Chapter 310

Tessa’s POV

When I walked into Hanna’s room, she was curled up on her bed with tears spilling out of her eyes. My heart broke for her; she was a young girl, around 22 years old and she wore her heart on her sleeve. I’ve heard this about her the last couple of times we’ve talked, but I really don’t know anything else about her. I was going to make it my mission to know everything I could about her and the others though.

As strange as it was, I can’t imagine walking away from them. I wanted to be a part of this coven. Hannah was a pretty blonde with dazzling blue eyes and light freckles feathered around her nose and cheeks. She had gorgeous dimples when she smiled, and she was incredibly fit with nice-sized breasts. It was no wonder Lucias wanted her for himself. The mind control he put on her confused her feelings for him and now she wasn’t sure what was real and what was fake.

I didn’t bother knocking when I entered her room, and she didn’t yell at me to get out as I shut the door behind me.

“Want to talk about it?” I asked her.

She peeked up at me through her damp eyelashes and sniffled a few times, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

“Not really,” she murmured.

I sighed and walked further into her room, sitting down on her bed.

“Why do you want to have a ceremony for that monster?” I asked, hoping she would tell me the truth. I already knew the reason, but I wanted to hear it from her.

She just shrugged one shoulder.

“He wasn’t all bad,” she whispered, her voice coming out broken. “Most of them only remember the bad because of all the stuff they had to do. But he never made me do anything bad. I enjoyed my time with him…”

“But he took two decades of your life from you,” I told her, trying to keep my voice soft. “He made you fall in love with him with force and not by choice, Hannah.”

She winced at my words.

“How did you know I loved him?”

“The girls told me,” I admitted. “Laura saw everything going on between the two of you. They said you basically followed him around like a lost puppy. Would you have done that if you weren’t under his control?”

She scrunched her face as she thought about it.

“I… I don’t know,” she whispered. “He’s the only one I’ve ever been in love with. So, I’m not sure how I would normally act.”

My heart ached for her; he took away the choice for her and I hated that.

“Maybe it was easier not having a choice…” she whispered, more to herself than to me.

“Someone who truly loved you would never put you through something like that, Hannah. I know you want to tell yourself that he loved you, but he was infatuated with how beautiful you are. He never bothered to get to know you. He turned you into someone he wanted you to be. He didn’t love the real you… he loved a pretty robot. Your feelings for him, as real as they might seem, were planted in your head by him. They aren’t real. When you find love… real love, you’ll understand the difference.”

She nodded as tears left her eyes and dripped down her cheeks.

“Do you think the others would ever forgive me?” She whispered. “I never meant to upset anyone…”

I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close to me.

“Trust me, they already forgive you,” I assured her. “Take all the time you need and then come down to join us. I think we should have a coven movie night tonight.”

A smile tugged at her lips.

“You don’t have to treat us like kids,” she said. “We are adults and don’t need constant entertainment.”

I dramatically gasped as I stood to my feet.

“I wasn’t aware you needed to be a kid to watch a movie,” I teased. “Man, I must be an extra kid because I love some popcorn while I watch movies too.”

She smirked at me.

“Well, if you were going to watch a movie anyway, I suppose I will join,”

I smiled at her over my shoulder.

“See you downstairs in 20 minutes.”

I stepped out of her room, feeling better that I got to talk to her. As I passed Austin’s bedroom, contemplating whether or not I should walk in and see how he was doing, I paused when I heard him chuckling with Joseph. I smiled as my heart warmed. Instead of walking into the room, I decided to just go downstairs and start making popcorn for our movie night.

I grabbed the remote and handed it to Derek.

“Find us a movie on Netflix,” I ordered.

“Yes, mam,” he said in return.

While he got too busy with Amy finding us a movie to watch, I continued making popcorn. The others were getting pajamas on for a comfortable movie night. Esme walked into the kitchen a few minutes later.

“I’m going to go home,” she told me. “I don’t think I’m needed anymore.”

I frowned at her.

“You are always needed, Esme,” I told her, furrowing my brows together. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for the movie night?”

She shook her head.

“I’m beaten,” she told me. “Plus, I’m coming back tomorrow, remember?”

