Tessa’s POVJoseph was here. He was actually here. And we just made the best love. My entire body was still tingling from his touch, and I didn’t think anything could ruin this moment.Until I heard the bathroom door closing and I remembered that we weren’t alone in this apartment. I felt completely paralyzed and my entire body was heated from the embarrassment I felt. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to move, but then I saw Joseph looking as if he was ready to hunt whoever was in my apartment and I had to stop him.I wrapped my arms around his biceps to keep him calm before telling him that my father and Penny were in my apartment. He didn’t look relieved by that, but his body relaxed.“They are early,” he said, furrowing his brows. “Graduation isn’t until tomorrow. I thought they’d be getting in tonight or tomorrow morning.”“Yeah, you and me both,” I said, sitting up. “If you had answered your phone, you would have known that they got here yesterday morning.”He frowned and the
Tessa’s POVMy mouth fell open upon seeing Joseph.I had no idea he was going to be here today, and I wasn’t quite sure if he knew I was going to be here either. We hadn’t really spoken in the last couple of days and when he returned, we didn’t talk much.He certainly seemed surprised to see us; all of us.His eyes remained on my father’ and I could feel my father’s rising anger as he glared at Joseph.“Why the hell are you here?” My father asked again, his face red with fury.“Dad, he goes to this school,” I said quickly, not wanting him to know that Joseph was actually a professor at this school.Not just any professor though; my professor.He would be furious if he knew that information.“Rick, it’s how they met. Remember?” Penny said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to calm down.“I don’t want him anywhere near my daughter,” my father seethed.Joseph raised his hands in front of him like he was surrendering.“I don’t want any issues with you and your family,” Josep
Tessa’s POVJoseph seemed genuinely confused by my question. It was as if it was the craziest thing he had ever heard, and I couldn’t figure out why he was so confused. It seemed like a normal question to ask, but his lips pursed, and his eyes narrowed as he choked, his head to the side.“I already assumed that was the plan,” he finally said after a long pause.Suddenly, it felt like a weight had lifted off my shoulders. I was glad that he didn’t see our relationship ending or wanting to do any long-distance type thing. But at the same time, did I really want to live in the mountains? I mean that was the point of the trial run, to see if could live with him in the mountain village. But as time went forward, I wondered if that was truly what I wanted.“Is that not what you want?” He then asked, surprising me.“I want to be with you,” I told him honestly. “I don’t care where we are. As long as we are together.”The smile that spread across his face was radiant. He wrapped me in his arms
Tessa’s POVI jumped off the couch quickly as I stared at the email.Fable Magazine wanted to offer me a full-time position for their New York branch. I couldn’t believe this was happening. This was something I’d been wanting, knowing that they had a branch in the big city. Ruby was going to lose her shit when she found out that I had a job offer in the very city she was hoping to move to after graduation.Just then, Joseph stirred on the couch.My entire body froze, and I turned to look at Joseph who was now opening his eyes and peering up at me with a timid frown.“Where did you go?” He asked, holding his arms out for me to return to him.I opened my mouth to respond to him and tell him what had happened. But just as I did, I remembered that he wanted to return to the mountains after I graduated, so I shut my mouth and put my phone on the coffee table.“Maybe we should go to the bedroom,” I suggested.He groaned but he sat up; he looked so good freshly woken. His hair was messy, and
Tessa’s POVI wasn’t sure why I was saddened by Penny’s text. I did tell them I wanted them to leave; I mean my father attacked Joseph and I almost got hurt in the process. He deserved to get his hand broken and I didn’t want him to cause anymore unnecessary drama. Especially at my graduation ceremony.But there was still a part of me that wanted my father there. I hoped we’d be able to talk and that he’d actually apologize for his behavior.Maybe it was just wishful thinking.I decided to call Penny before leaving for the apartment. I didn’t have long before I needed to be at the school.“Tessa?” Penny said as soon as she answered the phone.“Hey, Penny,” I said, almost sheepishly. “I just wanted to check in and see how Dad is.”She was quiet for a moment like she was processing what I had said.“His hand is broken, and he’s upset. But he’s fine. We are packing up right now and we'll be out of your hair soon. That is what you wanted, right?”“He tried to punch Joseph and almost punch
