Filed to story: Mated and Hated by My Brother’s Best Friend Book PDF Free by Anna Campbell
“What way? I demanded.
They looked at each other Bastain gave a subtle nod.
Carrow stood and moved toward one of the glass cabinets that lined the back wall. She unlocked it, pulling free a thick, leather-bound volume older than anyone in the room. She dropped it on the table with a dull thud and flipped it open, turning pages with careful fingers until she found what she was looking for
She didn’t speak as she turned it toward me.
I read the headline first
“Reclamation and the Final Bond”
My stomach dropped.
“You’re saying… I have to claim her?” I asked, my voice strained. “But that will kill her!”
“Not if she’s willing. We know that a second mark kills shewolves who were forcefully marked because they don’t have the consciousness to approve the second mark. You have to find a way to ensure she approves, Morningstar Bastain said. “It’ s the only way.”
“But… I blinked, throat tightening. “She’s passed the stage of reasoning now. Why didn’t you tell me this as soon as the fight ended? I coudi’ve spoken to her hours ago!”
“You’re her mate,” Carrow said gently. “If she wants it, she’ll live.”
That was the catch.
The problem.
The only way to fight off a forceful mark was to overwrite it with a true one. One the wolf would recognize as hers. One the body wouldn’t fight. But the mate had to accept it-fully, willingly. Or the clash of power between the marks could destroy her.
“She’s barely conscious, I said again through clenched teeth. “She’s not in her right mind.”
“Then wait until she is, Bastain said. “But not too long.”
“How long do we have?”
Carrow’s expression darkened.
“If the fever doesn’t break by tonight, her wolf could go dormant. And once that happens…”
She didn’t need to finish.
I knew what happened when a wolf died before the body did. It was worse than death. Worse than madness. It was an empty existence. A hollow shell.
I stood so fast the chair screeched across the floor behind me.
“Thank you,” I muttered, already moving.
“Nathaniel,” Bastain called, stopping me at the door. I looked over my shoulder.
His eyes weren’t cold this time. They weren’t calculating.
They were full of something that looked a lot like sympathy.
“I know you’re angry. I know what this has cost you. But if you love her-really love her-don’t do this out of rage. Or revenge. Or pride.”
“I’m not,” I said quietly. “I’m doing it because she’s mine.”
And then I left
I returned to the infirmary with something heavy in my chest. A mix of hope and dread. A storm that wouldn’t settle. I didn’t know what I was walking back into, I didn’t know what state she’d be . If she’d be able to speak. If she’d even know I was there.
But I had to try
I had to be there
Even if it killed me to watch her like this.
When I stepped inside, the room was dim. Night had fallen. Only one small light glowed beside her bed.
She was sweating again, her skin pale and glistening, her breaths shallow and fast.
I crossed the room in three strides and sank into the chair beside her. I didn’t say anything. Not at first. I just looked at her. Memorized the curve of her face, the tremble in her lips, the crease in her brow that hadn’t relaxed since this all started And then I reached for her hand
It was hot.
Too hot.
But I held it anyway.
And I leaned forward, resting my forehead gently against the edge of her mattress, my voice barely a breath.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”
She didn’t move.
“I should’ve told Ethan the second I knew I shouldn’t have stayed away when I realized how much you cared about Laker. I should’ve done a hundred things differently. But moon goddess, Jiselle. I’ve loved you since I was twelve.”
Still nothing.
My throat burned.
“I never wanted this for you. I didn’t want you to suffer. I didn’t want you to carry this pain.”
I looked up, and for a second, I thought her lashes fluttered. But maybe it was my own desperate hope.
I leaned closer anyway.
“There’s a way,” I whispered. “A cure. But it’s up to you. You have to want it. You have to want me. Because if you don’t
I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t even let the thought exist.
“I know I’m not perfect. I know I’ve messed up. But I will never hurt you like that. I will never make you feel powerless. Never again. Just…”
I brushed her hair back from her damp forehead, my fingers trembling.
