Torn Between Souls

OTHER

“Take a left here,” I said nervously as we turned into my old neighborhood, “It’s the blue house at the end of the cul de sac.”

Matteo squeezed my thigh softly. I knew he could feel my anxiousness. The street we were on was fairly quaint. All the houses were set ¼ mile apart, and half of them were still vacant.

At the end of the road, there was a blue house with white shutters. It was two stories, with bay windows facing the road, and a large chimney. The paint was starting to peel just slightly, and the wooden roof tiles had seen better days. Matteo pulled into the driveway in the small red car we had woken up to this morning, butting up next to Roy’s green sedan.

“This was a bad idea,” I whispered.

Matteo grabbed my chin, and softly kissed me, before looking into my eyes, “Rose, they can help us find answers. I promise I will keep you safe.”

It wasn't that I didn't feel safe. I knew the inside of this house like the back of my hand. I knew my bedroom, and where Roy hid his M&M jar from Wanda. I knew which boards on the stairs creaked the most, and how quickly the back grass flooded after a storm. I was more scared that my aunt and uncle, who had for the most part raised me, would be scared of what I was.

I nodded and then took a deep breath, stepping out of the car without help. Mateo came around behind me and urged me forward. I walked down the brick path up the front door and held my hand up to knock, just as the door flew open, and there stood Wanda, Roy just behind her with his hand on her shoulder.

Wanda’s strawberry blond waves were pulled into a loose bun that half of her hair had escaped from, falling and brushing her shoulders. Her brown eyes looked back at me with concern and relief. She wore a pair of worn jeans, and a gray t-shirt, an apron tied around her frame. She was taller than me, but not by much. My uncle Roy was wearing a pair of cargo pants, and his signature long sleeve polo shirt. His light brown hair was graying slightly at his temples, as was his long beard.

My eyes instantly filled with tears at the sight of them. I had missed them so much.

“Oh Rosie girl,” my uncle murmured as my aunt engulfed me in a tight hug, and my Uncle wrapped his arms around both of us.

I began to cry. Out of happiness at seeing them, remorse for not telling them, anger for them not telling me, and everything in between. And they just held me, until my tears turned to sniffles on the front stoop, and I was quiet enough to hear Wanda sniffling too.

Roy pulled away first, “Come on, Wan, let them inside.”

Wanda slowly lifted her eyes, and, for the first time, she looked at Matteo. She looked weary and unsure.

I stepped back slightly, causing Matteo to wrap his arm around my waist lightly.

“Uncle Roy, Aunt Wanda, this is Matteo Volantin. My…” I trailed softly, not knowing how to continue.

“Mate. Fiance,” he said, smiling softly, before extending his hand towards them, “It’s a pleasure to meet you both in person.”

My face instantly paled. I wasn't against marrying Matteo, but it wasn't something I was flaunting really, and it's not like there was a ring. If anything, my heart felt heavy - like he was just putting off mating with me.

My aunt grabbed my left hand, and checked both sides. I laughed nervously, “It’s a new engagement.”

“You’d think as a loaded ancient vampire he could of at least gotten you a ring,” my aunt huffed.

“Wan!” Roy and I shouted in unison.

She shrugged and released my hand, and Roy grasped Matteo's.

“Thank you for bringing her home,” Roy said, “It’s good to meet you.”

Matteo nodded and after a moment of awkward, noticeable hesitation, they led us inside.

We stepped into the living room first. There was an old brick fireplace on the right wall, faced by a large navy couch. The navy couch I knew you couldn’t sit on the far left of unless there was someone on the right or else you’d tip. There was a weathered coffee table and a beige rug atop the worn oak hardwoods underfoot. To my left was the staircase, with its white banister, and the four missing spools I had knocked out when I tripped down the stairs wearing socks one time. We walked further in, through a door into the formal dining room, where a big round table stood proudly, surrounded with eight mismatched chairs in various stages of DIY.

My aunt led us into the kitchen, with its faded yellow cabinets. The tile floors here had seen better days, but the happy island with it’s robin egg stools still stood proudly in the center and I smiled to myself. The slider to the backyard was open despite the cool weather, facing the vast yard that contained a well, before expanding back further towards a small creek and a forested area. My uncle gestured for us to sit in the breakfast nook, the built-in bench there creaking softly under Matteo’s towering frame.

Roy pulled a stool up to the far side of the table, and my aunt went to the coffee pot. She tapped hard on the buttons until it started to brew.

“I can recommend an excellent coffee pot, Wanda,” Matteo chirped proudly, “We missed you for the holiday, so maybe it cou-”

My aunt turned around and narrowed her eyes at Matteo, “Don’t touch my coffee pot.”