Tessa’s POV“Her heritage is the reason my wife is dead,” my father said through his teeth. “I don’t want my daughter associated with that any of that shit, Pen.”“You’ve been searching for a way to get rid of her powers for years with no luck, Rick. Eventually, her powers will grow, and she will be more dangerous than ever. Next time, it won’t be just your hand,” Penny said in a harsh whisper. “The coven already told you that there is no way to get rid of it. Why can’t you believe them.”“Tessa wasn’t the one who broke my hand,” my father muttered, ignoring the rest of what she had said.I heard enough. I couldn’t stay here any longer. My father was keeping more secrets from me and by the sounds of it, he knew who and where my mother’s coven was.I didn’t bother waiting for them to emerge from the kitchen room. I didn’t bother telling them I was leaving. I managed to leave the apartment without them noticing.As I walked outside the apartment building, I felt an overwhelming sense of
Joseph’s POVTessa stared at me wide-eyed when she realized I was standing behind her. I had her purse clutched in my fist and my eyes never left her as she slowly turned to face me.She got an incredible job offer this morning and she didn’t bother to tell me. It was clear to me that she was afraid to tell me out of fear that I wouldn’t want to move to New York. In reality, New York was only an hour's drive from the mountains my tribe resided in, so, I would be able to commute if necessary.“I’m going to the auditorium,” Ruby whispered to Tessa, unaware that I could hear her clearly as if she was standing right beside me. “I’ll see you in there.”She put a reassuring hand on Tessa’s shoulder before shutting her locker door and heading toward the auditorium.Tessa stood frozen.“How much of that did you hear?” Tessa finally asked, nervousness clear in her tone.“All of it,” was all I could think to say.She sighed and lowered her gaze.“I didn’t want you to find out like that…”“About
Tessa’s POV“I apologize for the interruption. Please continue,” Joseph said softly as he made his way to his seat.Dean Miller didn’t look pleased. He just scowled at Joseph and then motioned for Hannah to continue.My eyes briefly met my father's who I noticed was visibly tense now that Joseph was in view. I wasn’t surprised by that. Penny had placed a hand on his biceps to calm him.Hannah cleared her throat and then she started her speech. I wasn’t listening to what she was saying though; I was more focused on Joseph as he made his way to the faculty seating and sat beside Miss Emily.Joseph and I had been through a lot this past month, so I shouldn’t still be insecure and jealous of Miss Emily. I knew she liked him from the minute he showed up at this school, and I knew he didn’t like her in return. At least not like that. She was his friend and nothing more. But something about him sitting so close to her left an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach.I was not too fond of
Tessa’s POV10 years later!“You got called here too?” Ruby asked as I walked up the steps of the middle school. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders.“Are you really surprised?” I asked her, rolling my eyes.She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and held me close to her.“Just take a deep breath. Maybe it’s not too bad this time,” she said, trying to appear soothing.I gave her a pointed look.“Please, when is it ever not that bad?”“Well, they aren’t vampires yet. So, it could be worse,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and chuckling.“I can only imagine the trouble they will get into once they are vampires,” I muttered.Ruby only laughed harder as we walked into the school. We went down the hallway and towards the principal's office, but a familiar voi
Tessa’s POV“Breathe, Tessa. Just breathe!” Ruby said as she held onto my hand tightly.I’m glad she’s a vampire and strong because if she was a typical human, I would have broken her hand by now. Pain shot through my lower abdomen and into my spine, crippling me in agony. I screamed out in pain, my entire body quivering.“You are doing great,” the doctor said, looking at my vitals. “That was a big contraction. It won’t be much longer until it’s time for you to push.”“Where the hell is Joseph?” I asked through my teeth.I knew he was working when I went into labor but that was several hours ago. I thought he would be here by now.“He texted Carter a bit ago and said he was almost here,” Ruby assured me. She placed a cool cloth on my forehead, and I sighed in relief. The pain in my body started to simmer down for a moment, but I knew th
Tessa’s POVA month after the big battle 4 years ago, Amelia called me and told me that they had taken Ruby to the most elite healers in California where Amelia is originally from. Carter hadn’t left her side since they took her there. They were able to get her heart beating once again, but she remained in critical condition for a little over a year.Nobody, including me, was allowed to see her. The only ones allowed near her were Carter, her true love, and Amelia, her mother. However, Amelia tried to keep me updated as frequently as possible but for a long while, it didn’t seem like Ruby would ever wake up.But 18 months later, she finally woke. It was a long road to recovery though. Even though she was healing and awake, both Carter and Amelia thought it would be best if she remained in California and stayed isolated until she was 100 percent ready to return. Apparently, she suffered some serious PTSD, along with minor memory
