This past week has been one of the most difficult ones of my entire life. After Thea refused to talk to me, I wasn't able to explain my predicament to her. She's so stubborn when she wants to be. There I was, trying to do the "ethical" thing she always whines that I should do, and when I finally attempt to do it, she won't even let me. What the hell?

I wasn't expecting to like her. I thought this was just another job. Originally, I was sent to campus to befriend Cooper and later kill him once I gained his trust. Since their Alpha Grayson didn't have a mate, the best way to destroy the stability of the pack would be to take out the Betas. Cooper's death would kill Beta Axel, and my coven could easily swoop in and destroy the pack so us magical beings could finally practice magic freely without worrying about what stupid humans could see.

Once I discovered that Alpha Grayson may have a mate-and a human one at that- my mission changed instantly. Now, my goal was to befriend the girl and make sure she was actually the Alpha's mate. The only problem? In the time it took to ensure she was the right girl, I began to like her. A lot. She became a source of happiness in my otherwise dreary and monotonous life. Her ethical arguments were so flawed and human, yet I couldn't help but strive to be like her in that regard.

Being ethical wasn't something I ever had to be. The coven doesn't give a shit about human lives, they only care about their own magic. Since the werewolves act as guards to our practice of magic, the coven leaders became annoyed with them and recruited me to weaken them so we can prepare for a war. However, now I have begin to feel something I've never felt before- guilt.

Who knew guilt could hurt so much? I feel sick to my stomach over what I did to Thea. My orders were to kill her. Instead, I bought myself some time to figure out how to save her. Elle knew about my feelings instantly- she's my twin, so she called me out the second we left Java the first time they were introduced.

The freaking vampire was the coven's test to see if she was Alpha Grayson's mate. We were supposed to go to Velvet Elixir, and when she was threatened, Grayson and his pack members were supposed to show up. That way, the coven could be absolutely sure, without a shadow of a doubt, that Thea was Grayson's mate. Then, we were supposed to gain her trust more, then have her unintentionally share the pack's secrets, and then we would kill her- easy as pie, right?

Well, that stupid fucking thing called guilt got in the way. Thea came clean about being close with Grayson, and I couldn't stop the vampire attack soon enough. Coven members swarmed the place and refused to let me stop the violence. She got hurt- badly- and there wasn't a thing I could do to stop it. She must have been so scared...

After that, my heart was aching. I knew that I was to blame for everything. I tried to apologize, but she didn't want to speak to me. Humans are so sensitive, sometimes. I get that I was complicit in the plan to kill her, but she didn't know that!

Then, I got an order to kill her. Thea, my weak, ethical, small human friend that taught me more about life than I ever thought possible. I knew I couldn't go through with it. To buy myself time, I cast a spell on her- somnia in somnus. It kills the victim slowly, not allowing them any rest. Their dreams are plagued with their worst fears, and after a few weeks they eventually die from a combination of lack of sleep, fear, and sorrow.

I cried myself to sleep the night I cast it. While my superiors praised me on an excellent slow death for Thea, I mourned my friend. I saw she kept texting me, but I couldn't respond. Not knowing that she was going to die so soon, and at my hand no less.

Two nights ago, Elle came into my bedroom in the middle of the night. I was up writing poems, something I only do when I'm upset. It must be some sort of twin telepathy because she knew exactly the right time to come in.

"Hey little bro," Elle says as she plopped down next to me. I turned my notebook away from her prying eyes as I continued to finish the stanza.

"You're literally only three minutes older than me," I mumble, annoyed that she keeps bringing up that fact.

"Oh, hush. I'm older, therefore I'm wiser. I also know when my brother is upset about something. So, spill. Why are you acting even more depressed than usual?"

I stop scratching phrases into my battered notebook and drop it onto my lap. She gives me a knowing look, like she already knows all of the answers. She's a know-it-all, so that doesn't surprise me. However, she doesn't know what's plaguing my mind this time. She's usually the one person I open up to, but I've been blocking her out while my mind is wracked in guilt like never before.

"I'm not depressed," I say in a low voice as I avoid eye contact.

"Sure, that's why you're writing depressing poetry. Because you're not depressed. Makes sense."

