Arranged to Love

Chapter Four

Most days were spent reading. Ash had a penchant for the written word and enjoyed the worlds that carried him away. Stories of love and action adventures. While he may not have found an alpha to take his breath away, love at first sight, that didn't mean he didn't crave it. Ash was a hopeless romantic at heart. That was partly why he was so against being forced to marry Tristan. How could he have a love that could conquer all if he was forced into it? Even thinking back to what Harold had said, it didn't make sense to him. His arrangement with Tristan couldn't possibly allow love to blossom. Then again, if he were going by his own words, impossible wasn't futile.

He sat in the library of the mansion rereading the same sentence for the sixth time. His thoughts wandered away from the book in his hands to think about a different alpha. Beau had shown up and was now staying on the grounds in the staff quarters. Tristan had made sure there was a bed in the alpha wing of the much more humble building. He had been rather graceful and giving when it came to Beau; something Ash was thankful for. Even with Beau's declaration of taking him home, Tristan was still as courteous as he could be. It was a nice but extremely naive thought that maybe they could get along.

He heard the knocking and looked up from the book to see Beau standing above him. A smile graced Ash's lips as he closed the romance novel.

"What were you reading?"

"Oh, nothing much."

"Seems like it wasn't interesting," Beau said with a lopsided grin as his caramel eyes beamed brightly. Beau had this demeanor about him that made Ash think of a dog. He was loyal, caring, and good-natured. His shaggy brown hair didn't help the picture in Ash's mind and neither did the fact that he knew the alpha was a werewolf.

"I just have more important things on my mind." Ash huffed and laid his head in his hand, elbow propped up on the table, with a dazed look in his eyes. He wished it would be simpler to find someone like him. All he knew about this arrangement was that Tristan needed someone like him. And after overhearing the conversation with Gregory, he could only assume that meant another unicorn. What Tristan would need a unicorn for he wasn't sure of.

"Oh? Like how you plan on getting out of this ridiculous deal you got yourself into?" Beau's grin widened as he playfully tussled Ash's hair. The omega chuckled and nodded his head.

"Yes, that. I need to find another omega unicorn. Well, I assume Tristan is looking for a unicorn. I overheard Gregory, the fae I made the deal with, talking about my pheromones. Something about how he knew I was what Tristan was looking for based on my smell," Ash explained. Beau scoffed and shook his head.

"You're telling me Lord Fancy-Pants needs an omega unicorn, and you just so happened to be silly enough to make a deal? C'mon Ash, how could you not have had been street smart?"

Ash knew it had been stupid. He knew it was reckless to toss his life away on unspoken technicalities. But hearing it from Beau hurt more than when he thought of it. For some reason, knowing that his best friend thought his mistake was stupid only made it a sharper pain in his heart. He went silent for a moment only for Beau to pull out the chair next to him.

"Hey, you know I didn't mean it harshly. I'm just wondering why you didn't think it was suspicious." Beau asked. It was a good question, one which he asked himself every day since being here. Six days in and they weren't even close to the wedding, scheduled exactly two months from today.

"Gregory didn't tell me what his debt was. And honestly, the medicine worked. I can't lose my mother to something that Gregory was able to easily cure." Deep down, Ash wasn't sure if that was the only reason he was so against this marriage. If he were honest, he would have agreed to marry Tristan if he'd been told it would save his mother's life. He would do anything for her. But there was something else at play that prevented him from accepting his fate.