Resisting Fate (Predetermined) (16 page)

Wait, wait, wait…warlock shit? Adrian was a warlock? I must have hit my head a little too hard when I fell because I was obviously not hearing correctly.

“It was only supposed to be a simple calming Spell Jack, nothing to make her react in that way. She was terrified of me. You saw it and I
know
you felt it too. I couldn’t let her freak out in the middle of the class.”

“Well shit, the way you were staring at her had me freaked out too, Adrian. She’s not yours.”

“Yeah um, she’s not exactly yours either, little brother. You keep forgetting that little piece of information though, don’t you?”

I finally forced my eyes open into tiny slits. I had no idea what the hell was going on, but I did know one thing. Sitting cradled on Jack’s lap in the middle of this classroom was probably not a very good idea. Then his hand started to rub comforting circles along my back, and I couldn’t help but forget my worries as I relaxed into him again. Hell, at this rate, the world could end, and I wouldn’t have a clue, or a care. Just as long as I could die right there in Jack’s lap, with my ear pressed against his chest. I seemed to be in this position a lot lately, which wasn’t good for my take-charge girly reputation. The faint pitter-patter of his heart was the most calming sound in the world to me. And somehow or another, the achiness in my chest had eased up for the first time in fourteen hours.

“Goddammit, I know she’s not mine, you idiot. She never will be either. She’s Zachary’s…”

“Bitter much, brother?” Adrian laughed, but Jack only responded with a sigh as he continued to rub slow loving like circles against my back. Apparently Jack wasn’t too fond of his brother’s humor. “Bond or not, you’ve got it bad for this girl, brother.” He sighed. “Get it in check, or I’ll be forced to, well, you know…”

With that last little strange tidbit, Adrian walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I sucked in a breath. We were now completely alone.

“I know that you’re awake, Emmy. I could tell by the way your heartbeat tripled.” Shit, wolf senses. How could I have forgotten?

Slowly, I ran a hand over the tender spot on my forehead, the spot where I must have smacked it on the desk. The lump was beyond ginormous. I didn’t want to separate from Jack, he felt so safe and warm, but unfortunately second period called.

My head collided with his chin as I pushed out of his hold to stand. “Son of a bitch, Strawberry…you have a damn hard head.” He chuckled, rubbing his chin with his hand.

I cringed, slipping out of his hold completely to lean up against a desk, “I’m sorry Jack. It’s just that…I’ve got to get to class,” but a wave of dizziness had me thinking twice as I attempted to catch my footing. I pressed a hand over my forehead to try and gain some control, to keep the dizziness at bay, but I was failing. Miserably.

I tried to balance myself, and my knees buckled beneath me. This time though, Jack was there to catch me, his warm arms surrounded me once again in all his knight-like glory. A soft ‘whoa’ fell from his lips, caressing my ears with the warmth of his breath as he pulled my backside flush with his front. He steadied me, kept me upright, but his touch brought on another round of emotions. The one’s that I’d been fighting since he’d moved into town. Need, want…desire, all the scary emotions that I now associated with him.

Turning to face him, a weird boldness took over my insides as I pressed my palms against his chest. I’d like to think that I was only doing it to stay upright, but I couldn’t deny how much I liked it either. And then I stood on my tiptoes, letting all thoughts go by the wayside as I shut my eyes.

“Jack…” I whispered, leaning in closer, needing his mouth on mine, if only for a second. The all too familiar electric current between us had finally taken hold. His body stiffened though when I finally closed the distance between us. Slowly, tentatively, my lips brushed over his. He didn’t kiss me back right away, but that didn’t last long.

His arms wrapped tightly around my waist and something that could only be compared to as fireworks began igniting through my stomach and chest. Any previous pain I was experiencing, whether it was internal or external, disintegrated into smithereens the moment his tongue found mine.

I wanted to cry out in bliss as our bodies became a mess of tangled limbs. Hands in hair, gripping, pulling fighting for control. His fingers tucked under my shirt and skidded across my belly in a teasing dance, and I gasped as his mouth traveled down my chin. So many emotions took over, but the one that stood out the most was this weird sense of completion.

