Her Brother, Her Mate

Hadley POV

I watch as Micah’s hands start to glow a brilliant green, Amanda setting the cauldron in them, then backing away to give him space while his hands warm the contents inside, the stone pot glowing and bubbling as it heats.

He starts chanting words I can not understand, most likely Latin from the familiarity of the words. His eyes glow entirely green, his hair lifting from invisible wind blowing it back as magic bleeds out of him.

Amanda goes to the opposite side of the pentagram, raising her hands and chanting along with him. Her hands and eyes glow a vibrant orange, like a dull flame. Micah raises the cauldron in the air at the same time as Amanda raises her hands. The cauldron floats from his hands, and electricity zapped from their extended fingers. Micah’s green, Amanda’s orange.

The cauldron, now floating directly above Mitchel and Mark, begins to shake violently, pulsing and vibrating as Micah and Amanda pour their power into it.

Mark and Mitchel both tilt their heads back, their eyes starting to glow slightly like their father’s and Amanda’s, only theirs are blue, like ice. The more the cauldron shakes, the brighter their eyes start to glow, until their pupils are no longer visible in the brilliant blue haze. Their faces are contorted, like they are straining to remain in place as they lift their hands slowly, in perfect coordination, until they are fully outstretched toward the floating cauldron above them.

A green smoke engulfs their entire bodies, drifting up in the air as their father’s binding lifts from them, being replaced with a brilliant ice-blue glow.

Finally, the cauldron explodes, the contents racing toward the brother’s glowing blue hands, the power filling them as they cry out from the impact. The entire room shudders as a wave of power radiates from them both, pushing out and being sucked back in like a mushroom cloud, making both of them fall from the impact.

Vivian and I are grasping each other’s hands, curled into one another from the impact and intensity of their power. It radiates off of them in waves, their bodies continuing to glow blue, even after Micah and Amanda’s magic fades and they return to normal.

“It is finished,” Micah stated breathlessly. “You both have the ability to harness limitless power, and share with each other. This will be both a blessing and a curse if you don’t learn to control yourselves. Now that it has been given back to you, you will need a steady flow of magic, but that shouldn’t be an issue now that you have a mate to help with that. A seer at that. You will both be meeting with me every morning for the next several months to learn to use your magic. I’ll give you a few days with your mate, then training begins.”

Mitchel and Mark are groaning in the now destroyed pentagram, rolling around in the gritty substance, bits of the destroyed cauldron lying around them.

“Here,” Micah helped Mark to his feet, gripping his shoulders until he was steady, then helped Mitchel get to his feet. Mark takes a water bottle from Amanda, gulping it down like he was dying of thirst, while Mitchel stares down at his hands, watching the blue glow recede inside him, then opening and closing his fists.

Mitchel looks over at me briefly, his glowing blue eyes fading into their normal stormy gray before he looks away, sending another pang through my abdomen.

Mark walked over to me after throwing the emptied water bottle over his shoulder, Amanda giving him a dirty look, picking it up off the ground, then handing a new water bottle to Mitchel.

Mark grabs hold of my hands, pulls me to my feet as I’m still struggling to manage the pain in my stomach, then grips my face with his large, warm hands. He brought his mouth down on mine so fast, I didn’t see it coming. His lips feel so amazing against mine, the pain inside me is soon forgotten as his mouth claims me, his tongue caressing my seam until I grant it access.

His tongue invades, dancing against my own, making me m**n into his mouth. The sparks are so soothing and amazing. I’ve never felt anything like this before. He’s skilled, that much I can tell. The way he sucks my lips, tilts my face and directs it with his hand, his tongue flexing and relaxing against mine sends shivers down my spine, a different sensation building in my belly. A need greater than I felt any time before.

I need him. With the way Mitchel is treating me, I need Mark more than ever. I want him. I want him to claim me and alleviate the pain his brother is causing me, completely chasing it away.

“I’ve wanted to do that for days,” Mark whispers, his hands sliding down to my neck, looking deeply into my eyes. “Honey,” he chuckles, “You taste like you smell. Honey and lavender.”

My lips curved up at his words. I wrap my arms around his waist, resting my cheek on his shoulder as he holds me against him. My eyes met Mitchel’s, his face full of sorrow and longing, confusing me. Why has he been ignoring me all night just to look at me like I’m breaking his heart now?

“You guys are cute,” Vivian gushes, “Go on now. You three have business to take care of. Take tomorrow off, Hadley. The next day too. You will need it,” she chuckles, making me blush.

She shoos us out of the suite out into the hall, leaving the three of us alone in an awkward state. Mark has his arm firmly around my waist, but Mitchel is standing off to the side, looking everywhere but at us.

Mark releases me and walks over to his brother, grabbing the collar of his shirt and shoving him against the wall.

“What the hell is your problem!?”

I’ve been wanting to ask him that all night, but it hurts me to see Mark being aggressive toward his brother, my other mate. I reached for him, setting my hand on his back.

“Let’s all go somewhere else. Don’t do this in the hall outside your parent’s place.”

Mark relaxed slightly, pushing his brother and straightening out his body to lean away from him. He grabs my hand, pulling me to him. “My room. Now. You are going to tell us what is going on. You are f*****g hurting her by acting like a prick and it’s going to stop.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Mitchel nods, but doesn’t say anything as he walks away, going down the hall on his own, making Mark growl at his cold behavior.

