Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Verity:

"That’s exactly why I never made things official with either of you. That’s why I allowed myself to be with your brother too. Because let’s be honest, Theodore, I’m fated to both of you."

The excuse formed almost effortlessly as I spoke.

"My body, my mind, my heart... they’re constantly confused between the two of you for one very simple reason. The mate bond."

And there it was.

The perfect weapon.

The mate bond gave me an explanation for being involved with both brothers, one that Theodore could hardly argue against.

By the time I finished, he looked deathly pale.

I expected Theodore to say something, maybe deny it outright and tell me I was wrong.

He didn’t.

He didn’t even claim that nothing physical had happened between him and Gigi.

That surprised me.

More than anything, though, he looked guilty.

Before either of us could continue, someone knocked on the door.

My heart lurched inside my chest.

The reaction was so immediate that I already suspected who it was.

My other mate.

Maybe it was because I had only felt the mate bond with him a few hours ago, but my body still reacted sharply whenever both of them were near me.

"It’s Jaguar," I said without opening the door.

Theodore’s attention snapped toward me.

"You can sense him?"

I nodded.

"Did you sense me when I was outside the door?"

I had expected that question.

What surprised me was how quickly this had started.

They were already comparing themselves, already measuring who I could sense more strongly, who had more of my attention.

I gave Theodore a look before walking to the door and opening it.

Jaguar stood on the other side, staring directly at me.

He looked restless too, like he hadn’t slept all night.

At least I had managed to have that effect on both of them.

"I wanted to come here and speak with you," Jaguar said.

I silently stepped aside.

He entered anxiously, but his footsteps stopped almost immediately, probably the moment he noticed Theodore.

I closed the door and turned around.

Instead of standing where I had left him, Theodore was now sitting on the edge of my bed.

I knew exactly why.

He was trying to provoke his brother.

"What is he doing here?" Jaguar asked, his voice turning stern.

"He came here for answers, just like you did," I replied before Theodore could say anything.

"And what exactly did you two talk about?"

"Well, we talked about a few things," Theodore answered casually. "But it’s not like all we did was talk before today."

There it was.

That was his way of telling Jaguar that he and I had been physical too.

I understood why he did it. Theodore was still angry after finding out about my involvement with his brother, and now he wanted Jaguar to feel the same thing.

Jaguar did not take it well.

His expression hardened almost instantly.

"So you two got physical?"

I rolled my eyes.

"How could you do this to us?" he demanded. "We didn’t even know we were both involved with the same woman."

"Oh, really?"

I folded my arms.

"Were you not the one who told me not to come between you and Gigi? When I told you I was uncomfortable with how close you were to her, you put me in my place."

His face tightened.

"But now you’re standing here acting like I was supposed to be completely faithful to you while I was still single. I wasn’t even your girlfriend, Jaguar."

I paused, letting that settle before continuing.

"And somehow I was also supposed to come to you and explain everything?"

Neither of them interrupted.

"I was confused, okay? I didn’t understand what was happening to me."

I drew in a breath.

"My body, my mind, even my wolf felt restless. I felt anxious whenever the two of you were around me, and now I finally know why."

Their attention stayed fixed on me.

"You’re both my mates."

The words seemed to weigh down the entire room.

"I couldn’t control what I was feeling when I was around both of you. It was the mate bond. That’s why I kept being drawn to each of you."

I stopped and took another breath, trying to steady myself while they watched me.

Theodore remained silent.

Of course he did.

Earlier, I had shut down his accusations by bringing up what happened between him and Gigi. I had expected him to defend himself, to tell me I had misunderstood everything.

But he hadn’t.

And now, the longer he stayed quiet, the more I started to wonder what had really happened between them.

"Sure. But you could have been respectful enough to speak to both of us afterward," Jaguar commented.

He still seemed determined to ignore the fact that I had already told him how much it bothered me that he used to warn me not to come between him and Gigi.

"So what happens now?"

Thankfully, Theodore stepped in before Jaguar could corner me with another uncomfortable question.

"I’m not sure," Jaguar continued. "Because I still feel betrayed. Even if the mate bond explains why she felt that way, the right thing would have been to come to us. She should have sat us both down and told us she was feeling something strange around both of us."

He paced around the room as he spoke, making it painfully clear that he was going to be the harder one to deal with.

I drew in a deep breath and slowly released it.

"I need to be alone for a while."

Jaguar immediately shook his head.

"We still need answers. What exactly is your plan? Who do you have feelings for?"

He cornered me so quickly that even Theodore rose from the bed, probably realizing they still had no idea what I intended to do.

Neither of them was directly asking me to choose, but the question was there.

I wasn’t even sure whether Jaguar wanted me to think he had forgiven me yet.