His fingers slipped out to my sides, his nails almost painfully dug into my hips. He growled as he grabbed my backside, pushing me up against a nearby heating vent. He slammed his body against mine with a ferociousness about him that probably should have terrified me. Instead it felt right… Perfect…

“Come on, Jack! I leave for five minutes, and you two go at it like animals? Ha, no wait, you
are
an animal. This is going to be harder than I thought.”

Jack pushed away from me, a disgusted look flashed through his eyes as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his hoodie. He focused on me for another second, and I shuddered at his penetrating glare. “Screw you, Adrian.” He snarled, finally looking away from me as he leaned down to grab his bag. My feet were screwed to the floor by invisible nails as I watched him dart from the door. I’d be okay with it…if there was a fire or something, but not after a kiss like this.

Damn, was I really that bad?

My hand went to my lips at the memory and I morbidly grinned. I knew, without a doubt, that
that
kiss was
anything
 but bad.

“Hey darling, don’t pay any attention to my little bro. He’s got…issues, to say the least.”

I jumped at the sound of Adrian’s words, alarm passed over me as I turned to face him. His haunting, blue eyes were so like his brother’s that I had to blink to make sure I was looking at the right person. I tilted my head to the side, studying him. I blinked, there was something all too familiar about this guy, and it wasn’t his resemblance to Jack either.

“Hey…calm down killer, I’m not going to hurt you. Here,” he held out his hand, and I glanced down at his offering, “I brought you an ice pack for that suddenly healed spot on your…head?” He tilted his head in question as he gazed at the spot where a large lump apparently no longer was.

My trembling hand ran over the skin, it was smooth and completely bump free. Wonder and worry consumed my thoughts at the same time. How in the hell had that bump disappeared so quickly?

“Shit…shit-shit-shit…this isn’t happening,” he began to pace, running both of his hands through his hair at the same time as he did. He was muttering something, but I sure as hell didn’t know what it was.”

I stared up at him, confused. Then he paused, and rubbed a hand down the front of his face as he turned to me.

“Hey, listen, I can tell you’re a good person, Emmy, and I think I might even like you a little bit,” his charming grin was back, but it was far from genuine, “Let me give you a little piece of advice here… Leave. My. Brother. Alone!”

I jumped back, anger and fear weighed down my emotions. Damn, he didn’t have to like me, but he didn’t have to be a butt monkey about it either! I inched towards my book bag, lifting it up, and tucking the straps over my shoulders. But I never lost focus of his face. He was too creepy
not
too look at.

“Get to class Emmy,” he sighed, dropping his glare to the floor, “I’ll see you tomorrow…”

With his obvious dismissal, I finished packing up my crap, and darted from the room to head towards the hall. All the while long, thoughts of Jack and my kiss kept replaying over and over in my head. Regardless of his abrupt exit though, my feelings had suddenly taken a nose dive into the shallow end, and apparently I’d hit my head pretty dang hard on the bottom of my metaphorical pool because I couldn’t wait for that
kiss
to happen again.

Damn. I wasn’t supposed to kiss him…I was supposed to get over my little crush on this red helmet wearing, motorcycle driving moody boy. I mean sure, that kiss was unlike
anything
 I’d ever felt before. It was passionate, crazy, freeing even…and I seriously thought that Jack was feeling it too. I mean he moaned and growled as much as I did, right? Or was that wishful thinking on my behalf. But hey, I’ve been wrong before about reading people, I could easily have been wrong about him.

Jack and I may have been fated…but we were obviously not meant to be, and somehow or another, I had to get that thought through my thick head.

Making my way to class, head low and mind going a mile a minute, I finally came to the conclusion that yes indeed, I did have feelings for this scary wolf boy. And unfortunately, there was no denying the fact that I was getting attached too. Hell, he told me I was beautiful! He told
me
 that! Yet he also told me he didn’t want a mate…or me for that matter either.

