My fist still burned from hitting my mate on his face. I rubbed my knuckles repeatedly, trying to soothe the stinging sensation there.
I'm not supposed to be jealous.
Well, fuck that. Of course, I would be jealous. Someone else had kissed my mate, and I didn't know why it had happened.
I stormed into my bedroom, still couldn't shake off the visual of Theo's lips on Jace's. Jace was mine; his lips were for me alone, not for some random guy.
Is Theo really just a random guy in Jace's life?
I let out a loud grumble. I had the urge to throw things. I wanted to punch a mirror and watch as the shards cut into my skin. Above all else, I wanted to go out and find Theo and literally murder him by putting a bullet into his heart.
I tried to suppress my tears but it only left a heavy burning pain in my chest. I pressed my face into a pillow and screamed; I didn't want anyone to hear me.
Jace should've kissed me, not that asshole who had almost killed him yesterday!
I took out my cell phone and pulled up the text message that was sent about an hour ago. I dialed the unknown number and already knew who would pick up.
"Hello?"
I knew it.
I'd never hated anything or anyone so much in my life before, but Theo's voice was like gasoline on my burning heart. I clawed into the mattress, my sight turned monochromatic. My emotions were out of control and I had to calm down. Focus, I thought to myself. Nothing's going to work if you keep panicking around like this.
"Who the fuck is this?" Theo asked over the silence.
"You pathetic bastard," I growled. "What kind of question is that? You texted this number."
A static silence came out from the phone. The fire in my chest burned wilder; I could feel my whole body growing hot.
"Answer me, you coward!" I screamed. "What do you want? Why are you doing this to Jace?"
I knew Theo planned all of this. I remembered the way he noticed me hiding behind the trees as I followed Jace from behind. He knew I was coming and the kiss he and Jace had shared was obviously strategized.
I breathed out and gripped the phone so hard I was pretty sure it would shatter in my palm. My heart raced and I was trembling. My hands were sweaty. This was not good.
Silence.
"Fuck off, you faggot."
The line went dead.
I crashed backwards onto the mattress and closed my eyes, breathing to relieve the heaviness in my chest. I felt like screaming and obliterating everything near me. The anger throbbed in my head and chest.
"Jordan?"
I flinched at the voice and sat up.
Jace appeared at the doorway. I didn't want to look at him; I didn't want to see the area of his face my fist had connected with not too long ago. My heartache collided with my anger, leaving the pain to intensify more in my chest. I focused on calming myself and tried to forget.
"Jordan," Jace pleaded, crouching by my feet, "what you witnessed wasn't what you thought it was."
I turned to him.
"I was there and you didn't even pull away from kissing him, Jace," I said, trying to sound calm. "Why?"
"It's hard to explain, but—"
"But you have to explain."
He reached for my hands and I let him take them. My fingers laced with his. I pulled him up so he could sit beside me on the bed.
Tears trickled down his cheek. "It's—it's my fault."
"Jace, please," I grumbled, shivering as I spoke. "You're freaking me out. Please. Just tell me the truth."
"No," he said, "I should've told you this earlier. It shouldn't have waited until now."
"Just let it go and tell me."
"First of all," he stammered, "he framed me. Theo, he knew you were coming—"
"Skip that," I said. "I already knew."
His eyes widened, and the sunlight from the window made his tears shimmer. Reaching over, I brushed the tears from his face. He smiled, taking my hand and putting it on his cheek, pressing on it and like he didn't want to let me go.
"It's okay," I murmured. "Tell me."
"Theo and I . . . we . . . back then . . . last year, we . . . we were dating."
I could feel myself flinching at the revelation, but I tried to retain an outward appearance of calm. "And?"
"And . . ." he continued, "God, how do I start? We began to know each other at the school Sports Expo trip last year. The school sent two representatives for Bloomingdale High. During the trip he told me how he had secretly observed me. I was confused and then . . . that's when he . . . he kissed me."
If I had paid more attention to Jace before discovering our mate bond, I might have noticed Jace and Theo's close friendship. Theo was Bloomingdale High's basketball star and Jace was the school's quarterback. Jace had always been in the group of athletic jocks at school, but he had been closer to Theo than anyone else too. The thought of he and Theo dating now made sense to me.
