Filed to story: Mated and Hated by My Brother’s Best Friend Book PDF Free by Anna Campbell
“You’re remembering it too,” she whispered.
“I don’t want to.”
“Want has nothing to do with it.”
When we emerged from the cave, the trees felt sharper. Leaner. Like something had been peeled back.
The path back to camp wound in tense silence. But before we reached the ridge, I stopped.
Serina didn’t.
She disappeared into the shadows without a word.
And I turned toward the leyline clearing where Nate stood, eyes already waiting.
He held out a hand.
I took it.
And for a moment, just one, the world steadied.
Later that night, I wandered again-my power unsettled, my body warm with residual flame.
I found Max sitting alone near the edge of camp, sharpening a blade that looked older than both of us.
He didn’t look up. “Couldn’t sleep either?”
I sat beside him. “Not really.”
Silence stretched, but not an uncomfortable one.
Finally, he said, “When I marked you, I thought it was for protection.”
I didn’t speak.
He looked down. “But it was fear. Not love. Not even devotion. Just fear that if I didn’t act, I’d lose the only person who ever saw me as more than just a weapon.”
I closed my eyes.
“I don’t need your forgiveness,” he said. “I just needed you to know I finally understand it.”
I opened them again. “And what do you want now?”
He sheathed the blade. “To stand between you and what’s coming. No strings. No expectation. Just that.”
I turned to him. “You still love me.”
He didn’t flinch. “Yeah.”
“I can’t return it.”
“I don’t need you to.”
I reached out and squeezed his hand once. “Then let’s start there.”
He smiled, brittle but real. “If I die in this, it’ll mean something. I’ll die on my own terms.”
“No one’s dying.” I said.
But even as I said it, I wasn’t sure I believed it.
The tent was dim when I returned.
Nate stood near the center, shirtless, running water through his hair from a basin.
I stepped inside.
He turned.
No words.
Just us.
The way he looked at me-like the world had narrowed to a single point of gravity.
I moved first.
He met me halfway.
The kiss wasn’t desperate. It was grounding. Deep. Slow. His hands gripped my waist, mine cupped his face. The bond between us hummed-not wild, not hungry. Just certain.
I pulled back. “I want to finish it.”
His brow furrowed. “Finish what?”
I turned, pulling my shirt over my head, revealing the mark on my shoulder. “I want you to finish this. Not because we’re afraid. Because we choose it.”
He stepped forward, voice low. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Seal it with me. Completely. Not just power. Not just sex. The bond.”
He traced his thumb over my collarbone. “Then lie down.”
And I did.
He took his time.
Every kiss was deliberate. Every touch anchored.
When he marked me again, I felt the shift like a heartbeat through the veil.
The world didn’t spin.
It stilled.
And when we made love, it wasn’t a claiming-it was a covenant.
Not a branding.
A belonging.
His hands never left me.
My breath never left him.
The stars flickered outside the tent, but inside, we created our own constellation.
When we collapsed, skin damp, hearts thudding in sync, I felt it.
The bond was whole.
No longer broken.
No longer hesitant.
We were mated.
Completely.
And I didn’t regret it.
Not a single second.
We must’ve dozed.
But we woke to the sound of footsteps and a rush of cold air.
Eva burst in, face pale, eyes glowing faintly.
Her voice shook.
“I saw it,” she whispered.
I sat up, Nate shielding me instinctively.
Eva’s lips trembled.
“Not fire,” she said. “Blood.”
She met my eyes.
“So much blood.”
Jiselle
The valley held its breath.
After Eva’s vision-after her whispered warning of blood and betrayal and blades cloaked in memory-n
-no one said what we were all thinking. That the war was already breathing down our necks. That even the trees seemed to lean back now, no longer sheltering us but bearing silent witness.
I wandered the perimeter of the camp alone, boots crunching against gravel as twilight draped the sky in soft bruises. My flame simmered beneath my skin, quieter than usual but heavier, as though it too was mourning something we hadn’t lost yet. I passed Nate’s tent. Bastain’s. The place where Eva sat in trance-like silence, hands curled like she was still gripping the future.
But I didn’t stop until I saw him.
Ethan.
He sat near the leyline ridge, one knee up, elbow resting against it, a dagger glinting in his hand as he dragged a whetstone across the blade in slow, deliberate motions. Sparks danced briefly from the edge. Not magical. Just metal. Grounding.
“Thought I’d find you here,” I said softly, stepping into the blue of the leyline’s pulse.
He didn’t look up. “Didn’t think you’d be the one to come.”
I crossed to him, folded my legs beside his. “Nate’s tending to the eastern border. Eva’s resting. Max is trying to look useful by intimidating the wind.”
That made him snort. “Figures.”
We sat in silence for a while, the hum of the leyline flowing under us like a quiet heartbeat. I hadn’t realized how much I missed this. Sitting. Breathing. Sharing space with someone who’d known me before everything.
Before the flame. Before the Gate. Before the burden of being something ancient and breaking.
“You’re quiet,” I said eventually.
He angled the dagger. Checked the edge. “I’ve been thinking.”
I tilted my head. “Dangerous.”
He cracked a small smile. “Jis…”
“Yeah?”
He finally turned to look at me. His eyes-earthy green, just like mine-carried the weight of too many battles. Too many nights he didn’t think I’d wake. Too many fears he never spoke aloud.
“You’re not just my sister anymore.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You’re becoming something more.” His jaw flexed. “Something the world might not survive. And I still want to protect you. But I don’t think I can.”
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