Crap, I’m such an idiot!

I shook my head and straggly pieces of my wild, red hair had somehow slipped into my mouth. I brushed them away just as a new sense of anguish and torture began crushing against my heart. I totally couldn’t be falling for this guy, right? It was the last thing I needed, especially with how messed up my life was. Falling for Jack Hartman would only mean an inevitable heartbreak in the future, something that I sure as hell knew I wouldn’t be ready for. Besides, Jack was right, I still had Zachary to think about, the Zachary who loved me so much that he apparently stalked me, and then followed me, and, oh yeah, tried to bite me too. Sure, he looked and sounded like the same Zachary who gave me the best two years of my short life. But
this
Zachary no longer had me wrapped around his little finger.

Ugh… Wasn’t there some sort of manual out there that would give me all the answers I needed?

I groaned in frustration, bumping my forehead against a locker that sat right outside my second hour class. I was trying to clear my thoughts. I was trying to make sense of everything around me. One of these boys wanted me, for forever apparently, while the other one freaked out from a kiss, granted too it had been the most amazing kiss ever, but still, it was a kiss nonetheless.

Unfortunately, my little head banging action was definitely not the most intelligent idea I’ve ever had, because my Goddamn headache came back almost instantaneously, and it was worse than ever!

I so do did not need this right now.

Chapter Twelve

“Okay, so let me get this straight. Jack has a secret hot brother, who apparently is a Warlock, but also doubles as our English teacher now too? Wow… How did I not know this? That’s all kinds of messed up, hon. I freaking wish I was there to witness it all go down.”

I kicked my feet upon
the couch in my living room, trying to get comfortable. But every time I moved, hell, every time I managed to breathe, my body threatened to burst. Despite my bitter mood though, I had to admit that being home alone without the step-douche around to harass me, was definitely something I could get used to.

“Yeppers. That’s not even the beginning! You definitely will not believe what else happened.” I let the gossip shoot, like one of those little old ladies getting her hair done at Louisa’s one and only salon. I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I liked to let it fly every now and then, I’m seventeen! My mouth didn’t filter very well…

I started with the nasty head ache, brought on by that supposed spell gone wrong of Adrian’s, ending with the healing thing done by Jack, but forgoing our kiss altogether. For some reason, that little piece of info was not something I wanted to share yet. Hell, I still didn’t even know what to call it myself! And the more I thought about making that move, kissing him like I had, the more I began to regret it. I mean I shouldn’t regret something that felt so right, but he was…one of them, one of those soon-to-be animals with the hairy feet and the sharp teeth.

“So he like, touched you and the bump went away then?” Kelsey cleared her throat, “Emmy…that sounds kind of witchy-like.”

“Witchy?” My brows pulled together in confusion as I bit the inside of my cheek. “Well yeah, I…guess so…” I shrugged, slipping my fingers through the fringe on our couch pillow.

I wasn’t entirely sold on the whole
my best friends a witch thing
yet
.
We’d been friends for so long, and I was terrified that this supernatural crap was going to change us, change the friendship we’d worked our asses off for, for over ten years. I knew she couldn’t help what she was, but I was bitter, angry that I hadn’t known about it until now.

“Yeah witchy…as in
witch powers?
Seriously Em, you’re totally not listening to me at all, are you? What’s your problem anyway?”

The moodiness was apparently a duel issue between us tonight. Blame it on my rotten day, blame it on my bad mood, or blame it on life itself, I was sort of over it all, and ready for this day to be done with.

“Never mind, forget about it Kelsey, I’ve got to go.”

“Wait, Emmy, I’m sorry. I…I’ve had a bad day too ya know? My stomach won’t stop cramping, and my mom keeps shoving chicken broth down my throat.”

I snickered. It was good to know she was seeing and experiencing her mother’s wrath for once instead of only me.

“I’ve never actually heard of a wolf having witch powers though, but I’ll be sure to ask my mom, see if she might know something.”

