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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Marked By My Best Friend's Dad: Kabanata 101 - Kabanata 110

227 Kabanata

101

~ Iris POV ~If peace had a smell, it would have been this morning.Fresh bread. Polished oak. Rain from last night still clinging to the stone courtyard.Everything felt… normal.Too normal.Alice sat across from me at breakfast.And she smiled.Not the sharp, sarcastic curl of her lips. Not the fake, venom-laced grin.A soft one.“I’m tired of fighting,” she said, buttering her toast. “It’s exhausting.”Duncan looked relieved. Actually relieved.Ky froze beside the window.I didn’t trust it.But I nodded anyway. “Me too.”Alice looked at me then. Really looked at me. Her gaze held something unreadable.“Maybe we can start over.”Start over.Like we weren’t standing on the ashes of something we once were.Duncan cleared his throat. “That would make this week easier.”This week.The mating ceremony.Alice’s eyes flickered for half a second.Then she smiled again.“Of course, Dad.”Dad.The word sounded deliberate.Carefully placed.After breakfast, she even walked beside me through th

102

~ Duncan POV ~The house had never felt this quiet.Not after war.Not after funerals.Not even the night my mate died.But tonight…The silence was different.It wasn’t grief.It was fracture.I stood outside Alice’s door for a full thirty seconds before knocking.Three slow taps.No answer.I didn’t need one.“Open the door, Alice.”A pause.Then the click of the lock.I stepped inside.Her room was dimly lit, curtains drawn despite the late afternoon sun. She stood by the window, arms crossed, posture rigid.She didn’t turn around.“I suppose this is where you lecture me,” she said flatly.I closed the door behind me.“No.”That made her glance over her shoulder.“No?” she repeated.“No lectures.”I walked further into the room, slow, measured steps

103

~ Iris POV ~I found Ky near the western training grounds just before sunset.The sky was streaked in gold and fading blue, warriors clearing out after drills, the air thick with dust and sweat and the distant scent of pine. It should’ve felt ordinary.Instead, everything felt sharp.Like glass under skin.Ky stood with her back to me, arms folded as she watched two younger wolves spar. She didn’t turn when I approached.“I heard,” she said quietly.Of course she had.Nothing stayed quiet in this estate.I stopped beside her. “I can’t believe she did that.”Ky finally looked at me. Her expression wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t even angry.It was calculating.“You can’t?” she asked gently.The question hit harder than accusation.“She looked me in the eye this morning,” I said, voice tightening. “She said she was tired of fighting. She smiled.”

104

Chapter 103~ Alice POV ~I knew she was coming before she knocked.I could feel it.Some people knock softly.Some hesitate outside your door.Iris didn’t.Three sharp knocks.Demanding.Like she had every right to stand there.I stared at my reflection for half a second longer before answering. My face was calm. Composed.Perfectly fine.“Come in,” I called.The door opened.She stepped inside like a storm trying to pretend it was sunlight.The door shut behind her.Silence.We just looked at each other.She was tense. Shoulders tight. Jaw clenched.Good.At least I wasn’t the only one unraveling.“What do you want?” I asked casually.Her eyes flashed.“You know what I want.”I leaned against my dresser. “Enlighten me.”“You sent the video.”Not a que

105

~ Iris POV ~The moment the door slammed behind us, the adrenaline started to fade.And the pain rushed in.Not just the sting on my cheek.Not just the ache in my shoulder where I hit the wall.But the words.I hate you.No.I said that.My chest tightened.Duncan’s arm was firm around my waist as he guided me down the corridor. His steps were controlled, but I could feel the tension in him. The barely restrained anger.At her.At me.At the situation.“Iris,” he said, voice low but sharp, “what were you thinking?”I pulled away from him the moment we entered his room.“What was I thinking?” I turned on him. “What was she thinking?”His jaw flexed. “You went into her room alone.”“Yes.”“You provoked her.”“I did not…”“You shouted.”I froze.Because he wasn’t wrong.I had shouted.“I went to talk,” I said, breath uneven. “She kept twisting everything. Acting like I ruined her life.”His eyes softened slightly when he saw my face.There was a faint red mark along my cheekbone.He st

