All Chapters of A Taste Of My Brothers Bestfriend: Chapter 11 - Chapter 17

One week passed by in a blur and frenzy of fabric swatches and vendor meetings and budget spreadsheets that made my head spin.One week of watching the festival come together piece by piece, transforming from an idea into something real.One week of not thinking about Thorne.Well… trying not to think about Thorne.He’d kept his promise, by completely staying away from me. One time I tried to convince myself that he was just too busy and caught up with Beta stuff, and not intentionally avoiding me. But self-deceit wasn’t an area I thrived in.I’d catch glimpses of him sometimes… in hallways, during training sessions I’d watch from the balcony, standing guard during council meetings. But he never approached me, never spoke to me unless absolutely necessary. And even when he did, his words were clipped, tone way too professional for my liking.And it pissed me off.Especially the way he called me “Your Highness” like we were strangers.Like his mouth hadn’t been on every inch of my skin

“My queen?” I glanced at my brothers but the confusion I was feeling also reflected on their faces. “What’s going on? How do you know each other?”My mother hadn’t moved. She stood frozen in the doorway, staring at Tom and Sarah like she’d seen ghosts.“They were servants here,” she said finally, and her voice was hollow. “In the palace. Until they disappeared nineteen years ago without a word.”My stomach dropped.“Wait…” I looked between them. “You worked here? You knew about—about all of this? About what I am?”Sarah’s face crumpled. “Sweetie—”“How?” My mother’s voice cut through the room like a blade. She moved forward, and suddenly she wasn’t the gentle woman who’d been touching my hair and calling me darling. Rage burned in her eyes as she glared at the couple. “How is it fucking possible that you’ve had my daughter for nineteen years and never once thought to tell us she was alive?”“We couldn’t…” Tom started.“Couldn’t?” Her voice rose. “My daughter was stolen from her crib.

Hours later, the tension from this morning had settled into something manageable.My mother was still quiet. Still holding that ring Tom had given her like it might disappear if she let go. But she’d helped me get ready, had fixed my hair when my hands wouldn’t stop shaking, had told me I looked beautiful.We weren’t okay. Not yet. But we would be.Now I stood at the entrance to the main hall with Aiden on my right, Liam on my left, and Thorne a few steps behind, maintaining his annoying professional distance.Looking at his tight face, his blank and cold expression as he marched down the hall with us, it was hard to believe it was those same eyes that had looked at me with such heated intensity, that had made my entire body burn this morning.“Ready?” Aiden asked.I smoothed down the royal blue gown one more time. “As I’ll ever be.”The doors opened, and the hundreds of voices rising in a cheer caught me off guard… only for a second.Before I took in the sight, and I could not stop t

THORNE'S POVMy brother laughed—a sound that made my skin crawl because it sounded exactly like mine."Kidnapping the queen might not have been part of the original plan," he said, still grinning. "But it's so much more fun this way, don't you think? The Mistress decided a little improvisation was in order.""You're insane." I kept my voice low, aware that anyone could walk past my door. "Do you have any idea what you've done? They're mobilizing the entire pack—""To search for their precious queen. I know." He examined his nails casually. "It was almost too easy, really. Following the main guards, staying close to her. And do you know the best part?" He looked up, his eyes—my eyes—gleaming with malicious amusement. "They all thought I was you. That's the perk of being identical twin brothers, isn't it?"My blood ran cold. "They saw you. With the queen.""They saw Thorne Blackwood, loyal Beta, doing his job." He shrugged. "No one questions the Beta when he's escorting the queen to her