"And?" I asked.
"And I was confused," he said. "I fooled around with the girls but they never really wanted to, you know, be more serious with me. So I thought Theo was the only one who wanted something more than a hookup so . . . I got into it. And I thought I could like him, you know?"
I sighed and looked away when I sensed my eyes getting wet again. This boy, who I never thought wanted anything more than sex, had craved affection, and I knew nothing about it.
"Hey," Jace whispered as he pulled me on to his chest. Smelling his scent, I felt calmer, so I kept barreling my face into his body.
"I didn't love him, okay? We never had that chemistry. Our relationship wasn't what I expected it to be," Jace continued.
"How can I not know all of this?" I whispered into his clothes.
"It's my fault, Jordan. I'm truly sorry."
I took a deep breath again.
"What happened next?" I asked.
His hand lingered around my head, twirling my short curls in his fingers.
"I was ready to let all of you know about us, about me dating a guy. But when Theo found out I was going to do that, he went crazy and we had a fight. He didn't want to be outed yet, and I told him it was irrelevant because nobody cared anymore. Then he went on and said, 'If you want people to know what a faggot you are, go on. I'm not joining you.'"
Jace laughed and stared outside the window. I could only let out a smidgen of chuckle to Jace's imitation of Theo; I was too hurt to laugh.
"When he said that," he continued, "I lost control and punched him in the face."
That explained why Theo and him had gotten into it. Everything they told us was a lie.
"So he made everyone believe you two were fighting over Heather?" I asked him.
"Yes," Jace said, smiling at me. "Heather found out about that bullshit he was spreading to the whole school and started dating him. Clever, wasn't it?"
"Well, he isn't so clever now."
Jace chuckled and pressed my lips with his slowly. When he kissed me, everything felt normal again, like nothing had been wrong between us.
"Just so you know," I told Jace, "that you do deserve the punch."
"I do," Jace agreed. "I'm really sorry, Jordan. If I were you, I might act crazier."
"If I had been the one to kiss Theo, you might have literally killed that dude. Just saying," I said.
Jace let out a heavy breath, pulling away from me. "I'm sorry. It's—ugh, I don't know what else to say. I really didn't mean to hurt you."
I looked at him, and I knew he saw the pain in my eyes. I didn't want to hide it anymore. Maybe Jace needed the guilt he had.
"You can't do this to me like that again," I said, looking away. "You might think that because we have a mate bond, I can forgive you easily."
Jace went on a dead silence. When I turned to him, he was looking at his lap, more tears running down his face.
"Do you even hear me?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Good," I said. "Now tell me the rest of the story. We don't need to hide anything from each other anymore."
He took a deep breath and continued. "Well, after the fight we had, I was pretty fucked up. But I could already sense that you were near, and I got pretty messed up with our mate bond I couldn't pay more attention to Theo any longer."
"And then I came into the picture, fucking around with your head," I said, chuckling.
"Yep, then the unthinkable happened; everyone found out that you were my mate, including that closeted case. Now he wants me back. He wants to take me away from you."
"Just like old times, eh, Mr. Andrews, getting seized by girls and boys?"
Jace busted out in laughter.
"You can say that," he answered. "But it doesn't matter now. Thanks for giving me another chance, Jordan."
I pulled myself up, reached out to his face and kissed him. "Sure, man. Honestly, I'm just tired. I'm tired of having to pull away from you again. We'd been too fucked up to go against each other again, Jace."
Jace nodded.
I continued, "Still, I'm not the first boy you kissed."
I let out a pretend-sigh, pouting.
"But you are the first and the last person I would be in love with," Jace told me.
I rolled my eyes. "You might have said that to all the chicks you dated before."
"I'm serious," he urged, trying to convince me.
You might have said that, too, I was going to say to him. But I ignored the words in my head; instead I leaned in closer and stared right into his eyes.
"I love you," the words trembled on my tongue. It was funny how those three words came out of my mouth awkwardly even after all the kissing and the touching we'd done.
"Are you sure?" he asked, lifting his eyebrows.
"Yep, I'm a hundred percent positive. I'm sure you know I've been in love with you for a while now."
"What makes you say that?" Jace asked.