“Choose me. Please…”
My voice cracked the sound someone breathing
Not the usual shallow kind that came from machines or nurses passing through. No, this one was closer Softer. Almost trembling
My body ached, every inch of it raw and heavy, but I forced my eyes open through the haze. The infirmary light was dim, casting long, eene shadows across the walls. The faint scent of antiseptic lingered in the air, but underneath it was Lavender Fant Familiar
Eva
She sat beside my bed, hunched forward with her elbows on her knees, her eyes fixed on the tiled floor as if it held the answers to a question she didn’t want to ask. Her usually perfect hair was in a messy braid, her black hoodie wrinkled and staned like she hadn’t changed in a while. She looked tired. Not just physically-but tired in the way people looked when they were holding the world on their shoulders and had nowhere to set it down.
Thed, and failed
My body protested with a sharp wave of nausea and weakness, and I let out a faint groan instead.
Eva’s head snapped up immediately, and the moment her eyes met mine, everything shifted.
She stood so quickly the chair scraped back with a screech “Viselle” she breathed, voice breaking apart like glass under pressure “You’re awake.”
I managed a nod though my throat was too dry to speak. She rushed forward, grabbing the glass of water on the bedside table, her hands trembling so badly the water nearly spilled over. I tried to take it myself, but she held it to my lips carefully. and I crank with slow greedy sips.
When I was done, she set the glass down and stared at me for a second too long.
“You’ve been in and out for almost a day she whispered. The fever won’t break. You’ve been delirious Hallucinating Hyperventilating in your sleep. You scared the hell out of everyone.”
I swallowed hard, the ache in my chest too big to name. Tm sorry.”
“Don’t” She stepped back and ran a hand over her face. “You have nothing to be sorry for”
I didn’t reply
Because I did have something to be sorry for For a lot of things. For loving the wrong person. For kissing the right one too late. For hiding too many truths. For surviving when a part of me already felt dead.
Eva sat down slowly, and for a long time, she said nothing.
Nether of us did
We just sat there the thick, heavy silence of it al
Until she whispered. They’re going to kid him.”
My heart stopped
The machines didn’t beep, but I could’ve swom something inside me stuttered “What?”
“Max” She looked at her lap, shoulders shaking slightly. “He’s going to be executed. For what he did to you.”
My mouth parted, but I had no words. None that could even begin to reach the horror blooming in my chest.
“It’s law” she said flatly “Forceful marks are punishable by death. You know that. Everyone does. But I never thought- Her voice cracked She bit her lip hard, then looked up at me “I never thought he would actually do something like that.”
I turned away, unable to hold her gaze
“You don’t have to say anything” she said quickly “But they need a statement. A formal charge Without it, the process slows down But if you if you say you want justice, they’ll execute him immediately No trial. No delay”
Tears welled in my eyes.
I hated
Successfully unlocked!
I hated that I still loved him
“Eva” My voice shook
“I’m horrible for doing this and I know. But I’m begging you not to do it.” She swallowed thickly. “I know it’s selfish. I know how awful it is to ask you But he’s my brother, Jiselle. He raised me when no one else would Protected me when the world and my other brothers didn’t care. He’s done horrible things-but he was always good to me. He’s the only one in my family that I have.”
Her voice dropped into something ragged, torn. “I’m not asking you to forgive him. Hell, I don’t even know if I do. But I can’t lose him. I can’t. Not like this. Please… if there’s any part of you that remembers how much you used to love him, if there’s any part of you that believes he didn’t do it out of malice… please don’t press charges.”
Tears slipped silently down my cheeks.
I remembered what she’d said to me months ago. That losing Max would destroy her
I hated that she was in this position now. When she told me she never wanted to have to choose between us
This was what she meant
And here she was-sitting beside the girl her brother nearly killed-begging.
I didn’t know what to do.
I was too tired to rage. Too sick to cry properly.
Too broken to feel anything except hollow.
“Everyone wants me to hate him,” I whispered. “They’re angry. Furious. Nate.. he almost killed him. Ethan won’t even look at me. My wolf is. I choked. “She’s dying.”
“I know.”
“Then how can you ask me this?”
She didn’t flinch. “Because I know you, Jiselle. I know your heart. You don’t want blood. Not really. Even now… want this. You want peace. You want healing. And if letting him live gives you even a chance at that… please.” The door creaked slightly and a nurse poked her head in. Her eyes swept over me-red, sick, shaking-and then to “She shouldn’t be agitated,” the nurse said softly. “She needs rest.” you don’t o Eva.
“I’m fine,” I rasped. “I just need… a minute.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?