The Beast's Possession
51: Too possessive for his own good.

**Aife

pov**

From the moment Bane and Jason arrived, an odd tension filled the room. It wasn't the tension Bane brought in the room every time he appeared. No, this one was different. This one was between Bane and his friend, not a bit of it was connected to Vanessa or me.

"So," Vanessa finally broke the silence. "Aife here was telling me she enjoys gardening. How about we go outside in the backyard so I can show off my flower beds and maybe she could give me some advice?" While she spoke, I tried my best to force a smile.

Vanessa was a liar, and a good one at that. I never mentioned gardening nor the fact how much I actually despised it. Flowers and I didn't go together. Anything I touched died, but it wasn't like anyone had to know that.

In fact, Vanessa went the extra mile and turned her attention to Jason. She twisted her face a little and within seconds, the gruff looking man broke and let out a heavy breath. "Fine."

She was about to get up from her seat when Bane's hand grabbed my shoulder to keep me seated.

"This is very new information for me. How come she never told me anything about her love for gardening, hmm?"

I had no idea if I succeeded, but I tried to plead with Vanessa with my gaze to keep silent. If she went along with her lie, Bane would surely increase the severity of the punishment I already knew I was sure to receive once we got back to his house.

Ignoring me, Vanessa focused on Bane. "Come on, I want to bond with your chosen Luna. Don't I have the right to get a little more time with her? Have you forgotten that I am your friend's Luna and our paths cross quite a lot?"

Honestly, her words didn't convince even me, so I was sure she couldn't do it.

"Okay, whatever, fine. If you want us to hate each other, so be it. Don't count me in when you want another poker evening with Jason then," Vanessa raised her voice and looked at her mate, pointing her finger at him. "Try me, Jason. Just try to do anything with Bane behind my back and you're sleeping in the dog house. I forbid you from being friends with him. There, he takes my potential friendships, I take a friendship he values. Suck it up, assholes."

At this point, she was seething, red in the face. Up to now, I had no idea someone could be so darn angry for being told no.

Bane growled and pulled away from me. "Here, take her to the goddamn garden to poke at those bloody roots and stop screeching like an old washing machine. Geez, Vanessa, have a check at the doctor's, you're all over the place. It's either PMS or you're pregnant. Seriously, you're acting like a lunatic, not Luna."

Vanessa's eyes instantly lit up and the scowl from her face disappeared. She ran to my side, grabbed my hand and dragged me away from Bane and Jason.

Once we got out of the house, I broke out from the state of confusion and dug my heels in the ground, stopping her in the process.

She looked at me and raised her eyebrow in a silent question.

"What do you think you are doing? Don't get me wrong, I think you are nice, wonderful, really, but you're getting me in trouble here. I'm the one who has to go back with him, not you. Do you have any idea how he gets when he is angry or someone undermines his authority?" I whisper-hissed.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "No big deal. Bane will get over his butt-hurt baby temper tantrum. He always does. Now, stop fussing and follow me. I want to tell you something important."

As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was growing more curious with each word that left her lips. Vanessa had known Bane for a long time, so maybe she knew something about the possible weaknesses that beast might have and I could use them against him.

At this point, anything I could use to my advantage would do.

She didn't need to drag me around like some doll anymore. Vanessa didn't speak as she led me to a bench next to the flower bed and sat down.

Vanessa pointed her finger at something and spoke, "I will randomly point my finger at the flower bed from time to time so if either of them tries to look at us from the house, it will look like we're discussing the plants. Is that okay?" I nodded my head. If she had to put on an act to tell me something, I was glad to play along.

The moment I sat next to her, she pointed at another plant and glanced at the house. "You wanted to know if Bane had ever loved, right?"

Furrowing my brows, I tried to come up with a reason why she suddenly decided it wasn't too soon to talk about it after all.

As if she could hear my thoughts, Vanessa quickly answered the unspoken question. "All it took was to see him next to you. He's already becoming too possessive for his own good. I've seen the warning signs before and I don't want to see Bane break again. It was bad once, if it ever happens again, there's no saying how far Bane might go."

I wished I could tell her this all was nothing but a lie. Bane didn't care about me, and I cared about him even less than he did for me.

We weren't "it" for each other. I didn't enjoy his company, and quite frankly, even the thought that he existed disgusted me.

But Vanessa didn't need to know those details. She was on his side. If she found out I was planning to leave the moment I got a chance, she would alert Bane and he would make sure I had no opportunity to escape his hell. "Okay, I'm listening," I muttered and pointed at a random plant, making myself look like I was answering a question.

Vanessa nodded her head. It looked silly, knowing what we were discussing, but since I knew she was playing it all up since those two creeps were most likely watching us, I let her do whatever she wanted without questioning her.

"I already mentioned this and I'm sure you're a smart girl, but Bane is rough around the edges. Sometimes even I think he's more of a beast than he is human. Anyone who is getting to know him probably thinks he doesn't know what it means to be in a healthy relationship, but that's far from the truth."

I let my gaze scan the flower bed, once again acting as if this conversation was about the plants only. "I will need a little more information now. Whatever you're comfortable sharing will do."

"Many years ago, he was in love. Madly, deeply, passionately. Bane gave her his everything, but sometimes, it seemed like his everything wasn't enough. She wanted more..."

Vanessa cleared her throat and continued. "Power, money, reputation, you name it. He changed many things about himself for her, but honestly, I saw her as a ticking time bomb, not someone who had his best interest at heart," she cut herself short and glanced over my shoulder.

"And?" I whispered, eager to find out more.

If she told me more, I could at least try to figure out what made him into the monster he was. If there was one thing I knew for a fact, it was that monsters weren't born, they were made.

"Two years into their relationship, she finally agreed to marry. Bane was over the moon happy. He was planning everything alone, but then one day, she told him the wedding was off."

To my surprise, I gasped. I wasn't Bane's biggest fan, but this seemed a little too much even for him. Especially since the person Vanessa was describing didn't sound like the absolute asshole he was today. "Why? What happened?"

"She claimed her father forbade her to marry Bane because they weren't of the same social standing. He tried to talk to him, but he just sent Bane away and said he didn't want to see him ever again. From what I heard, Bane didn't give up." She glanced in the direction of the house and moved a little closer to me.

"He tried to come up with a way to get the love of his life back, but then came the messages with threats. She called Bane crying, sent text messages, all about how her father threatened to kill her if she ever spoke to Bane again. Soon after came letters, supposedly written with her blood. And then, she just vanished. The wedding didn't happen, obviously. It broke Bane beyond imagination, he hasn't been the same ever since."