Semua Bab Marked by The Alpha Mated to His Brother : Bab 71 - Bab 75

Winter's POV The room becomes quiet after Mother's question. Not the uncomfortable kind. Not the kind filled with secrets or things left unsaid. Just quiet. The kind where someone has finally asked the one thing you have spent all your energy avoiding. "Who do you love?" I hate that I don't have an answer. Not because I don't feel anything. Because I feel too much. For too many people. For too many things. My entire life has been built around choices that were never really mine. Ever since I was little, my each and every move has been long contemplated weeks sometimes months before they happened. As the High Wizard's first child a lot of eyes were constantly on me, waiting and watching for the slightest mistake. From the way I walked, spoke, and acted, every move was being carefully nitpicked and torn apart by envious eyes. The treaty. The marriage. The expectations. The sacrifices. Everyone always knew what Winter was supposed to do. Nobody ever sto

Keon's POV: Rowan is at the end of the corridor, by my side with concern on his features. "Keon, are you okay?" I nod, trying to recomposed myself. He uses the mindlink. "Are you sure? I've been trying to get to you for a while now. What's on your mind?" I shake my head, trying to free my mind from the several what ifs chaining it down. "Nothing worth your time." He looks me in the eye for several seconds, before concluding that for himself. He eyes the door down the hall, the same door I just came out from and Winter's mother walked into some minutes ago. "Is she alright?" I know exactly who he means. I close my eyes briefly. Using the bond. Just enough. Just enough to feel her. Her breathing. Her calm. The steady rhythm of her magic. "She's fine." Rowan exhales. "Actually fine?" I nod. "Better than before." That surprises him. That makes the two of us in all honesty. Because after everything, I expected her to be worse. But Winter has always been like that.

Winter’s POV: When Mother leaves, a different unusual feeling floods my nerves. I look around and the first thing I notice is the herbs. My mind is no longer on the fading pain of the earlier attack. The exhaustion that threatened to pull my under had now transitioned into a calm feel. The herbs Jet left behind still sit untouched on the stool. Their strange glowing liquid fill the room with an earthy scent that settles my racing thoughts. Beneath it, however, another scent lingers. Keon's. Like something my body recognizes before my mind can argue against it. I close my eyes. For a moment, I let myself exist without thinking. No relics. No attacks. No expectations. No choosing. Just breathing. But peace has never lasted long for me. Eventually, reality returns. And with it comes the memory of everything Adriana said. My mother. Her words. The way she looked at me like she had always known something I was still trying to understand. L