DonovanIt took us three hours to get here.Penelope has no idea where we are and honestly… I hope that I don’t upset anyone too much. We stand in front of a small cottage and Penelope looks at me with confusion as she asks, “Where are we?”I breathe out, “This is Cora’s house.”She raises an eyebrow at me and asks, “Does Cora know we’re here?”I shake my head no and say, “She does not.”“Donovan… we can’t just show up and demand to live in her home.” Her voice sounds exasperated. She's as scared as I am that Cora will be upset over this.“I know that, Pen. But this is the safest place I could think of… I was just hoping we could stay here for the night and maybe she can help us out in some way.”She presses her lips together and nods and then brushes her hair back behind her ears as I walk to the door and knock on it.It doesn’t take long for Cora to answer me and she looks at me with narrowed eyes as she asks, “How did you know where I lived?”The corner of my mouth twitches up as I
PenelopeDonovan looks at me with wide eyes when we hear Cora yell for me. His eyes dart back and forth and I think he's tempted to tell me not to go. But then she calls out, “I won’t ask again. Get in here!”I scramble to my feet and rush into the other room where she is. She’s sitting on the couch and there’s sweat on her forehead and behind her is a foyer that wasn’t there before. My eyebrows furrow as I ask, “What’s going on?”She looks back at me and says, “Magic, dear. You want a place to sleep and stay hidden, don’t you?”I nod slowly as I say, “Yeah, I do.”“I made that. It’s how I’ve made my whole home be the way that it is. But, I’m going to conceal yours and make that door look like a bookshelf. I don’t know how long the two of you can stay here. I don’t want to draw attention to myself, but… I can’t risk the two of you getting hurt.”I nod, “Thank you, Cora.”She shrugs her shoulders and says, “Go check back there and make sure it’s enough room for you.”I smile softly as I
PenelopeIt takes half an hour before Donovan comes into our room. When he does, he immediately walks to the bed and lies down. He breathes out, enjoying the softness of the bed, and then mumbles, “Huh, surprisingly comfortable.”I roll on my side and look at him as I ask, “Are you okay?”He nods, “I’m fine, Pen. Things are just… weird right now. I trust Cora with my life… I really do. But she’s always been a bit of an enigma. She has always snapped at me if I tried to learn more about her, but then… with you, she just doesn’t seem to care. It’s weird. I mean, I’m happy that she’s being nice to you, don’t get me wrong. Just it’s very odd for me to see when she’s always come off as abrasive to me.”“It could be a gender thing,” I suggest, “She might just be more comfortable with other girls.”He nods his head but doesn't look entirely convinced as he says, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”He yawns loudly and I move my hand up and run my fingers through his dark curls and then trace my fi
DonovanBy the time I wake up, Penelope is already out of the room. The relationship between her and Cora is definitely odd. It seems like Cora actually likes her and that’s just weird for Cora.She's always been so recluse, like a hermit, seeing her get on so well with someone and that someone just happens to be my mate... I don't know, something just feels off.I walk to the kitchen and I can hear them talking, but nothing about their conversation seems substantial. As I enter the room, I say, “Morning, ladies.”I lean down to Penelope and give her a quick peck before turning to look at Cora as I ask, “Are there any towns nearby?”Her eyebrows furrow and she asks, “Why would you need to go into town?”“I need to figure out things with the businesses that I ran. They’ve been successful, but I know they can get traced back to me, and Xavier knows about almost every one of them. I would like to sell them and invest the profits in something different, so we don’t have to worry about mone
FlashbackCoraMy spell went perfectly and one of the coven leaders and my personal mentor, Lilith, praises me, “Great job, Cora.”I smile at her words and I watch as the other young witches or wizards struggle to perform the spell I just cast.I try not to show off, but magic has always come naturally to me. The spell I just did was much more advanced because we’re about to graduate from high school and can try to get into different covens.Lilith walks over to help someone else out, but not before she gives me a wink, reassuring me that I did a good job. The president of our school walks around looking thoughtful, but when his eyes landed on me he says, “You’re quite exceptional, Cora Lee.”I try not to be bashful from his words, Lilith always tells me not to shy away from others because it shows weakness. So I look at him in the eyes as I say, “Thank you, Principal Porter.”He tells me, “You’re going to have your pick of the litter whenever it comes time to apply to covens. I hope y
FlashbackCoraTheo looks between me and the other man with a frown on his face and concern shining through his eyes. He says, “Levi, what are you talking about? Cora’s my mate.”Levi… oh lord, this man could get me in some serious trouble. His skin was darker than Theo’s and made me wonder if he could be Hispanic or maybe Italian? It’s hard to tell because his facial features don’t look like either. All I know is he has perfectly tanned skin.His hair is black and his eyes are much darker than Theo’s and I wonder if it’s because his wolf is present or if it’s because they’re naturally that dark. His muscles are well defined, just like Theo’s, and dirty thoughts fill my mind being in the presence of these two attractive men.My cheeks immediately redden from those thoughts. I've never experienced them before. I have never been interested in getting into a relationship, and the only romance stuff I know is from romance novels. Levi looks me up and down, I can see the doubt through his e
FlashbackTheoI finally met my mate. I still can’t believe it. But… the one thing that troubles me is knowing that she is Levi’s mate as well.I rush to training and breathe out in relief when I made it with only a few seconds to spare before getting punished. Our trainer walks over to me and says, “Be careful not to get sloppy, Theo. You’re one of the best warriors we have and one day you could be a trainer or a captain.”I bow my head, “That’s a high compliment. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”Training felt like it lasted forever, especially when all I truly want it to go back to the forest and see Cora again. But… I need to speak with Levi.Once training ended, I walk over to him and say, “Can we talk?”“There’s nothing to talk about,” He grumbles. I huff, “Levi, we both know that she is supposed to be with both of us.”He rolls his eyes and says, “It doesn’t matter. She’s with you.”“It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Look, I know we have our disagreements, but we are cous
FlashbackCoraI scramble to my feet and I can’t help but shout, “What the hell did you do?!”I rush to grab my clothes and as I do, every naughty thing we did flashes in my head. Honestly, I don’t regret the sex. I’ve never been with anyone before and I know he’s my mate, so I’m glad I did that with him… but I NEVER gave him permission to mark me. The fact Theo did that without consulting me infuriates me.Yet he rolls on his side and watches me as I look around for everything to get dressed and he says questioningly, “I marked you?”“Well, duh! But why?!”He sits up as he says in a defensive manner, “You’re my mate.”I glare at him as I snap, “Exactly, I'm your mate! Shouldn't you value my opinion and choices? You had no right to do that without my permission!”Realization falls over his face and I shake my head and rant, “I just met you and you’ve already betrayed my trust! How am I supposed to trust you in the future?”He stands up and walks over to me and halts me from moving by w