Matteo’s eyebrows raised, and I burst into a fit of giggles. Uncle Roy laughed and shook his head softly. Matteo looked down at me, hooking a brow in question.

“Wanda is very attached to her appliances. I tried to buy her a new toaster when I got my first job because this one always burns the top right half of the bread, and the rest is always slightly underdone, and she dragged me to the mall and made me return it,” I smiled wistfully, remembering that specific day with a fondness.

Matteo chuckled softly, and nodded his head, “Understood.”

My aunt served four cups of coffee and set them in front of us, and then she sighed deeply and trained her eyes on me. Her eyebrows were scrunched up, and I knew she was serious. Now, she wanted answers now. I hadn’t been looking forward to this and was hoping that we would be able to exchange some more small talk before we jumped in. But that wasn't Wanda.

“So, I’m a witch,” I said quietly, “And you are a witch too.”

She nodded, “Tell us what you know.”

I went on to fill them in. I went back to the beginning and detailed the wolf attack I had called them about. I told them about James, and the were that was following me. I told them about all the times my magic had creeped out. About Elisa, and Marianne, and Matteo and I, and my apartment, and Seda.

By the time I had finished, I was in tears, and so was Wanda.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you about your mum and dad sweetie,” she said, shaking her head, “They were so firm about the fact that we couldn’t tell you anything, anything at all, until after you had met...Matteo.”

“Excuse me?” Matteo said quickly, and I bit my bottom lip, turning away.

I knew this was going to come up. I just knew it. Why was I so stupid? I should have told him right away… I had just gotten him back and now I was going to lose him again.

Wanda looked at me suspiciously, “How do you know what I’m talking about?”

“And why does he not?” Roy continued.

I sighed, leaning forward on the table, and rubbing my temples.

“Rose!” my aunt snapped at me.

Instantly Matteo growled, and I looked up expecting him to be angry at me, but he was gazing at Wanda.

“Stop! I’m sorry I…” I looked up at Matteo, and waited for his eyes to meet mine, “I should have told you right after I woke up after Seda.”

He looked at me with concern, and just the tiniest bit of anger, nodding for me to continue.

I closed my eyes, and clutched my coffee cup, “After Seda threw me into the...pit, I spoke to my mother.”

“You hallucinated your mum?” Wanda asked quickly.

“No, I...I spoke to her. She said it was a part of the spell they used to bind my magic. It was one of the conditions of the spell that when my magic began to unravel, she would come to-to tell me a story.”

“She told me about my sister, my twin sister, and how, when they had her, they purposely gave her to the nurse who was under compulsion. The nurse they knew would give her to Seda. And I was born shortly after, almost lifeless. And when I came to life and started crying, they knew my sister dying was done.”

“She told me about how they went deeper into hiding to protect me, and then my mother saw something, and they realized they needed to bind my magic, but the spell needed a key that wasn’t them, because they knew they wouldn’t live long enough to unlock it. And they somehow knew that Matteo was going to be my mate, and I his, and so they tied all my magic to him.”

I heard Wanda choke back a sob, and looked up briefly to see Roy tucking her against him as they listened to me. I couldn’t meet Matteo’s eyes, but I could feel how tense he was beside me. He knew there was something else.

“They poured so much of my magic, of me into him, and our bond, that though it is a union blessed by the goddess, it created an opposite bond. It gave me…” I hesitated, feeling tears well in my eyes, “It gave me a second mate, who I assume was supposed to be my sisters mate.”

Matteo’s entire body froze beside me, and no one spoke.

“An additional mate?” Matteo hissed, clenching his own fist on the table.

I nodded softly, beginning to cry again, “My mother said that my bond with you will create good. It will save so many people. But that my bond with him will destroy not only me but...everything.”

My voice was nothing but a choked whisper as I finished. Again, silence, until suddenly Matteo stood, and whisked out of the kitchen faster than I could lookup. A strangled sob came from me, and I instantly stood up.

“Leave him, Rosie girl,” Roy whispered, but I refused.

I stormed into the yard after Matteo, my boots crunching across the layer of snow in the yard as I hurried towards the trees. I felt an explosion of pain across my heart as if something inside me was breaking, and just as I reached the treeline, I called out for him. He didn’t answer.

I stepped further into the forest, and I screamed, “Matteo!”

I dropped to my knees and fisted the cold snow in my hands. Cinnamon wafted past my nose, and I knew he was close.

‘I know you can hear me goddammit!” I yelled into the woods, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Matteo! Please!”

Nothing. Nothing but quiet.

“Matteo, I should’ve told you but I was so afraid of losing you or of scaring you off and I just...I couldn’t.”