Well, we're mates," I said. "You are in love with me, and that can only mean one thing. A mate does not simply miss his other, because if he misses his mate, the other mate might've been missing him too."
Jace lifted his eyebrows.
"That means," I added, "that I am in love with you, too."
Jace chuckled and pressed his lips to mine again. He pushed me so I lay on my back, sliding his hand underneath my T-shirt—
My phone rang.
"Damn it," I groaned, slipping my hands into my pocket to pick up the phone. "Wait—hello?"
A series of wet sobs came out of the phone. I couldn't decipher more but I was pretty certain the disturbing noises were sounds from someone trying to stifle their weeping.
"Hello? Who is this?" I panicked.
"J—Jordan."
Sunny.
"Sunny, are you okay? What happened?" I asked.
"Can you come over for a while?" she pleaded. "Just for a while, please."
* * * *
Tracy was at the door when I arrived at Sunny's house, watering some plants. She smiled at me as I greeted her.
"May I see Sunny?" I asked.
"Of course, darling," she responded, looking very cheerful. "Where's Jace, though?"
"He's at my place," I told her.
"Okay," said Sunny's mom. "She's upstairs in her bedroom."
I sprinted toward her bedroom and found her sitting in front of a mirror, her face smudged with black ink which I was positive was caused by her eyeliner. Blotches of red lipsticks covered her mouth.
"Are you okay?" I said as I approached her, touching her shoulder. "God, I thought you were like . . . being shot or something!"
"Relax," she said, her voice was monotonous. "I'm okay."
"No, you're not," I slid her hair over her shoulders. "You were crying and I need to know why.""
She sighed and gripped both of my shoulders. Her blank expression changed, and she burst out in tears again.
She fell over me and put her face on my chest, pushing me down onto the floor.
"Hey," I murmured, "it's okay. Everything's fine. You can tell me."
"It's your fault," she muffled through my clothes. "You shouldn't have—"
She was shrieking and I couldn't decipher the next words she said.
"I shouldn't have what, Sunny?"
Her crying only became more hysterical with my question.
"God, seriously, you're freaking me the hell out! You called me and cried like—"
"You shouldn't have brought Adam into our pack! Now I have to deal with falling in love with him!"
My jaw dropped in shock and the rush of panic I felt since hearing Sunny sobs over the phone evaporated.
"You—what—falling in love—what do you mean?" I asked.
She leaned into me and cried into my shirt again. I tried to comfort her, but the eagerness of finding out what was going took up all my attention.
"I'm—his—mate."
"You're what?" I shrieked.
"Don't make me repeat it!" she screamed and pulled herself up. "He's my mate, Jordan! Adam Holbrook, he's my fucking mate! That weird best friend of yours shares a mate bond with me!"
I watched Sunny in terror as she paced back and forth. What the fuck did I just hear? It sounded peculiar and impossible. Adam, who Sunny had spent the previous few weekends arguing with, was her mate? My mortal friend Adam, had the other half of my other best friend's soul?
"Wait a second—" I said as I started to stand up.
"No, Jordan, you can't be excited right now," she said.
"I mean—I'm not excited, I'm just—"
"Liar," she said, throwing me a look.
"Okay, a little, but—"
"Jordan, it's bad! It's fucking bad!" she groaned.
"Why would it be?" I asked.
"Okay, I was feeling these little sparks before school ended and I repressed it like—like, I don't know, a moron? And I got really angry and—God, I don't know, Jordan. I was such a bitch and until recently, he really thought he was a jerk. Then, with me and my fucked up little mind, I kissed him."
She threw herself on the bed and continued sobbing into the pillow. Was it coincidence, or did finding a mate just completely turned a person into a crybaby?
"When did you kiss him?" I asked.
"An hour ago," she told me. "I mean, I'd never kissed anyone other than that dorky guy during the full moon party last year. Now I'm such a great kisser Adam immediately fell for my charm."
"Fell for what—what the hell are you talking about?" I asked.
"I told him I was sorry and escaped," she explained. "We were meeting somewhere in town just now, and he went all, 'It's okay, I understand everything, Sunny. Don't go, please, I like you, and I understand' and shit. Like, he doesn't get it, Jordan! How can I explain this without appearing like a bitch because before this I told him he was not my type at all—"
"Wait, Sunny, hold on." I ran to her and held her shoulder. "Look at me."