We followed behind until we came to a suite at the end of the hall, Mitchel pulling out a keycard from his wallet and letting himself in. He sits on the armchair in the living area, leaning back and closing his eyes like he was exhausted, and about to do something even more strenuous.

“What the f**k, Mitch? What the hell is your problem? If s**t went badly with Suzie, that doesn’t justify you treating our mate like s**t. Do you know how much pain she has been in all night because of the way you were treating her? Did you even realize she was clutching her stomach the entire time we were there? Do you just not give a f**k?” Mark started beating his brother down with question after question. Who is Suzie? Was he treating me like that because of another woman?

“You’re right,” Mitchel says softly, finally looking up at us, “This isn’t fair to you, Hadley. I’m not….” he stops talking, looking away like he is in pain for a moment. He takes a deep breath, then looks back at me, his eyes hardening, their stormy color solidifying like he has resolved himself to do whatever it was he was about to do.

“I, Mitchel Meyers, son to Vivian and Micah Meyers, reject you, Hadley Hart, as my mate.”

I stumble back as the impact of his words breaks something inside me; deep in that place that has been throbbing and sending me stabbing pains all night. I buckle over, pain radiating through my entire body. It’s like a hole is opening up inside of me. I clutched at my stomach for several minutes, my vision blurring with the pain.

When my vision returns, I see Mark straddling Mitchel, pounding into him, Mitchel not fighting back, taking blow after blow as Mark growls and snarls, cursing at him for what he just did.

I stumbled to my feet, walking over to them, resting my hand on Mark’s shoulder.

“You can reject me, Mitchel. That’s fine. I accept that. Just know, I’m rejecting you too. Don’t appear in front of me again because I’m not playing this game with you. You might need me, I don’t need you, not if you are going to treat my feelings and bond to you like trash. Go to Suzie or whatever her name is, and I hope she was worth it, because you just lost the woman who was supposed to be the other half of your f*****g soul for good.” I don’t know how, but I managed to say all that without crying or buckling over again, but I can’t hold myself upright much longer. I can’t withstand this pain much longer.

I walked toward the door I was hoping led to Mark’s bedroom, and thankfully it was. I close the door before I give into the pain radiating inside me, falling to Mark’s bed and curling in on myself, letting the heat building behind my eyes overflow, my sobs wracking my entire body until I can hear my heartbeat in my head, my body weighed down with the grief of his rejection.

I don’t need him. I don’t want him…..but I know deep down that’s not true. I do. I thought he loved me. I thought he was the brother I could always depend on; the one who would always love and cherish me. He proved me wrong, and I don’t know if I can ever forgive him for that.

Mitch POV

The moment the words left my mouth, I knew I needed to take them back. I knew I needed to reverse the rejection, but before I could say anything, as I watched Hadley bent over, falling to the ground as she was clenching her small body in pain, Mark attacked me, punching me in the face.

He knocked me on my a*s, raining blow after blow, which I gladly accepted. I deserved it. I deserve this pain. I deserve his wrath for hurting our mate. I need to fix it. I need to take it back and do anything I can to fix this. I have to.

I let my fear of Suzie’s threat overtake me all night, then watching as Hadley was hurting with my insecurities and internal struggles, debating all night if I should reject her to save Suzie, I made a rash decision, and I wanted nothing more than to take it back. f**k Suzie and her demented thinking. I’m letting her ruin my life and hurt my mate, which I swore I would never let happen. I need to fix this. I have to. I can’t lose Hadley. I can’t lose my mate now that I have finally found her.

Mark continued to punch my face, and I let him. He’s knocking more and more sense in me with each blow.

Then, the blows stop. He stops punching me and Hadley’s velvety voice, sounding raw with emotion, cuts through the pain I’m feeling. I can barely see her because of the state of my face and my swollen eyes, but her voice is filled with resolve.

It’s too late. I can’t fix this. She not only accepted, she said the words. She rejected me too. Maybe not formally like wolves are taught, but it does the job. The fragile tether that was barely holding us together breaks with her words, and I howl, a hole tearing inside me, my beast breaking from the impact of our missing bond. I lost her. I f****d everything up and now it’s too late. She said she never wanted to see me again. She thinks I rejected her for Suzie, which I did, but not for the reason she thinks. I can’t fix this. I can’t get her back. It’s too late. It’s too f*****g late.

My body is thrashing from the pain, and it takes me several minutes, hours, days, who f*****g knows to regain my senses enough to tell that I’m being moved. Mark is carrying me, tossing me onto my bed in my room.

“I don’t know why you f*****g did it, and I don’t give a s**t. You f****d up. You f****d up bad. When you heal, get your a*s out of here. I’m not going to have you hurting her more. You lost her, but she is still mine, and I’ll be damned if I allow for you to f**k up her emotions and bond even more than you already did.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I whimper like a kicked mutt. “I love her. I didn’t mean to-”

“Didn’t mean to break her like you did. f**k you. You said the words, Mitch. You rejected her. Now live with it.”

I curl in on myself, tears pouring from my swollen eyes. What did I do? What the f**k did I just do?

I lost the woman that means more to me than anything else in the world. I f*****g lost my mate.