All Chapters of Married Off as a Breeder, She Became His Only Mate. : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Briony's POVHalric insisted we try again the next morning, cracked ground from the day before still splitting the training ring in half like a scar nobody had bothered stitching shut."You're not hurt," I said, watching him lower himself to sit on the low wall, wincing slightly. "Are you?""Bruised. Not broken." He waved off my concern. "A fair trade, if it means we finally know reaching harder produces something instead of nothing.""Something violent.""Something powerful, even if it doesn't feel that way when you're the one who caused it." He gestured for me to take my place across from him again. "Today we work on control instead of raw force. I want a flicker, not an earthquake."I nodded, trying to shake off the guilt still sitting heavy from yesterday, and closed my eyes.This time I didn't reach for fear or frustration. I thought instead about the warmth from healing Faro, the steadiness of it once it settled, less like a crack splitting open and more like something gentle un

Briony's POV"You're right," I said, and I watched surprise flicker across Dorric's face, like he expected me to argue instead. "It hasn't stopped Blackfen. Two of our own are dead, and I couldn't save them, because I didn't even know this power existed inside me until weeks ago."The crowd stayed quiet, listening now instead of murmuring."I'm not going to stand up here and promise you I've got this fully figured out, because that would be a lie, and this pack's had enough lies fed to it lately." I looked out over the courtyard, meeting as many eyes as I could instead of picking one safe spot to stare at. "What I can tell you is I started training yesterday. What I can tell you is this morning I held a controlled flicker of it steady for the first time, instead of it just happening to me in a panic. That's not nothing. It's not everything you need either, but it's not nothing.""Not much comfort," Dorric said,but some of the hard edges had softened."No," I agreed. "It's not. I under

Briony's POV"I don't know," I said, and I hated how small my voice sounded admitting it.Kieran's jaw tightened,but whether from disappointment or just the weight of an unanswered question, I couldn't tell."I want to tell you it's real," I continued, forcing myself to keep going even though every word felt like walking across broken glass. "I want to sit here and promise you nothing about this was forced, that what you feel is entirely your own choice. But I don't know the limits of what I am any better than you do, Kieran. Three weeks ago I didn't know I could heal a silver wound with my bare hands. I didn't know I could crack open the ground when I got frustrated during training. How am I supposed to promise you my blood didn't reach into something it shouldn't have touched, when I can't even promise myself I understand what my own power's capable of?""That's not the answer I was hoping for.""I know." My throat tightened. "It's the only honest one I have."We sat there in silenc

Briony's POV"Stay back," Kieran ordered, already shifting half his focus between me and the tree line where shapes were starting to move through the underbrush. "Bettina, get her to the healing house. Bolt the doors.""I'm not going anywhere," I said."Briony, this isn't the time to argue.""I'm not arguing. I'm telling you I'm staying close enough to help if somebody needs it." I held his eyes, refusing to back down even with chaos building around us. "I just spent last night proving I could hold this power steady. Let me actually use that instead of locking me away the second things get dangerous."His jaw tightened, torn between the promise he made about not caging me and every protective instinct screaming otherwise. "Stay behind the front line. That's the compromise. You don't engage unless it's absolutely necessary.""Fine."It wasn't fine. I knew the moment I said it that promise wouldn't survive contact with actual danger, but there wasn't time to argue the point further. The

Briony's POVHalric arrived within minutes of Kieran sending for him, still moving slower than usual from the wound he'd taken weeks back, but alert the second he saw the sealed letter waiting on the war room table."That's addressed to me," he said, voice careful, eyes fixed on the wax seal."Found on one of the scouts who attacked this morning." Kieran's arms were crossed, watching Halric closely. "Delivered by force, apparently, since he didn't survive long enough to hand it over politely."Halric's hand hovered over the letter a long moment before finally picking it up, breaking the dark wax seal with fingers that weren't entirely steady. He unfolded the parchment carefully, eyes scanning the contents, and I watched the color drain from his face line by line."Halric?" I asked, when he'd gone silent too long.He didn't answer immediately, still staring at the page like it might rearrange itself into something less impossible