Cedric knew that he was lying to himself and pretending, but he deemed it necessary to sever his connection with Marisol.
He convinced himself that he was doing it for her. Ever since Marisol had arrived at Redwood, she’d had every and all of her decisions made for her, and Cedric did not want to be a part of that any more than he already was.
He’d heard the longing and desperation in her voice when she told him that she wanted to go home more than anything. He couldn’t be so selfish as to take the possibility of that away from her entirely. If they mated, Marisol would have to remain in Redwood with him. She would set him free but remain trapped. He couldn’t do that to her.
So far, he had lost everything he loved to Guinevere, and he couldn’t stand to lose Marisol too. Deep inside, he was scared that the moment he claimed her, he would lose her too.
Despite knowing all this and being convinced that he was doing a good job keeping her away, Cedric was going crazy without her. When she stopped coming to the hidden castle, Cedric almost felt the last threads of his sanity snap, and on impulse, he’d demanded that Caleb ready the room next to hers for him, saying that would guarantee her better security, seeing as Caleb hadn’t done anything right and couldn’t be trusted with Marisol’s safety.
He tried to tell himself that he was doing it because Marisol was an instrument in breaking his curse and deserved to be protected.
Cedric is ashamed to admit the fact that he began following her everywhere, trailing behind her despite having told her just a while ago that he wouldn’t deprive her of her privacy and freedom. Fortunately, she spent most of her time indoors, sulking, if her sour scent was anything to go by, so he didn’t have to worry about her safety much.
However, that afternoon, he’d returned from a meeting with the council to find Marisol missing. He hadn’t noticed it immediately because he’d been worn out from hours of arguing with the council members. They were increasingly dogged in their bid to reinstate him as Alpha, cemented in their ridiculous belief that he’d been set free from the curse because he’d been in human form for a while now. They deemed him stable enough.