"I don't want it to be this way, Jordan," she cried again, wiping her tears. "He's a sweet guy. I thought I hated sweet guys before but, no, I like him. I like him and all his flaws. But I screwed everything up. I'm a total bitch—"
"Hey, listen, I get it, okay?" I said. "And I get what Adam was trying to tell you."
"What do you mean, you get him? He's a confused mortal; he doesn't know what he is feeling."
"What, do you think he just thinks Jace and I are boyfriends? Of course not, Sunny—I told him all about mates," I told her.
"What—he knows about mates?" Sunny asked, wide-eyed.
"Yep. He's even flipped through the Guide. I'm pretty sure he's interested in all this mating stuff, you know? I guess that's why he thinks he understands what you're going through."
"Ugh," she said, throwing herself on her bed. "It doesn't make me feel better! I am still a bitch, I even belittled him on this issue—"
"Stop saying that," I groaned. "You're not a bitch."
"I am."
"You're not!" I shot at her in a humorous tone.
"Jordan, I'm not joking!"
I laughed. "Okay, okay. Nothing's actually wrong. At least I have a friend who can now relate to my mating issues. Adam's so into you, Sunny. He's hung up on you since, I don't know, freshmen year?"
"Ugh, I've been thinking about that. I don't think he'll feel the same way later. I know you know better." She let out sighs when I reached out and hugged her.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is what he thinks of you now," I murmured in her ears as she held me tight.
"I've always thought it was all fun business, you know?" she replied. "All of this hey-I-found-my-mate thing, it's harder when it hits you. I never thought it would be my turn now."
"We always think we're still too young. While finding a mate is all just kind of fucking random," I said. It was good to hear her laugh, even if it was only a little chuckle.
"I didn't even bother to find out if it was hard for you when your time came," she cried. "I'm such a bitch."
"There you go again. Stop saying that. Sure, it was hard for me, but now as I'm looking at you, I think we're not that different."
She pulled away and forced a smile. "I wish you told me more about it as a warning about what I was going to face. I wasn't prepared at all when I found out, Jordan."
I snorted. "Sunny, Adam might be weird, but he's just a guy, too. Go out on a date with him, get to know him—there's nothing to be prepared about."
"I wish I had said something similar to you when you found out about Jace," she replied with sarcasm.
"Jace is different, Sunny," I responded. "He's the future Alpha and triple times Combat victor."
"Speaking of the Combat, I'm sorry for what happened," she said. "I don't know what's wrong with Theo. He's been fishy lately."
It turned out differently in my head, already knowing Theo's issues with Jace. My mate didn't want to be with him and he decided to take him down in rage. Maybe it sounded crazy, but it seemed like he would rather see Jace with no one at all than to face the facts that Jace was going to be with his mate.
Sunny turned side to side, looking doubtful about something.
"Are you okay now?" I asked.
"There's something I want to tell you," she whispered, wiping her tears away. "I suspect something during the Combat. It was Theo."
"What's wrong with him?"
"I think someone helped him. I think . . . Parker Sebastian, I think he helped Theo win against Jace."
I almost protested, but I recalled when I was sitting helplessly on my seat. We had been waiting for Jace to shift as a sign that he had surrendered, but nothing had happened. Then I noticed the half-wizard half-vampire taking his wand out. Something had happened—something I couldn't decipher, but then Jace was back in his human form again.
"That . . . that can't be true."
"It's possible," Sunny told me. "That morning, Theo wasn't around because he went to the Tent with Parker. I asked some people and they spotted that vampire around for a while. You see, the fight was weird. He was as still as stone and then he threw Jace like he was marshmallow. It's ridiculous!"
Parker Sebastian knew he was powerful enough, so if he wanted to kill Jace it would've happened. Tremor crawled into me like poison. If Theo wanted Jace, he could've just asked Parker to charm him so he would forget me and go straight to him—
No. Mate bond couldn't be broken—it was still impossible even after years and years of attempts.
"Well," I finally spoke, "if Theo used Parker, he should've won, right? But he didn't."