Filed to story: Mated and Hated by My Brother’s Best Friend Book PDF Free by Anna Campbell
“Ethan.”
“How long?” he asked, angry replaced by raw betrayal.
I swallowed “Since we were sixteen.”
His hand recoiled.
He stood so fast the chair scraped against the floor.
“You’ve known all this time?” he whispered, his voice thick with disbelief.
“I was going to tell you, I rasped. “I wanted to-so many times. But Nate didn’t want me to. Something about a promsie.” “Promise?” he repeated, his voice rising. “Screw the promise! This wasn’t some petty dating. You guys were mates!”
“It wasn’t my choice,” I pleaded.
“Wasn’t your Jiselle. I asked you if there was anything happening with you and Nate and you lied to my face, Jizzy.” I flinched, the words stabbing deeper than any blade.
Before I could speak, the door opened again.
Nate
His presence hit me like a rush of wind-sharp and full of weight. His eyes landed on me immediately, scanning every inch like he was afraid I’d disappear. There were cuts on his knuckles. His jaw was bruised. Blood still crusted at his temple.
And yet he looked like the one who had lost everything.
“You’re awake” he breathed, stepping closer.
Ethan turned toward him, but he didn’t say anything. Just shook his head and walked to the far side of the room, his back rigid with rage.
I didn’t blame him.
I was angry too
At myself
At Max
At this entire twisted world
Nate come to the side of my bed and sat slowly, careful not to touch me.
“You scared the hell out of me, he said, voice rough
“What happened?” I whispered.
He hesitated, then told me
About the courtyard About the fight. About the crowd. About Eva crying, about Bastain and Hadelyn, about the reveal About how everyone knew now
“You’re a mess,” I murmured, staring at his split lip.
“You should see the other guy” he said dryly, then sobered “He’s lucky I didn’t kill him.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” I whispered Yes, I was pissed. Maybe I even hated him but he was… Max. Nate’s jaw clenched. “He marked you, Jiselle Against your will. That’s that’s not something you come b back from.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t. You’re not just sick, you’re poisoned. The mark-it’s being rejected by your wolf as you know. Your body’s fighting it. That’s why you’re burning up. That’s why you can’t shift. It’s trying to kill you.”
A breath caught in my throat.
“I thought it just made people sick. I didn’t know it could-
“It can. And it does. If it’s not reversed, if something isn’t done.”
He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to
Because I felt it in my
In my soul. bones. a ball somewhere deep inside me, like even she couldn’t
My wolf was barely clinging on. I could sense her now-curled into a b face the world. Her breathing was shallow. Her spirit dimmed.
Tears welled in my eyes.
“Cant you just mark her and reverse it?” Ethan asked, his tone clipped.
Nate sighed. “That would kill her immediately.”
Ethan cursed under his breath and hell, I did too.
“Why would he do this to me?” I choked out. “He knew what it would do. He knew.”
Nate’s eyes darkened with fury “Because he’s crazy-obsessive. He was desperate enough to force his mark on you and risk everything than think of you choosing me.”
“I didn’t choose you,” I whispered.
“But you didn’t reject me either,” he said softly.
I looked away.
“I’m sorry.” I whispered, not even sure who the apology was for
For Ethan, for Nate, for myself?
For all of it?
The silence stretched.
Ethan paced in the corner, fists clenched, and I knew he was trying to hold it together. But I could feel the storm brewing beneath his skin. I could see the betrayal etched in every muscle.
He finally stopped and turned.
His eyes met mine.
And I swear, they looked like they did when we were kids-when I had broken something precious and he didn’t know whether to cry or get mad,
“You’re my twin,” he said, voice trembling. “And I didn’t even see it. I didn’t see it, Jiselle. You were hiding something this huge and I didn’t see it.”.
I shook my head. “I was scared.”
He laughed bitterly. “Yeah. So was I. When I found you passed out on the ground, barely breathing, I thought I’d lost you. And all I could think about was how stupid I was for not protecting you better.”
“Ethan-“
“I need to get out of here,” he muttered, backing away.
“Ethan, please=”
But he didn’t stay
The door clicked shut behind him.
And suddenly, the room felt colder. Emptier,
Nate sat there, unmoving
I stared at the ceiling, trying not to cry
But I was already crying ing in my eyes, the in my chest that refused to loosen
I could feel it in the burning of my throat, the sting My voice was barely a whisper when I finally spoke “Am I going to die?”
“Nathaniel’
“I won’t let you die,” I said, even though my voice barely made it above a whisper. though the truth of those words felt paper-thin in the face of the way she looked-too pale, too still, her breaths broken by soft whimpers of pain.
Her lips parted slightly like she wanted to speak again, to ask me for a second time if she was dying, but sleep pulled at her faster than her mind could resist. Her lashes fluttered shut, her body curling weakly into itself. The fever had her in its grip again, dragging her under like a tide, and I could do nothing but sit there and watch.
Powerless
Fucking powerless.
I should’ve marked her first. I should’ve told Ethan years ago. I should’ve fought harder. I should’ve something.
Anything
Instead, I sat there beside her bed, watching her body tremble beneath the thin infirmary sheets, and all I could do was breathe and pray that every shallow rise and fall of her chest wouldn’t be her last.
I didn’t move for a long time.
Didn’t speak
Didn’t blink.
I just stared.
Her cheeks were too flushed, her skin too damp with sweat. Her lips had lost their color, and her scent-gods, her scent- was dimmer than I’d ever sensed it. Like she was fading. Like she was already halfway gone.
I knew the signs. I’d read them in ancient texts, listened to the horror stories passed around when I was still too young to believe they were real.
Forceful marks were worse than betrayal.
They were murder.
Her wolf was rejecting the bond, attacking it like a virus. Because that’s what it was. A mark made without consent, without the acceptance of her soul, was seen by the wolf as an intruder. Her spirit was fighting it with everything she had, and that meant her body-her human side-was caught in the middle of a battle it couldn’t survive.
Unless I did something.
Unless I gave her something stronger to fight with.
And that that was where everything got complicated.
I didn’t leave her side until one of the nurses came to check on her vitals. It wasn’t until I saw the chart-the numbers dropping, the panic in the woman’s eyes-that I moved.
That I left
And I ran.
Straight to Bastain. I didn’t know when it happened, but I realized that he had a keen interest in her survival. I didn’t want to question the how, just grateful that our combat instructor-the fiercest of them all-wanted my mate alive.
The room was cold, the long council table flanked by instructors I barely trusted. But I didn’t care. I dragged Bastain from the room, grateful that I still had my head afterwards. I knew they were discussing Maximus’s punishment. But if Jiselle died alongside the bastard, his death would mean nothing. Because she’d be gone too.
I confirmed that Maximus’s mark was forced. I told him she was dying
Bastain didn’t even blink. But his fingers curled into fists
“She won’t survive the next forty-eight hours if the rejection continues,” he said, his voice low. “You know that.”
“I know,” I ground out.
“There’s only one way, another instructor said
Suid-Mice farms the instructor for advanced wolf history. I didn’t even know
Successfully unlocked! she’d left the room and was listening.
She was one of the only female instructors here. the results with our female population at ATA than the males. It didn’t surprise me that she wanted to help. Her eyes were heavy, lined with the weight of knowledge I didn’t want to hear.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
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