Filed to story: Mated and Hated by My Brother’s Best Friend Book PDF Free by Anna Campbell
And my water bottle sat right where I left it-on the nightstand.
I stared at it.
My wolf stirred again.
Don’t.
The word wasn’t spoken, but I heard it all the same. Felt it ripple across my skin.
I stood slowly, like something ancient had taken over my body. Like my instincts knew better than my mind.
I picked up the bottle. Unscrewed the cap.
No scent.
No color.
But something was off.
I padded down the hallway, barefoot and quiet, until I reached the common room where Nate and Ethan were finishing up a late-night strategy session for the Solstice Trials. They looked up the moment I entered.
Nate’s eyes locked on me. “What is it?”
“I need Bastain.”
Five minutes later, we were in his office, the door sealed with three wards and a muting rune.
Bastain took one look at me and didn’t ask questions. He took the bottle, and poured some clear liquid into it that I could only assume was some fort of elixir.
His face changed.
“What is it?” Nate demanded.
“A concentrated paralytic,” Bastain said, each word like ice. “It’s neutral and colorless. It would’ve knocked her unconscious within the hour. She would have been weak first, then numb, then gone.”
Ethan swore so violently it echoed off the walls. Nate didn’t speak. His jaw clenched so hard I thought his teeth might break.
I was too stunned to move.
Someone had tried to poison me.
Bastain turned to me. “Effective immediately, your campus privileges are revoked.”
“What?” I blinked.
“You don’t go anywhere alone. No combat unless I’m supervising. No leaving the dorm after lights-out. You’re to be guarded until the Solstice.”
Great. As if this sexist ass school wasn’t already so much of a prison.
“I’m not a prisoner,” I snapped.
He met my gaze evenly. “You are now.”
***
Nate stayed with me that night.
He didn’t sleep. Didn’t even sit.
He paced the room like a caged predator, his shadows stretching unnaturally far across the walls. Every noise made his eyes flick toward the door. Every creak of the floor made him growl.
And I tried to breathe, but I failed.
Because no matter how many protections they put in place… someone had gotten close enough to try.
Someone wanted me gone. Or a lot of people.
And they weren’t done.
By the time I went back to bed, the room felt different. Colder. Smaller. My side of the bed was warmer than I remembered, like Nate had tucked heat into the sheets just for me.
I pulled the blanket up, trying to chase sleep.
It didn’t come.
At some point, I turned my pillow.
That’s when I found it.
A note.
Folded neatly. Slipped under the pillow like a secret.
There was no scent. No trace of ink. No magic signature.
But the handwriting was sharp.
Unfamiliar.
Precise.
It said only six words.
“You should’ve run when Max told you to.”
I stared at it for a long time.
Not blinking.
Not breathing.
Just reading.
Again.
And again.
And again. to him. A promise I kept for too long.”
“And it cost me everything.” I said. “It made me question everything.”
“So now you don’t trust me?” he asked. “Is that it?”
I looked away.
“Say it,” he hissed. “Just say it.”
“Maybe I don’t,” I whispered. “Because everyone seems to know more about me than I do. You. Bastain. The council. Even Max.
He flinched like I’d struck him.
Then the room changed.
I didn’t mean for it to happen.
It was like my body moved faster than my brain. The temperature dropped. The lights flickered. The dagger on the desk rattled in its sheath.
Nate stepped back, eyes wide.
“Jiselle-*
“I told you I was scared,” I said, barely recognizing my own voice. “I told you I didn’t know what I was. And instead of helping me feel grounded, you lock me in a room like a cursed artifact!”
Power crackled in the air. My veins felt molten. My fingers twitched.
And then-
The bookshelf behind Nate exploded.
He ducked. Books flew across the room. Pages fluttered like ash.
A high-pitched whine filled my ears. I clutched my temples, trying to breathe.
Then I heard it.
Blood.
A drop hit the floor.
I looked up-and Nate was holding his nose, blood dripping down his face.
“Oh my gosh, Nate!” I gasped, terrified and suddenly feeling like I monster. “I didn’t touch you,” I breathed. “I know.”
He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t afraid. He looked broken.
“I didn’t mean to~”
“I know, he repeated.
He reached out for me, but I backed away.
“Nate, I-“
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” I shook my head. “This isn’t normal. This isn’t… this isn’t something we can fix.”
“I’m not trying to fix it,” he said gently. “I’m trying to survive it. With you.”
But I couldn’t. Not tonight.
Not after what I’d done.
I turned and bolted out the door.
He didn’t follow.
Not right away.
I stormed through the corridor, heart pounding. The night air felt like knives against my skin. I didn’t know where I was going. I just knew I had to move.
Then, just before I rounded the corner to the dorm’s west wing-
I felt it.
Someone was watching me.
I turned.
Nothing.
No footsteps. No shadows. Just cold air and silence.
But I wasn’t imagining it.
I started walking faster.
And behind me, in the shadows between two columns, someone moved.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
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