"You know what?" I raise my voice at her. "You don't know shit! I don't need to tell you everything. I'm dealing with a lot of things right now and what I don't need is for you to sit here and pretend that you understand everything!" By the time my mini-rant is complete, my chest is rising and falling rapidly with each breath I take.

"Hey," she says gently and takes my hand. "You're right. I don't understand. So help me understand."

So I did. I told her about my friendship with Thea and how guilty I felt about her imminent death. That's when she hatched a plan. A stupid plan that will most likely end with our deaths, but it's the only plan that could save Thea and save me from losing someone I care about. I stopped caring about the repercussions it will have for me. The coven will be pissed, sure, but I don't care. I'm more powerful than the majority of them anyway.

The night Grayson and his pack members decide to storm the coven headquarters and demand for us to reverse the spell, Elle and I portal out of my bedroom and right into the lion's den- well, the wolf's den.

As a pair of twins, our magic is stronger together. I'm nervous about getting my face clawed out, but for Thea, I'd risk anything. She means more to me than I'd like to admit.

"You ready?" Elle asks, grabbing my hand and giving it a hard squeeze. I look into her brown eyes that are identical to mine, and I suddenly feel very grateful for her. She doesn't care either way whether Thea lives or dies, yet she's willing to risk her life just to make me feel better.

We weren't raised in an affectionate household. Our mother is strict and unforgiving. She taught us from an early age that we are above all supernatural creatures and must always let them know that simple fact. There's a reason that there are so few witches and warlocks alive- many of us are born with little to no power. The bloodlines have been diluted so much that those with powerful magic are few and far between. Elle and I are rare.

"I'm ready."

I close my eyes and we begin chanting.

"Videtur. Inveniet Thea. Videtur. Inveniet Thea."

After repeating the phrases few more times, I can feel the magic stirring to life beneath my fingertips. The typical blue hue or energy expands from our beings and begins to shimmer as it takes effect. The usual nausea that accompanies a trip through a portal spreads through me, but after enough practice of this type of interdimensional travel, I've learned to keep in my vomit.

Like I expected, Elle and I portal to the pack house. There are two different ways to portal- you can portal to a location, or you can portal to a person. Since we portaled to Thea, I wasn't sure exactly where we would end up. Looking around at the masculine bedroom, it's easy to deduce that we're in the pack house- more specifically, in the Alpha's bedroom.

The minute the magic subsides, a deep growl resonated through the room. Before the volume can raise to an alarming level, just like we practiced, Elle casts a silencing spell.

"Silentium!"

This spell casts the room in a sort of bubble-wrap. No one outside of the room can hear anything inside, so assuming that there are more guards stationed outside, they won't sense anything wrong. Wolves have that stupid mindlink, so to suppress that, we do another spell.

"Somnum," I mumble, and with the flick of my wrist a light blue magic covers the werewolf I was originally tasked with befriending. I'm so grateful I never had to talk to him- he seems WAY to hyper and it would have been a pain to befriend him.

Cooper drops to the floor like a bag of bricks, his head smacking the floor on the way down.

"Oof, that's gonna hurt when he wakes up later," Elle laughs as she cracks her knuckles and directs her attention the Thea. Thea looks scared, but once her eyes settle on me she becomes angry. She kneels down before the werewolf and begins listening for his breathing first. Once she realizes that he's still alive, she stands up and storms over to me.

"What did you do to him?!" she screams. I believe she's under the impression that she's frightening me, but she's not the least bit threatening. However, I allow her to scream at me if that's what she needs to get her emotions under control. The first thing she does is shove me- hard. I am stronger than a human, but the action took me by surprise and I stumble back a few steps before regaining my balance.

I'm not used to others standing up to me. I can easily injure almost any type of supernatural, and since I hold this strength, others sense this power in me and refuse to attack me. In front of me, a puny human thinks that she can hurt me. It's almost comical. I don't pay attention to everything she's screaming at me, but I hear words and phrases like "how dare you", "nightmares" and "stupid warlock." I'm glad she figured out I'm a warlock. Now I don't have to hide anything from her.

She goes to push me again, but she's pulled back by Elle's magic.

