Lahat ng Kabanata ng MY BROTHER IS MY MATE: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

Morning came with a dull ache behind Alex’s eyes and a heaviness in his chest that sleep had not eased. The bond was quieter today, no longer screaming—but that somehow felt worse. Like a predator lying low, waiting. He sat up slowly, rubbing his arms as a chill passed through him. 💭 It’s watching. From the kitchen drifted the faint sound of movement—cups clinking, water running. Brian was awake. Of course he was. Alphas didn’t rest easily when their bonded omega was unsettled. Alex hesitated, then forced himself to stand. If they were going to fight this, he couldn’t keep hiding. When he entered the kitchen, Brian looked up instantly. Their eyes met—and the bond stirred, a soft, dangerous pull. Brian straightened, shoulders squaring as he deliberately took a step back. ❄️ “Morning.” “Morning,” Alex replied, voice cautious. They stood there, separated by the width of the room and an invisible thread neither could see but both could feel. “I didn’t sleep much,” Alex admitted

The house felt different after Alex’s decision. Not quieter—no, the bond wouldn’t allow that—but heavier, as if the walls themselves were listening. Every step echoed. Every breath felt counted. Public declaration. The words sat between Alex and Brian like a fragile glass bridge neither of them dared cross too quickly. Alex stood by the window in his room, watching the sky darken into evening. His reflection stared back at him—chin lifted, eyes steady, shoulders squared. He looked… older somehow. 💭 So this is what choosing feels like. 💭 Terrifying. And freeing. A soft knock came at the door. “Come in,” Alex said. Brian entered slowly, as if approaching a wild thing that might bolt. He had changed clothes, dark and simple, but the tension in his body hadn’t eased. His alpha presence was tightly leashed, controlled with effort. “You okay?” Brian asked. Alex nodded. “I think so.” That wasn’t a lie. Not entirely. Brian leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “You shouldn’t h

The challenger revealed himself sooner than Alex expected. Two days after the declaration, the city buzzed with rumors—quiet at first, then louder, sharper, threaded with speculation and judgment. Alex heard them everywhere: in passing glances, in hushed conversations that stopped when he entered a room, in the way some alphas’ gazes lingered too long, measuring. 💭 They’re deciding whether I’m worth testing. Brian noticed it too. His posture had shifted since the Council Hall—more alert, more territorial, every instinct tuned to threats Alex couldn’t always see. ❄️ “Stay close today,” Brian said as they entered the public forum plaza. “Not because I don’t trust you—but because I don’t trust them.” Alex nodded. “I know.” The plaza was open and bright, stone benches circling a shallow platform at the center. It was meant for announcements, discussions, symbolic displays of unity. Today, it felt like an arena. Rachel stood near the platform, speaking quietly with two Council aid

The silence after the alarms faded was heavy—thick with consequences. Alex lay half-curled in Brian’s arms, chest rising and falling unevenly. The ache from the evaluation still lingered, dull but insistent, like a bruise pressed too hard. Yet beneath it all, the bond felt… solid. Anchored. As if it had finally decided what it was. 💭 So this is what holding feels like. Brian didn’t loosen his grip. Not even when Council medics rushed in, not when Rachel’s voice sharpened with clipped orders. ❄️ “Give him space,” a medic said carefully. Brian’s eyes lifted, cold and unyielding. ❄️ “No.” Rachel hesitated—then raised a hand to stop the medic. “Let them be.” That alone told Alex something had shifted. He inhaled slowly, grounding himself in Brian’s scent. It no longer overwhelmed him. It steadied him. “I’m okay,” Alex said hoarsely. Brian tilted his head down, searching his face. ❄️ “You don’t have to be.” Alex smiled faintly. “I know. But I am.” The medics backed away, murmu

They didn’t go to the safe location Rachel mentioned. Brian made that decision the moment Alex’s breathing steadied in his arms. “No Council sites,” Brian said grimly as he drove, eyes scanning every mirror. ❄️ “If Drew has influence, those places aren’t safe.” Alex leaned back in the passenger seat, arms wrapped around himself. The pain had faded, but the memory of it lingered—like fingers that had pressed too hard and then vanished. 💭 He touched the bond. 💭 From a distance. “That wasn’t dominance,” Alex said quietly. “It was… interference.” Brian’s jaw tightened. ❄️ “Which means he knows more than he should.” They took side roads, then smaller ones, until the city thinned into quiet stretches of old buildings and closed shops. Brian finally pulled into an underground parking structure beneath an abandoned residential block—one he clearly knew well. “You’ve been here before,” Alex noted. Brian nodded once. ❄️ “A long time ago. When I needed to disappear.” That didn’t mak