“Okay.” I sighed, rubbing a hand down my face as a yawn took over. I was in pain, that all over kind. And I was more than ready to go to sleep right then and there, at three in the afternoon.

“Hey, you okay, Emmy?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” I lied. I didn’t need her worrying about me, or anyone else for that matter.

“Okay…well then. Um, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow when I pick you up?”

I cringed; she wasn’t going to be happy with me, “Yeah, um, about that…I’m kind of going to be driving myself in the morning.”

I bit my lip, knowing that I was being that distant sort of friend, but it’s what had to be done until I could figure out my crap. Besides, the pain wasn’t easing by any means either. The head, the chest, this was getting ridiculous. Apparently brain and heart transplants were about to be in ordered if I couldn’t get it under control.

“Emmy, you’re not upset with me about anything…are you? I mean, I know the witch thing was kind of unexpected, but I thought we’d gotten past that? I’m still me you know, except for the fact that I’m more of a cooler version now.” Her voice lifted at the end. Who was she trying to convince here? Me or herself?

And for the first time in years, Kelsey’s humor didn’t make me laugh. “No, I…don’t feel good. My head is all out of whack and my chest keeps hurting. Like it burns and aches, and nothing I do, or eat, or drink will ease the sensation!” I cringed. Crap, I wasn’t going to tell her. I
couldn’t
tell her.

“A chest-ache, really? Hmm, that’s like, really weird.” Her voice tailed off. The sudden silence became awkward. The girl always has a retort for me, no matter what I said or did. Silence was not her thing, and that unnerved me more than anything.

Maybe I was being paranoid, but mainly, all I could do was worry, not that that ever stopped anyways, but still. What if Adrian did something to me to make me act this way? Worse yet, what if Jack did?

“Well, take some meds or something, get a nap in too. See if that helps, and if not then let me know. Maybe I can help or something. I’ve been working on some mild healing spells lately, and I was pretty successful with my dad’s paper cut the other night, but I’d be willing to try—”

“No! I mean…no, that’s okay,
I’ll
be fine.” The last thing I wanted was more witch magic being performed on me.

“Ooookaay. Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?” The apprehension in her voice was thick, but consoling her was not in the cards. The more I sat on this couch, the more I realized I was enabling myself from doing anything to fix the problem.

And call me cruel and callous, but I honestly didn’t want her getting the idea that I was okay with the witch stuff yet.

“Yeah, I’ll see you in homeroom.” I slid my hand over the end key, feeling the tears well up. I pressed my palm against my chest. Crap. What the hell was wrong with me? I didn’t get emotional like this!

Tossing the thing across the couch in frustration, I stood, and stretched my arms over my body, reveling in the feeling of the little relief this motion brought on. Pills, that was next on my agenda before the nap that would hopefully bring me a painless and dreamless snooze came. I headed towards the kitchen, popping the top off the meds, popping the brown pill like candy. It was dry and burned as it slid down the back of my throat, and even the cool drink of water that followed suit wasn’t helping.

I groaned, slapping the glass down on the counter with a crash, rubbing my temple with my free hand. I braced my body against the laminate’s edge, noticing a movement outside the window. I jumped, holy crap, I had to have been seeing stuff because there was no way a black wolf would be out there pacing the length of my front yard.

I moved back and shook my head, only to peek through the blinds again a few seconds later. I pressed my hand to my mouth, and giggled as I leaned against a nearby wall. I was apparently full of awesome delusions today because there was nothing there. And either my imagination was doing crazy ass things to my brain, or dog sized, black rabbits actually existed in the world. Nothing would surprise me anymore.

I seriously needed that nap.

I hooked my book bag over my shoulders, slowly trudging up the stairs to my room. My feet were like led, heavy, and powerful. I was done for. I made it to the top four steps before the front door flung open. I froze for a second, turning around another second later to curse at the loud noises of my mother. “God ma, give me a warning the next time you barge in like…that…“

Oh crap. I clutched the hand railing. A tiny
yip
fell from my slack-jawed mouth. Okay, so either I’d hit crazy town before I managed to fall asleep this time, or I was dreaming again. Because the man who stood in the doorframe did not have blond hair and resemble my mother in any way shape or form. And he smelled, from all the way across the room, like beer and weed all in one giant, six-foot package.