"Iactus!" Elle's magic throws Thea across the room and straight into a wall where she is left floating. Elle walks over to her, slowly, as if she's stalking her pray.

"Do not touch my brother like that. Ever." She continues to slowly glide across the room until she reaches Thea's shivering form. I can tell that Thea is trying to be brave, but she's obviously frightened. I don't want to watch this anymore. We're here to save Thea, not threaten her more.

"Elle, put her d-"

"Are you feeling tired?" Elle mocks, her face directly in Thea's. "Wanna take a little nap?" Thea's eyes widen as she slowly shakes her head.

Elle openly laughs in her face. She backs up only to force magic to the surface while displaying the blue color at her fingertips. "I can do the same thing I did to Sleepy over there." She motions over to the werewolf's form. "One word, and nighty-night for you."

"Let me go you evil witch!" Thea screams as she struggles to get out of the magical hold. Her legs are kicking at the open air as she squirms to be let free. Her eyes flood with tears of frustration as she continues to move around.

"Alright, fine. Have it your way."

"Elle, don't you dare-" I try to stop her from letting Thea go, but she releases her from the magical hold anyway. Thea drops to the floor and lands heavily on her knees which already seemed to be scraped up. The cuts reopen, and I can't help but feel this urge to help her. I hate seeing her in pain. Elle approaches Thea once again, and that's when I lose it.

"Rigescunt indutae!" Elle freezes in place, no longer able to move. This spell that I cast stops all movement for the recipient. Elle sends an evil glare my way. She's obviously annoyed, but she'll get over it. She was going to hurt Thea even more, and I didn't come here to do that.

Seeing Thea hurt fills me with guilt and remorse. Just looking at her now, the bags under her eyes look like that colorful shit girls put on their faces. Her eyes are red-rimmed and she looks overall exhausted.

"Before you say anything else, just know that I'm sorry. For everything. I didn't want to cast that spell on you. My coven forced me, and I know that doesn't make up for anything. We came here to undo it. I care about you, Thea."

Whatever I expected Thea to do, it definitely wasn't what she actually did. She walked right up to me and slapped me right in the face. Hard. My hand instantly went up to my face as I cradled it. That shit hurts! I guess I deserved that. Next, this girl decides to hug me. Now I'm thoroughly confused. She hits me, then she hugs me? What the hell is going on?

Instead of questioning the moment, I hug her back. I'm just grateful that she's forgiving me. A small smile spreads on my face, and I already feel lighter than before. She's so cute and little, and her hug spreads a new type of warmth through my body. She lets go of me and looks me in the eyes.

"You promise that you didn't want to?" she asks in a small, hopeful voice. Her eyes are glossy and I want nothing more than to stop her tears.

"I promise. I'll explain everything to you, but first I need to reverse the spell so that you won't be in danger anymore."

She nods her head gratefully and bites her lip in anticipation. My eyes flit to the movement, and I have to force my thoughts to stop. She has a werewolf mate! And she's human! I cannot be having these thoughts about her.

I slowly turn to Elle as I shake the shameful thoughts away.

"I'm gonna unfreeze you now. You're not going to harm Thea in any way or else I will harm you worse. Understand?"

Elle rolls her eyes- the only thing she can do in her frozen state. I take that as an okay, so I unfreeze her. She stumbles back and impressively doesn't fall to the ground.

"You shithead!" she screams and she rolls out her neck and cracks her joints. "I'll never understand the infatuation you have with this mortal." She steps closer to Thea to perform the spell- which we need to touch her in order to do- but Thea backs up as far as she can and looks to me for support.

"It's fine. She won't hurt you. With the portal, the sleep spell, and the silencing spell, we're both a bit drained. I need her help to reverse it."

She hesitantly nods, then looks over to the werewolf's sleeping form on the floor. "Can you wake him up though? What if he's hurt?" Her compassion is annoying me, but I gently explain that if I wake Cooper up, he'll alert the guards through mindlink that other supernaturals are attacking her. She complies.

Elle and I put our hands on each one of her shoulders and close our eyes as we draw our magic to the surface. It's harder to do because we're both exhausted from the many spells we've performed. Just when I feel my magic comply, the door flies off its hinges.

Great.