Page 48 of Elf Shot

"Why do you think that? I want to understand your reasoning behind this," he said, his voice tightening with frustration. "Please, Layla. You tell me why you think you would be a bad mate for me…and I will tell you why I think I don't deserve you. Deal?"

"Yeah, okay. Deal." Layla looked at the bowl of popcorn. She wouldn't be able to say the truth if she was staring into his beautiful face. She owed him the truth, and maybe spelling it out for him would force him to understand. She licked her lips and pushed down her nerves.

"I'm not princess material, Arne. You deserve someone who can play that part, and so do your people. I'm human and weird. Like there's so much weirdness about me, you haven't even scratched the surface. I'm not even some great warrior to use that in my favor. I'm an average hunter at best." Layla fiddled with the ratty hem of her shirt and took a shaky breath.

"I've spent my whole like making up for my averageness by being as helpful as I can so that I have some kind of value to my extraordinary family. I feel like I have nothing of value to offer you or the elves. And…and I'm scared when you realize that for yourself, you'll break my heart in a way that I won't ever recover from."

"Fuck, Layla," Arne whispered.

"Don't argue with me about it. You wanted to know how I felt, and that's the truth." She bumped her knee against his. "Your turn."

Arne leaned back on the couch, resting his head on the back to look up at the ceiling. Layla stared at the curve of his neck and Adam's apple, her fingers tingling with the need to touch him.

"My father is a monster, and my mother didn't know even after she mated with him," he began softly. "He is her true mate, and she still loves him despite everything he's done because that's how strong the bond is. I'm scared that one day the power I have from Vili, the beast that lives inside of me, will take over. I understand how you feel obligated to be the best you can all the time for the good of your family. To have value. I have always tried to be the perfect son and the perfect prince so that no one will think I'm anything like my father. That I'm not tainted or a liability. But what if I am? I can't remember a lot about when Vili enchanted me, but I remember enough to know I did some horrible things. He commanded me to. When he put the magic on me, he said that he would make me a monster so that I could never return to my life because everyone would hate me like they hate him."

"What a fucking asshole," Layla hissed, her temper flaring. "You are nothing like him, and you can't be responsible for whatever he made you do. It wasn't you, Arne."

He turned his head to the side to look at her. "But what if it is me? I don't deserve someone as kind and brave and beautiful as you to be my mate, Layla. I could be some fucked up magical time bomb, just waiting for the right moment to go off."

"You aren't Vili, Arne." Layla reached across and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You have an incredible power inside of you, but if I remember anything about Charlotte's long lectures about magic it's this—you inherit potential, but it's how you use it and shape it that is individual. Vili might have given you power, but only you can decide how to use it. He clearly wanted you to be his weapon because he can shape that potential in you. You haven't learned to use it, so it's like a blank canvas. You can still use it how you choose to, Arne."

Arne was staring at her, wide-eyed. "You really believe that?"

"I wouldn't have gone into Svartalfheim if I thought you were anything like your father or had the capacity to turn into him. I hate camping, Arne. Like fucking despise it. I still sucked it up and did it because I thought you were worth the bugs and the lack of showers," Layla said, and Arne began to laugh softly. "That's not even mentioning how fucking annoying Ciara and Tor are when they are all like reading the forest and following animal trails and whatever else they were doing scratching about. It was a nightmare even before we hit the mountain."

"I can imagine," he said, and his laughter eased. "What are we meant to do now?"

"I'm not sure. Wait until Vili turns up and starts a fight?"

"I meant about us, Layla. Fuck Vili."

Layla bit the inside of her cheek. "You don't think the Norns have made a cosmic mistake by making us mates?"

"The Norns don't make mistakes. Besides, even if we weren't mates, I would still want you because you are just so…you." Arne pressed his cheek to her hand that was still on his shoulder. "Please give me a chance. We can be friends first, take things as slow as you want or need. I know you feel this connection between us that goes beyond a possibility of a mating bond."

Layla stroked her thumb over his cheek, wanting him more than she had wanted anything in her life. Her self-preservation refused to let her admit it just yet. "Okay, we can hang out on a trial basis. Get to know each other better before we decide to mate officially."

"You won't regret it." Arne moved and pressed a kiss to her wrist. Her skin tickled when he breathed her in. "Why do you always smell so good? It's like chocolate and nectarines."

"I use coca butter on my skin," she said, her butterflies fluttering as she reached for the remote. "Okay, you want to know me better. We are going to start right here. I hope you got the next six to eight hours free because we are watching The Lord of the Rings."

"I've never seen it." Arne pulled her legs up over his lap and grabbed some more popcorn. "And there's nowhere else I'd rather be."

She smiled and pressed play. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

Layla spent a lot of the first movie watching Arne's reactions to it. He seemed to give his entire focus and didn't even try and interrupt to ask questions. She expected him to get offended by the time they hit Rivendell, but he only got a small, pleased smile on his face.

"What's that grin all about? You think Arwen is hot?" Layla asked, unable to help herself.

"It's not that." Arne's thumb stroked over the curve of her ankle, making heat streak up her leg. "You love and admire these movies, yes?"

"Yeah, obviously," she said, pointing to her Legolas shirt.

"I'm smiling because I now have a human and elf relationship you love to point to as an example. If they can make it work, we can," Arne replied.

Layla gasped. "You would use Arwen and Aragorn's love for your own nefarious plans to seduce me?"

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