Tessa’s POV4 years later. “This had got to be the longest engagement in the history of engagements,” Hannah said as she continued to fuss over my hair for the last several hours. “I’m so happy it’s finally coming to an end.”I smiled at her through the vanity mirror, feeling a lightness in my chest that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Not since my daughter, Amaya, was born.“I know,” I told her honestly, biting my lower lip, making Amy huff with dismay as she grabbed more lipstick to fix my makeup that I unknowingly ruined. “With everything that went down 4 years ago, marrying Joseph just didn’t seem right. I really wanted to get my life back in order. I wanted to succeed in my career, Joseph needed to adjust to his new role as Overseer, and plus, I didn’t want to get married pregnant.”This made both girls pause what they were doing and lo
Tessa’s POVMost of the coven stayed with me in my father’s home. Esme went out to help the police look for Penny.There was no way I was going to leave my father alone if Penny was still out there and planning on killing him. My father and I talked a lot about everything that had happened, and he apologized countless times even though I told him it wasn’t necessary.None of this was his fault and I hated that he was blaming himself.He set up sleeping bags, and air mattresses and pulled out the couch for everyone to sleep on. He has one guest bedroom that Laura and Austin occupied. Joseph and I were going to sleep in my childhood room, but I really didn’t want to leave my father and plus, I had missed him throughout these years.Even though he was in my life these past few years, with Penny around, we didn’t really have a great relationship. Now I understood why; because Penny had her claws dug deep i
Tessa’s POVThe Moon Goddess had completely taken over my body and spoke to everyone through me. She warned them what would happen if anything were to happen to me or my baby. Now it was up to them to decide if they wanted to continue hunting me to gain the powers of the Heavenly Heart, or if they were going to trust the Moon Goddess with her decision.Seeing the horror on everybody’s faces, I knew the choice they would make. It was the obvious choice; I had seen what they had seen, and they would be stupid to chance it. Their lives and the state of this earth were in their hands.Silence consumed us as everyone processed what they had just seen. Only the yelling of Carter brought me back to the present moment. I turned to look at him and I could see the straight-up horror on his face as he screamed for Ruby.I turned to see Ruby lying on the ground, her body completely still and it was clear she wasn’t breathing. But mo
Tessa’s POVEsme, Patty, Cole, Claira, and Bennet worked on putting a shield around the circle while the rest of us gathered around while Ruby stood in the center. Everybody looked equally nervous except Ruby who looked confident.I could hear the battle ongoing around us and my heart was breaking for the lives that have been lost. I glanced at my father’s house, hoping and praying that he was still inside and that he was safe.I glanced over my shoulder and through the fighting I saw Joseph kneeling on the ground beside Benard who had blood pouring out of his neck. My heart shattered in an instant. My entire concentration and faith had been broken as I felt sick from the sight before me.Bernard… no… He couldn’t be… My thoughts went back to Anna’s vision a while back about Bernard dying during a battle.Was this the battle he was meant to die in?
Tessa’s POV“We’ve enchanted the house!” Esme said as she rushed towards me. “Nobody besides your blood can get in. Including any of us.”“What about Joseph?” I asked, shouting through the chaos. “We weren’t able to exclude him either,” Esme told me. She grabbed onto my arms and gave them a gentle squeeze. “You need to go inside and protect yourself. They are here because they want your heart.”I looked around at the ongoing fight. My stomach twisted. People were dying and I couldn’t help but feel responsible. I needed to fix this, not hide like a coward.“We need to find Ruby,” I told her firmly.“We are on the lookout for her, but so far we haven’t been able to see her or Eevee,” Esme said, looking around with a frown on her face.“Have you checked everywhere?”“We c
Third Person POV (Ruby)At some point, Ruby had fallen asleep. Though, she knew right away that it wasn’t a normal sleep. It was a vision.This one felt a different thought. She was surrounded by my dark smoke, though it didn’t feel like smoke, it only looked like it. She couldn’t exactly see what was happening, but she could hear the sounds of death and destruction around her. Innocent people screaming and crying for mercy. The sounds of supernatural’s fighting and killing one another.There was so much darkness and despair, that Ruby felt a sense of dread weighing on her chest. Her breathing hitched when some of the smoke cleared, and she saw blood soaking the grass around her feet. Puddles of blood were everywhere. The sky was hazy and unrecognizable.Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at all the bodies that occupied the earth. This was too much for her to handle; why did she have to be cursed with seeing