Tomorrow was Saturday and I was off from work; Which meant, I was going to be training my magic with her all day. I smiled.

“How could I forget?” I asked.

She winked at me and said goodbye as she walked out of the kitchen, passing Joseph as she left.

“How did things go with Austin?” I asked, smiling at him from over my shoulder. I already knew how things went, but I wanted to hear it from him.

“I think he’s going to be okay,” Joseph told me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

“Same with Hannah,” I told him in return.

“They are good people; lost in their ways, but good,” Joseph told me.

I put popcorn in multiple bowls, handing a couple to Joseph, while grabbing a couple myself.

“Yeah, they really are,” I told him. “I hope they can move on from the past and look to the future going forward.”

“Speaking of the future, when do you want to start wedding preparations?”

With everything on, I hadn’t even thought about it. My heart was conflicted when it came to the wedding. I wanted to marry Joseph more than anything, but I was terrified of doing so. A marriage was a huge deal and the thought of marrying him without my best friend being at the wedding didn’t feel right.

I bit my lower lip as he studied me.

“You do still want to marry me, don’t you?” He asked, his brows pinching together.

“Of course, I do,” I said quickly, offering him a small smile. “But Ruby wouldn’t be there, and I need her at my wedding.”

He nodded, the look of understanding in his eyes.

“Then, we will wait until she gets out of the academy,” he told me.

I looked up at him in surprise.

“You wouldn’t mind waiting four years?”

He smiled and then bent and brushed his lips across mine.

“I would wait forever if I had to,” he told me. “We have an eternity to get married, remember. What’s four years? Besides, with how well Ruby is doing at the academy, there’s a chance she will get out sooner. So, yes, I’ll wait for as long as I need to.”

I felt warm and fuzzy on the inside. No words could possibly explain how much I truly love this man. I was on top of the world in love with him and I was so excited to be Mrs. Jospeh Evergreen.

Tessa Evergreen. It has a nice ring to it.

Most were already gathered in the living room and Happy Gilmore waiting on the TV screen. They got excited when they saw the popcorn bowls in our hands, and we passed them out for everyone to share. I smiled when I saw they left a couple of seats open for Jospeh and me on the couch. I took his hand, and we sat down with our own bowl of popcorn.

“Ready for the movie?” Derek asked, peeking over at us.

We all nodded, and Derek pressed play.

We sat together and laughed along with the Adam Sandler movie. For the first time in a long time, I felt at peace. I felt at home. I felt like I had a true family, and it was nice.

By the end of the movie, most were exhausted and ready for bed. They said their goodnights and dispersed to their rooms.

I was so tired; that I could barely walk up the stairs. So, Joseph scooped me into his arms bridal style and carried me to our bedroom. I smiled as I leaned my head against his chest, not wanting him to ever let me go. He put me down on the bed and threw the covers over me before sliding into the bed beside me, wrapping me in his arms.

“I was thinking about something,” he murmured, his eyes closed. I peeked up at him, wondering what had been on his mind.

“Wanna tell me about it?”

He nodded with a smile.

“Well, initially, I was thinking about finding another home for the coven. That way they can have a place to call their home. They’ll also have to figure out a new leader even though I think most of them are thinking about you as their leader. But I know it’s something that needs to be voted on…” he was rambling, and it was cute.

The thought of them leaving though upset me for a reason I couldn’t explain. I liked having them around even though it’s only been for a short time. They may not have voted me as their new coven leader, but I somehow felt responsible for them. Although, I know there are some older members, like Patty, who would probably do a better job at being a coven leader than me. I made a mental note to discuss this with her whenever we got a chance.

“But I started to think, while we were all watching that movie, I mean we have plenty of rooms here and everybody has their own space. They are pretty respectful to one another, and you seem like you’re warming up to them after everything that has happened. Maybe too much change isn’t a good thing right now.”

I frowned.

“What are you saying?”

He takes a deep breath, and I can’t help but feel nervous. Does he want them to leave? Does he still want to find them a new home? Or does he want to kick them out onto the streets? I was ready to defend their cases and do whatever took to keep that from happening.

“I’m saying, maybe they should just stay here long term. This place could be the new coven house.”