Chapter Thirteen- Two Buzzkills

The back of Teddy’s hand smacked at my ass cheek. “Get up, Tess. C’mon. You have to get ready.”

The down pillows the boys bought for my bed were like the softest spring clouds, and I pulled one over my head. After I blocked out the light and the sound of his voice, I flipped my middle finger in the direction I last saw him in. “I’m not speaking to you. Get out.”

The puffy white down blanket peeled off my body as he yanked it down from the foot of the bed. “You can be mad after the wedding. We have stuff to do in the meantime.”

I backed away from the bright morning light pouring in from the window and made for the bathroom. “I won’t be here. I’m leaving right after the ceremony.”

It was kind of a ridiculous statement. I know he doesn’t seem like much, but my brother is a warlock. If he wanted to, he could use a spell to bind me here forever, and there wouldn’t be a damn thing I could do about it. In fact, since we’re twins, my powers multiply his, making him even that much more powerful.

A warlock isn’t just a male witch. He’s kind of like an officer in an army. I’m a badass witch, but even I don’t think I can compete with a properly provoked warlock. If he ever gets his shit together, he could rule the world if he wanted to.

Lucky for me, he never could entirely control his inner demons. Whereas all of mine followed me around like a legion of rabid junkyard dogs, always ready to tear stuff up.

The bathroom door flung open, and he stood there looking at me as I started the shower. I wasn’t undressed or anything. I just wanted to piss him off. “Get out, you fucking perv.” We feed off each other’s emotions, and the angrier I got, the more aggressive he became. If one of us didn’t walk away soon, it would get messy. 

When we were children and got into a fight once, we destroyed one of Haldir’s houses. Seriously, we ripped it from its foundation like a tornado. Teenage witches are a pain in the ass because of all the raging hormones, but two of them stuck in a house in a bad mood was a recipe for disaster.

My finger pointed at him as my other hand batted at the water to see if it was hot yet. “If I had to make a list of shit that was impossible, you being a goddamn traitor would’ve been on that list.”

See, the one rule we witches really follow is that you never betray your coven. It’s a death sentence. He chose this family over me and what I wanted, and if I wanted to, I could have his ass hanged for it.

Leaning against the doorway, he rolled his eyes and sighed through his nose. “Stop being so dramatic. I did this for you.”

I dug through my bag for my toothbrush and chuckled. “Alright, I’ll bite. Tell me how being tied down to these two buzzkills is in my best interest.”

He pushed himself onto the vanity beside me. “Sugar, I want you to be happy, and I know you could be happy here. All this nonsense about how you don’t want to be tied down to just one person is Haldir talking. He can’t ever have this- a family of his own and someone to be happy with- so he’s just trying to keep you from having it too. He doesn’t give a shit about your happiness. He just doesn’t want to lose his little buddy.”

I wrinkled my nose as my toothbrush flung at him. “You have a lot of fucking nerve saying that shit after all he did for us. You got no loyalty at all.” My brother and I were inclined to being selfish and vindictive. It’s just what we are. But seeing him do his best to manipulate me just so he could hurt our father was too much. “Just leave me the fuck alone so I can get ready.”

The door shut behind him, and I looked in the mirror. I got more money than I can spend, my own house, and powers that no one’s ever seen before, but every man I come across thinks they know what’s best for me like I’m some child.

I didn’t intend to meet my mates, if that’s what they are, while I was so young. I’m going to look like this for at least a couple hundred years, and it seemed a shame to waste it. These two would definitely kill any good times I intended to have.

I don’t do well when I’m cornered like an animal. I’ll lash out and do something stupid, and I knew I needed to get back home as soon as possible to ground myself. Whatever kind of delusions my brother suffers concerning Haldir, he was my center. Since the day my parents died, his single focus has been Teddy and me, and I trusted him with my very soul.

When the steam in the bathroom cleared as I opened the door, Jacob was waiting on the bed. “I heard you and Teddy.” His finger flicked at his ear. “I’m a wolf, remember.”

My eyebrow arched at him as I grabbed the dress from the back of the door. “And?”

His hands rubbed up and down his slacks before he pushed himself up to face me. “You’re just going to leave us?”

I passed by him without even stopping. “That’s right.”

His hip dug into the doorway as he watched me put on my makeup. “You'd be happy here if you just gave it a chance.”

My makeup brush pointed at him as I decided which shade to try. “I can pretty much guarantee that I wouldn’t be happy, and neither would you.” I dropped the palette on the counter and crossed my arms. “Listen, Jacob, I like you. But I also like my life the way it is. Being forced to live with two men I don’t even know because some magic force I don’t even give a shit about tells me is crazy.”

He tugged at the towel that covered me and pulled me closer. “If you leave, then you never get to know us. I get that you weren’t ready for us, but we’re here, and we’re ready for you now. Just give it a chance.”

I rolled my eyes, and he ducked to meet them. “Is it because of last night? What Logan and I did?”

“That’s part of it.” My hands cupped his cheeks because I didn’t want to hurt him. “I’m just not the kind of person who likes being tied down. I’ll only make you two miserable. I’m not a good person, Jacob. I’m mean, and I’m smart-mouthed, and eventually, the two of you will hate me.”

His hands wrapped around mine, and he held them on his chest between us. “I don’t believe that at all. I know you feel this thing between us. It’s not just my imagination.”

My lips twisted as my eyes batted away from him. “I don’t know, Jacob. Whatever I feel, it isn’t enough to make me change. I don’t know how to. I don’t want to.” I unwrapped my fingers from his grasp and tapped them against his chest. “And if you guys care about me the way you say you do, you shouldn’t want that either. I’d just be living a lie.”

His cheeks puffed with air, and it all blew over my forehead as he rolled his teary eyes to the ceiling. He brought my hands to his lips and kissed them, then left me standing there alone.