106

~ Duncan POV ~The house was quiet again.But not peaceful.There is a difference.Peace is earned.This silence was fragile.I stood alone in my study, hands braced against the desk, staring at nothing. The estate lights glowed faintly beyond the windows. Guards rotated outside. Life continued.Inside these walls, however…Something had shifted.I had seen the mark on Iris’s cheek.Faint.Red.But enough.And I had seen something else too.The look in Alice’s eyes.Not just anger.Something breaking.I closed my eyes briefly.Alpha.Father.The two roles had never felt so violently opposed.A soft knock sounded at the study door.I didn’t need to ask who it was.“Enter.”Alice stepped in.She didn’t look shaken.She didn’t look ashamed.She looked composed.Too composed.She closed the door behind her and stood straight.“You sent for me.”“Yes.”I gestured to the chair across from my desk.“Sit.”She didn’t move.“I’d rather stand.”Of course she would.I straightened slowly.“This

107

~ Iris POV ~Morning of the Mating CeremonyI didn’t sleep.Not really.I lay in that enormous room, in that bed that still didn’t feel like mine. staring at the ceiling while dawn slowly bled into the sky.Today.The word pulsed in my head.Today I become Luna.Today I marry Duncan.Today I stand in front of the entire pack.And today… I stand in front of Alice.My stomach twisted.The curtains fluttered slightly as the early morning breeze slipped through the open balcony doors. The air was cool, quiet , deceptively peaceful.Like the world didn’t understand what day it was.I sat up slowly, pressing my feet to the floor.For a moment, I just breathed.This is what you chose.No.This is what chose you.I walked toward the mirror, studying my reflection in the pale light.The faint bruise on my chee

108

~ Alice POVYesterday, I went straight to Cassian, after the whole dialogue with my father,After seeing that ky has been so close to iris. After seeing that I was just being childish.“You want to quit again Alice.”“ I'm tired Cassian, I guess I should just accept fate. I should just move…on.”He laughed,” your weak.”“ I'm not.”“ I'm very sure thats was how iris could toy with you up and down.”“ Shut up Cassian.”He held me by the neck,” don't you ever tell me to shut up.”“ Fine!” I agreed and he put me down.“ Alice you're brave. But they shouldn't just toy with you like that, make you feel stupid about yourself. After everything you did for iris. She's marrying your dad tomorrow.” Cassian said.” How does that sound ?”Stupid. “ It's fate. I guess.”“ That's nonsense Alice. You know, she won't be humiliated, it's you. People will mock you.”

109

~Duncan POVThe first shot rang out like a jagged crack of thunder. My heart lurched, my wolf flared, and my body moved before my mind even processed what was happening. Iris. My mate. My anchor. She was in the line of fire.I lunged. Every instinct screamed to protect her, to shield her from the storm that had finally reached us. The bullet hit me square in the chest. Pain exploded, white-hot and searing, but I didn’t even have time to react beyond the sheer, primal need to hold her safe. My robes darkened almost instantly with my blood, but I barely noticed. My world had shrunk to her, trembling, eyes wide, hands clamping onto my forearms as if she could anchor herself through sheer force of will.“Iris!” I roared, teeth gritted, voice raw with pain and rage. The clearing erupted into chaos. Pack members shouted, scrambled, wolves howled,none of it mattered. My mate. Only her mattered.God! This was supposed to be perfect, not another

110

~ Iris POVThe world went silent.Not completely, not truly, but enough that the screaming, the shifting, the chaos around the clearing felt distant, like it belonged to someone else.All that remained was her.Alice.Her body fell into my arms with a weight I wasn’t prepared for. Warm. Fragile. Broken. Blood bubbling from her lips, staining her skin, her dress, her innocence, all mingled with the scent of iron and fear.“No… no, no, no,” I whispered, shaking violently, my arms tightening around her. My fingers dug into her shoulders, my heart thrumming like a war drum in my chest, threatening to shatter from the intensity of it all.“I… I’ve got you,” I croaked, tears streaming freely now, hot and unrelenting, soaking her hair, her cheeks, my own hands. “I won’t let you…”But she coughed, weak, broken, and I felt the heat of her life slipping away. The poisons,wolfsbane, silver, whatever Cassian

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