บททั้งหมดของ A broken Mate: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

“I’m not,” I repeated, slower now, stronger. “You don’t get to decide that.”Hunter stepped closer again.Now there was no space left.None.His presence pressed into me fully, suffocating, overwhelming, but I refused to move.“You think this bond is a suggestion?” he asked, his voice dropping even lower, darker. “You think it’s optional?”“I think,” I said, holding his gaze despite the storm threatening to swallow me whole, “it doesn’t erase who I am.”That did it.Something cracked.I felt it.Not loud.Not explosive.But real.A fracture.Inside him.Inside whatever control he had left.His hand lifted.Slowly.And for one split second—I thought—He’s going to grab me again.The bond flared violently, anticipation slamming through me, heat rushing under my skin, my body tensing—But he stopped.Mid-motion.His fingers curled in the air, like he was physically restraining himself, before slowly lowering back to his side.Control.Forced.Painful.Deliberate.And that—That shook me

Sarah's POV I stood there long after he left.The echo of his footsteps faded into the halls, swallowed by the mansion’s endless silence—but the tension he left behind didn’t go with him. It lingered. Clung. Wrapped around me like something unseen but very much alive. The bond pulsed again. Not violently this time. Not like before. But steady. Heavy. Present. Like a reminder. He was still there. Somewhere in this house. And no matter how far apart we stood, there was no real distance between us.I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down my face, trying to ground myself. It didn’t work. Nothing felt steady. Nothing felt normal.My wrist throbbed again, drawing my attention down. The bruises had darkened into an ugly shade now, the imprint of fingers clearer than before. Proof. Of what happened. Of how quickly things could spiral. Of how little control I actually had in a place like this.A flicker of anger rose again.Not just at the beta.At Hunter.At this bond.At everything.“I’m not

Sarah’s POVI woke with a start.Not slowly. Not gently.It was the kind of waking that felt like being ripped out of something—like the dream had claws and didn’t want to let me go. My breath came sharp and uneven, chest rising too fast, my heart pounding like it was trying to escape my ribs.For a second, I didn’t know where I was.Darkness.Silence.The faint outline of the room slowly came into focus—the high ceiling, the soft curtains, the unfamiliar comfort of a place that still didn’t feel like mine.The mansion.Reality settled back in.Heavy.Unavoidable.The dream clung to me like fog, thick and suffocating. I couldn’t remember all of it—just fragments. Pieces. Hunter’s voice, but softer. His eyes, not black with rage but… something else. Something lost. Something that didn’t belong to the man I had seen last night.That version of him—It felt wrong.Or maybe more dangerous.Because it made me hesitate.The bond was quiet now.Not gone.Never gone.Just… quieter.A faint hu

Sarah's POV The moment we stepped back inside the mansion, the air changed.It always did.Outside, everything had felt… distant. Manageable. Like the world had softened just enough to let me breathe. But here—Everything sharpened again.The bond.The tension.Him.The grand doors shut behind us with a low, echoing thud that seemed to seal something in place. My chest tightened instinctively, like my body already knew there was no escaping whatever this was.Hunter didn’t look at me as we walked.But I could feel him.Every step.Every breath.Every flicker of control he was forcing onto himself.Raven shifted uneasily.*He’s holding back again.*“I can feel it,” I murmured under my breath.Hunter’s head tilted slightly, just enough to show he heard me.“Good,” he said quietly. “Then you’ll know when to stay out of my way.”I stopped walking.“So that’s it?” I snapped. “We have one almost-normal conversation, and now we’re back to this?”Hunter stopped too.Slowly, he turned to face

Sarah's POV The silence after that felt… different.Not empty.Not tense in the same explosive way as before.But heavy.Like something had shifted between us, quietly, dangerously, without either of us fully understanding what it meant.I forced myself to eat.Slowly at first—small bites, mechanical, just to prove a point. But the more I ate, the more I realized how hungry I actually was. The food settled something restless inside me, grounding me just enough to think clearly again.Hunter didn’t sit back down immediately.He stayed by the window, arms crossed, staring out like he was trying to keep himself together by sheer force of will.Or maybe trying to stay away from me.The bond didn’t like that.It stretched.Pulled.A quiet, constant pressure in my chest that made it hard to ignore him even when I wanted to.Raven stirred.*He’s distancing himself on purpose.*“I can feel that,” I muttered under my breath.Hunter’s shoulders stiffened.Of course he heard.He always did.Aft