you. I may not have your little doggy Caleb, but I will get the one that loves you more than life itself. I’ll get the other doggy. Justin, keep the same protocol for now. Let me know when another memory comes up.” Boss laughed as he left the room.
I sobbed softly. My heart was breaking thinking of what Boss would do to Ivan if he got his hands on him. My memories returned and Ivan took my face in his hands. I watched as his hair changed to add his white tips and his eyes glowed blue. My blue. Ivan wiped my tears and kissed me softly.
“Shhhh. It’s ok, Ari. I’m here. He’s not going to use me against you. Though he could use you against me.” Ivan growled.
“No. Please. I can’t bear the thought of him hurting you.” I cried.
“Ari, the way you’re feeling right now. That’s how I feel when I think of what he’s going to do to torture you. We should get out of here. We should leave now. Drake and Keo can work on training us. We only get our memories when we sleep.” Ivan said.
“We only get our memories when we sleep right now. Because we’re sleeping. But if we’re out there, Boss is going to hunt us down until he gets to us. We won’t be able to sleep. He’s not going to touch me as long as I am getting memories.” I told him.
“But he is hurting you. He might not be physically hurting you, but he’s hurting you emotionally.” Ivan growled.
“I know. I can take it as long as you are here. I can take all of it. We need to remember everything. We need to be able to really bond. And don’t forget, Boss said you get a full day to do whatever you want to me. We can use that day to train. I don’t think Boss is going to just full on torture me. He’s been hearing too much. He’s putting together how we feel about each other and how much I went through as a kid. He’s been nicer. I think it will continue a bit.” I said.
“Ari, I think it’s something else. I think he’s trying to get on your good side. I think he’s trying to subtly make you try to understand where he’s coming from. I think he’s trying to make you feel sympathy toward him.” Ivan said.
“You think he’s trying to implement Stockholm Syndrome on me?” I asked.
“Something like that. Boss is a mastermind. Do not forget that fact. I’m not always going to be able to do anything in the moment. I’m only able to do something after. After everyone else has left. After everyone else has already done their damage.” Ivan said, looking down.
This was hurting him. I didn’t want to make it worse. But I needed him to be willing to continue with the plan. For some reason I just knew that there was more to this. I knew that I needed to be patient.
“Don’t worry, princess. I’ll be ok. As long as you’re ok. I’ll be ok. I’ll follow your lead.” Ivan said, kissing me softly.
“I don’t want to make this more difficult on you.” I whispered.
“As long as you don’t kick me out like you did with Keo, I will be fine. I’m going to hate having to break your bones back into place. But as long as you promise to feed from me…” Ivan stopped, “You don’t have to…I’m sorry.”
I took his face in my hands, “I want to. It was always you. It was always meant to be you. I just don’t want to hurt you when I feed is all. I don’t want to scare you. I want you to be ok.”
Ivan looked at me seriously, “Ari, you will never scare me by being who you are. I love you. All of you. That is never going to change. I will be ok. I will only bond with you if YOU want to bond with me. I want you. I will never want anyone or love anyone the way I love you. I’m yours, Ari.”
My heart fluttered in my chest, “I want to bond with you. As soon as we know how. I want to bond with you, Ivan. I’m yours too. I just don’t want you to feel used for blood. I don’t want you to ever feel like I don’t love you. I love you, Ivan.”
Ivan’s eyes glowed blue, “I want you to use me in every way, princess.”