Suddenly, I smelled blood. My head snapped up. I became hyper-aware of the world around me, scanning the white blanketed forest around me with my eyes, my chest heaving. I slowly got to my feet, not bothering to brush the snow off of me despite it freezing straight through to my skin, as I stepped further into the woods, as cautiously as possible.

My eyes picked up on something to my right, and my head snapped to the side. Again, in my peripheral, I saw something and I turned again. I was growing angry. The next time I saw something, I funneled all my anger towards it.

“Stop!” I screamed, holding my hand out in front of me.

I looked, and there it was, a wolf, shimmering slightly, struggling to get its grey paws free of the snow. It was no werewolf, I realized, and I released a breath, before allowing my anger to dissipate before the poor creature ran away.

I took a few steps towards where it was and saw a tree, half splintered with blood dripping down. My heart was beating rapidly, as I followed the trail of blood, and there stood Matteo, facing away from me, his right sleeve covered in blood, and his head leaned back as he stared up at the sky above him.

I stood silently, unsure if I should approach him or not.

“Mio fiore,” he breathed, and in return, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I stepped slowly towards him and he turned to face me, and I froze. The look in Matteo’s eyes made me feel something I had never felt from him in all our time together.

Fear.

He was seething in anger, his eyes pitch black. The veins surrounding his eyes were darker as well, and his fangs were extended fully. I swallowed slowly, and then took a careful step towards him, ignoring the hammering of my heart. He growled softly, but I took another step, and another until I was right in front of him.

I hesitated for a moment, his black eyes looking down at me, before I craned my head, and placed a soft kiss on Matteo’s barred mouth. I could feel his fangs, so I was aware of them as they began to retract, and I could feel the anger rolling off of him subside.

Slowly, he circled me in his embrace, and I rested my head against his heart.

“I’m sorry, Matteo,” I whispered.

“Do you see why I am afraid to mate with you, Rose?” he asked quietly, almost breathlessly, “I am...so possessive of you already. This will only be amplified after I taste you.”

“I understand,” I whispered, “I want it.”

“I could’ve killed you just now, Rose” he said through gritted teeth, clutching me to him. I shook my head, and kissed his collarbone through his sweater, “No, you wouldn’t. I kissed you, and you didn’t even flinch. I don’t know much about mates, or magic or any of this, but I know I am probably the only person, supernatural or otherwise, that you will never hurt.”

He sighed in a mixture of relief and frustration and rested his chin on top of my head.

“He's an alpha,” I whispered after a moment.

Matteo pulled me back slightly to look at me, “You know that?”

I nodded, “When I was waking up in the castle, Seda was talking to someone. He specifically said ‘his brother, the alpha’ had been searching for my scent for months.”

A deep growl shook Matteo, and he pressed his lips to mine, rough, and hot, kissing me deeply. One of his hands tangled in my hair, coating a few rouge strands with blood, and the other pressed against the small of my back, forcing me against him. A small moan escaped me as I clung to his sweater with both hands. He kissed me until I was gasping for breath, and when he pulled away, he pressed a soft kiss to both my cheeks.

“I will not let anyone or anything take you from me, do you understand?” he asked me, “I will die before I see you in the arms of someone else. And if I have to set the world on fire to keep you by my side, I gladly will.”

My heart skipped a beat and I blushed, nodding curtly. We walked back to the house, hand in hand. I was exhausted. Mentally, physically and emotionally. Matteo stopped and crouched down in front of me.

I stared at him with a hooked brow, and he gestured for me to climb on.

“I can tell how tired you are, principessa, climb on,” he smiled softly.

I hesitated, but then moved behind him, and pressed myself against him, climbing on. He hooked his hands under my thighs, allowing me to wrap my legs around him, and my arms around his neck. I laughed softly as he bounced me, and we played around a bit on our way back, both of us returning in a much better place than we left.

When we entered the house, my aunt was in tears, and Roy was rubbing her back. They both looked up at us, and my aunt ran up to me as Matteo gently set me down.

“Are you okay?” she said frantically, looking over me, “Oh goddess, I could feel your magic! It was like an electric pulse!”

I shook my head, confused, and Matteo responded, “You could feel her using her magic?”

Wanda nodded hurriedly, “Rose, any witch within miles had to feel that. It was intense.”

My forehead creased, “I don’t understand…”

Suddenly, there was a loud creaking sound, and the house began to shake slightly. Matteo grabbed me, wrapping me in his arms protectively.

Wanda just smiled up at Roy excitedly, our current predicament disappearing for a moment. The shuddering stopped, and I heard Matteo from above.

“What the hell was that?”

Wanda turns and beamed at us, “The house is awake..it’s greeting you.”