“Well, lookie who we got here. It’s my favorite little
slut. I
see your mom let you back in the house after all,” John kicked his boots off, as he slammed the door shut. He tossed his keys onto a nearby table, and stalked forward, removing his jacket as he did.

Now…I’m not an A-plus student…at all. But I’d like to think I was pretty smart, at least seventy percent of the time that is. But then there were times like these that made me think I was destined to be an idiot for the rest of my life. Because really, who in the hell would stand there and study the face of an attempted murderer when they were currently approaching you with said murder in their eyes? Usually a normal person would run, right? Like speed racer run. It looked like I was predestined for another day of stupidity, because that’s exactly what I did not do.

“Looks like I’ll have to teach you a lesson on rules and respect after all, sweetie-peetie.”

Fear gripped my heart, and that’s when my instincts decided to step in. It’s just too bad that they were too late. I pressed my back against the wall as he managed to make it to the foot of the steps. A smirk graced his wide mouth, a smirk that said I was done for.

Shit, this wasn’t good…

“What are you doing here, John?” My hand trembled as I gripped the middle of my throat.

I was trapped, nowhere really to go but up. Even going up there left me trapped without any real options. I mean, I could go into the bathroom, but the lock was broken. The same went for my bedroom too. Maybe, I could have jumped from the window, but broken limbs on top of my other pain issues were not something I wanted to deal with. So I squared my chin, and tightened my fists. There was only one option left, the option that required me to stay put and fight…

“Well flame brain, I live here. And the last I heard, you didn’t. So why don’t you start by telling me what
you’re
doing here. No, don’t bother; I don’t
need
 to know anything. I do need something
from
 you.” He licked his crusty lips as he took another step upwards. My knees threatened to buckle when his bloodshot eyes finally came into full focus.

And then he was there, in all of his alcoholic glory, reeking of grossness and smiling like he’d struck gold. His breath smelled so rancid that I might’ve puked, if it wasn’t for the fact that I kept my mouth closed tight. Each word he spoke was filled with venom and dribbles of spit as he leaned down into my space.

“I uh, I um…”
Come on Emmy, you can do better than this.

My fingers slipped behind me and I felt the first sign of hope since he’d come home as I gripped the picture frame on the wall. Slowly, I swung it around, inching it behind my knees, only to whip it over the side of his head a second later. It didn’t bust. Shit. No glass, no wood, nothing. What. The. Hell? My mother apparently had a thing for plastic frames.

Unfortunately, my stupid move only pissed him off even more. “You bitch!” Gripping my hair behind my head, he shoved me hard against the wall. This time though, I wasn’t scared of the choking thing, I was fearful of the fact that his free hand was going straight to the zipper of his pants.

“Damn tramp…just like your mother. I’ll show you what we do with
tramps…”

“No!” I screamed, fighting back with every ounce of fight I had left in me. I bucked, I kicked, I stomped, but it didn’t do a damn thing. He was too big, too strong. And then his elbow collided with my already aching head and I knew I’d lost.

“There, now maybe you’ll learn to take it like your mama does.” My back was pinned against the stair well completely, as black and silver dots danced in my vision. “That’s right, you little skank, lay there, take it.”

My head titled to the side and my neck went completely limp, my arms and legs did as well. The buttons on my jeans were ripped away, as he started to pull me down underneath him on the steps. The carpet burned my back, as he pushed against me. I cried out, but the sound was a wasted effort. Vomit began to pool in my throat at the thought of his hands on me, so with the last breath in my lungs, the last muscle in my arm, I let him have it again. Bucking, biting, and fighting so hard that he finally had to stop apparently. He grabbed hold of the stair railing, and finally fell off of me.