Filed to story: Mated and Hated by My Brother’s Best Friend Book PDF Free by Anna Campbell
A knot twisted in my chest.
“I never asked you to protect me,” I whispered.
“No. You didn’t. But I’m your twin. It’s instinct.”
I leaned into his shoulder, let my head rest there the way? hadn’t since we were kids huddled under storm blankets, “I don’t need a protector: I said. ” need a brother. Mine.”
His hand settled over mine, Warm. Steady. Real.
We didn’t speak for a long while.
The leyline beneath us thrummed again, and a memory surfaced unbidden-us, as pups, racing through the woods behind our house, pretending to hunt spirits. Ethan always leading. Me always trying to catch up.
“When did we get so old?” I asked.
He huffed a laugh. “You got powerful. I just got tired.”
I laughed too, soft and real. “That’s not true. You still scare half the camp.”
“That’s just because they haven’t seen me cry in front of a rabbit yet.”
I elbowed him. “Liar.”
He sobered again, hand tightening over mine.
“I’m scared,” he said.
I froze. “Of what?”
“Not you. Never you. I’m scared of what I’ll have to do if you lose yourself. If the Gate takes too much.”
“I won’t let it.”
He looked at me then-really looked. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
The bond between us-a twin-sense deeper than even the mate connection-pulsed once. Affirming. Anchoring.
He nodded and looked out over the horizon. “I don’t think I ever told you this. But… the day I realized you’d surpassed me-I wasn’t proud at first. I was angry. Scared. You lit a tree on fire just by sneezing, and all I could think was: she’s going somewhere I can’t follow.”
I exhaled slowly. “I didn’t know.”
“I know. I didn’t want you to. You deserved to grow without my fear on your shoulders.”
I looked up at the sky. “I still remember that day. Mom nearly fainted. Dad kept pacing and muttering about moon cycles.”
He chuckled. “You weren’t even worried.”
“I was, a little. But I also felt… right. Like something old had finally come home.”
We lapsed into silence again, but this time it was softer. Comfortable. The wind pulled through the trees with gentle insistence, like it too was preparing for something bigger.
The leyline’s glow began to deepen-slowly at first, like twilight dipping its fingers into the current. Then all at once. What had always been a calm blue pulse-steady, grounding-started to swirl with violet at its edges. It wasn’t just color. It was mood. Pressure. The hum beneath us shifted pitch, like a heartbeat syncing with something ancient and angry.
I sat up straighter, my fingers pressing into the grass. “Did you see that?”
Ethan’s jaw had gone tight. His hand slid instinctively to the dagger at his belt. “Yeah,” he murmured. “It’s pulsing… differently. Like it’s waiting.”
The wind stilled.
Then, as if some unseen gate had swung open, it cut sharply through the trees, slapping the tents with a snap of warning. The scent of ash drifted through the air-not fire, not yet. But the promise of it.
And then it came.
Low.
Drawn-out.
Final.
A horn-long and bone-deep-echoed across the valley like a beast waking in its sleep. It rolled over the mountains, bounced between the cliffs, and sank into the very soil beneath us. The leyline flared in response, veins of violet surging outward, threading through the earth like cracks in time.
Ethan was already on his feet, blade in hand, his posture shifting from brother to warrior in a breath. “That wasn’t a call,” he said grimly. “That was a warning.”
I stood beside him, my own flame slithering to life at my fingertips-violet and gold, licking at the air like it tasted battle before we could see it. The bond thrummed behind my ribs, alerting Nate, alerting the others. The camp would feel this. The wolves would feel this.
The Gate was no longer pacing. It was knocking.
And this?
This was its herald.
I turned to Ethan, the weight of it all coiling in my chest. The loss we hadn’t yet felt. The blood Eva had already seen. The fire Nate swore he’d burn through with me.
I looked into my twin’s eyes, saw the same fear I carried-matched by the same resolve.
Twin flame.
Same blood.
And now, without doubt, without mercy-
The fire had found its tempo.
We ran.
No Ads
“Nathaniel’
We didn’t speak as we walked.
The ruins stretched ahead, half-swallowed by moss and memory, and the only sound was the crunch of gravel beneath our boots. Jiselle walked just ahead of me, her flame low and quiet in the air-like even it was holding its breath. The wind carried a crisp bite, not quite cold, but enough to make her reach up and rub her arms now and then. I wanted to offer her my jacket. But she hadn’t asked. And I wasn’t here to protect her from the wind.
Only the world.
The camp behind us was alive with movement-gear packed, maps rolled, soldiers briefed. They would relocate before dawn. Closer to the Academy. Closer to the bloodline we were all tiptoeing toward. But here, in the wreckage of this forgotten outpost, time moved slower.
She stopped when we reached the tree.
It wasn’t large. Crooked, a little cracked, roots tangled in broken stone. But on its bark, names were carved. Some shallow. Some faded. Some gouged with the desperation of someone needing the world to remember they were here.
Jiselle touched one of the names. I watched her fingers tremble.
“Do you think any of them survived?” she asked softly.
“Maybe,” I said. “Maybe this is all that did.”
She stared a moment longer. Then pulled the dagger from her boot.
I didn’t stop her.
The blade scratched softly as she pressed her initials into the wood. Not fancy. Not dramatic. Just the truth of who she was.
Then she stepped back, and without looking at me, held the dagger out.
I took it.
Pressed the steel into my palm for a beat too long before carving beside hers.
When I was done, we stood in silence.
Two names.
Not an ending.
A promise.
She looked at me finally. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not making it feel like we were already gone,
I wanted to pull her into me then. Just wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her hair until the scent of war burned out of the sky.
Instead, I took her hand.
Her fingers fit mine like they always had-like she was built for every scar I never wanted to show anyone else.
“I used to be afraid of dying.” I said. “Terrified of it. The idea of the world going on without me. Of not seeing the sunrise. Of not getting to protect the people I love.”
She didn’t interrupt. Just walked slower. Closer.
“But now,” I continued, “I’m not afraid of dying anymore.”
Her brow furrowed slightly. “Why not?”
“Because the idea of you living through all of this-without someone who knows you the way I do-that scares me more.”
She stopped walking.
I turned to face her fully.
“Jiselle,” I said quietly. “I don’t need you to promise you’ll survive. I just need you to promise you’ll still be you if you do.”
A soft breath left her lips.
She reached up and cupped the side of my face, thumb brushing the edge of my jaw.
“I don’t know who that is anymore,” she admitted. “But if you keep holding my hand, maybe I’ll remember.”
And just like that, the knot in my chest loosened.
Not all the way.
But enough.
We kept walking until the trees thinned and the stars opened above us. No clouds. Just infinite dark speckled with light.
We sat on a crumbling stone wall, shoulder to shoulder, and didn’t speak for a long while.
Eventually, she broke the silence.
“If I don’t come back from this-“
“No,” I said immediately. “Don’t say it.”
“Nate-“
I turned to her, letting my forehead rest against hers.
“Then I’ll find you again,” I whispered. “Whatever world it takes.”
She didn’t cry. But I could feel the breath she held.
And when our lips met, it wasn’t a goodbye.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
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