All Chapters of THE MARKED BOUNTY: Betrayed By My Mate : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

~ RAE’S POV ~Mara crouched beside me. Her breath came in quiet bursts. “We should leave,” she whispered.“Not yet.”“You’ve been saying that for an hour.”“I need to see what he’ll do.”She gave a small sigh. “He’s not doing anything. He’s just sitting there.”“That’s what scares me,” I said.Mara looked across the river again. “He looks tired.”“He always looked tired,” I whispered.“Not like this,” she said. “He looks… empty.”The word stung. Empty. Once, that had been me. I didn’t answer. I only watched.Jax lay near Damon’s fire, already half asleep. Damon stayed awake, his face caught between the light and the dark. The way he sat, still and quiet, reminded me of the man I’d known before everything fell apart.Mara leaned close. “You could end this right now.”I shook my head. “I’m not here to kill him.”“Then why are we here?”“To see if he’s still human.”Mara frowned. “And if he’s not?”“Then I walk away for good.”She was quiet for a while. The wind brushed through the leave

~ RAE’S POV ~Mara walked ahead of me, her steps sure and fast. She hadn’t said a word since dawn. I didn’t blame her. There wasn’t much left to say.I kept looking back, even when I told myself not to. The river was out of sight now, but the sound of it still followed us, faint and steady.Mara finally spoke. “You sure you’re done?”I nodded. “Yes.”She looked over her shoulder. “You don’t sound sure.”“I said what needed to be said.”“And he?”“He listened.”“That’s all?”“That’s enough.”Mara stopped walking and turned to face me. “You waited years to face him. You crossed half the forest. You could have done anything, said anything, and all you did was talk?”“That’s all there was left to do.”Her eyes softened. “You’re not angry anymore.”“I am,” I said quietly. “But not the same way.”She studied me for a long moment, then started walking again. “Maybe that’s good.”I followed, pulling my cloak tighter. The air smelled of pine and smoke. My boots were damp from the river’s edge.

~ RAE’S POV ~By the time we reached the ridge, the air had changed. It was colder here, sharper, the kind that cut through your clothes and settled in your chest. The path wound between gray rocks and patches of pine, opening suddenly to a valley below.Mara stopped and shaded her eyes. “There it is,” she said.“That’s the village?” I asked.She nodded. “North Ridge. Old trade route. Used to be richer before the border closed.”I pulled my cloak tighter. “It looks tired.”“Then you’ll fit right in,” she said with a small grin.I almost smiled. “Let’s go.”We followed the slope down, our boots slipping in the loose soil. The closer we got, the more signs of life appeared — chickens scratching near the fences, smoke from ovens, voices carried on the cold air.When we reached the first house, a woman came out carrying a bucket of water. She stopped when she saw us. Her eyes were wary but not unfriendly.“Travelers?” she asked.“Yes,” I said. “We’ve been on the road a while.”“From where

~ RAE’S POV ~The days in North Ridge started to blend together in the best way. Morning light through the window, the smell of firewood, Kira’s voice calling out tasks before breakfast. I had begun to know the rhythm of the place, who woke first, who needed help with the water, who could be trusted to smile even on bad days.Mara always grumbled when Kira sent us out before sunrise. “You’d think she’d give the new ones a chance to sleep in,” she said one morning as we carried buckets from the well.“She treats everyone the same,” I said. “That’s fair.”“Fair isn’t warm,” Mara muttered.I laughed softly. “You’ll survive.”She shot me a look but smiled anyway. “You sound like her now.”“Maybe that’s not a bad thing.”The sun was just starting to climb. The mist from the river drifted through the trees, glowing in the light. It reminded me of another river, one farther south, one I had left behind. But the memory didn’t sting like before. It felt distant, like something that had happene

~ RAE’S POV ~Mara stood beside me, wrapped in a heavy coat. “I told you it would snow before the month ended,” she said, her breath forming clouds in the air.“You also said it wouldn’t stick,” I said, smiling.She shrugged. “I was half right.”Kira called from across the yard, “You two done admiring the weather? We’ve got work!”Mara groaned. “She’s never satisfied.”“She’s right, though,” I said. “We need to check the storage. The food won’t last long if the cold keeps up.”We headed toward the storehouse together. Inside, the air smelled of grain and dry herbs. I ran my hands over the sacks stacked against the wall. “We’ll have to ration carefully.”Mara frowned. “You worry too much.”“Someone has to,” I said. “Kira can’t do everything.”Kira entered behind us, carrying a small lantern. “I heard that.”I smiled. “Then you agree with me.”She chuckled. “You’ve been running this place more than I have lately.”“That’s not true,” I said quickly.“It is,” Mara said. “People ask you be