Freya’s POV


    ???75%


    Finished


    Afterying my parents to rest in the Ashbourne Legion’s Hall of Martyrs, the days blurred into a haze of duty and silence. Most of my time was spent shadowing Ss, fulfilling the role of protector that fate had thrown at me.


    But whenever I could, I slipped away to settle what remained of my parents‘ holdings in Ashbourne. Lana had returned to The Capital with quiet resolve after the funeral. Yet Kade stayed behind, insisting that his presence would make things easier.


    He imed his training inw could help ifplications arose while I inherited my parents‘ estates. “If not,” he’d said with that unshakable confidence of his, “I can always call in The Capital’s bestwyers.”


    I didn’t doubt him. Kade had studiedw before the wolf in his blood led him into the Iron Fang Recon Unit. If not for the call of service, he might’ve be a barrister instead of a soldier. His mother’s kin still held deep roots among The Capital’s most powerfulw firms. And the most ruthless attorney in the city- the one even Alphas whispered about was none other than Kade’s uncle.


    So I let him apany me.


    At the Ashbourne property registrar, I clutched the number slip, waiting for my turn. Our family had lived in The Capital for years, but those quarters were tied to the military. My parents‘ true holdings remained here: two properties. One in the city itself, and an older ancestral house on the outskirts, in a small town beyond the river.


    The old ce would require another visit, more paperwork, another wound reopened. And with Eric–my brother–still listed as “missing in action,” everything had to fall under my name.


    My gaze dropped to the documents in my hand: the death certificates… and the military’s official record of Eric’s disappearance. My thumb traced over the letters of his name, aching as if the paper itself could pulse with his scent.


    “You’re thinking of your brother again,” Kade’s voice broke through, low and steady. He had never met Eric -by the time he joined the unit, my brother was already gone. All he’d ever seen were faded photographs.


    “Yes,” I murmured. My wolf stirred restlessly inside me. “I’ll find him. No matter how long it takes.”


    “And I’ll help you,” Kade said.


    I looked at him then, warmth rising in my chest despite the grief. “If Eric knew I had a younger brother like you at my side, he would’ve been d. He’d have called you family.“,


    Kade’s jaw tightened, his eyes flickering dark. Brother. He used to wear that mask proudly–used it to stay closer to me than anyone else. But now? I saw the storm gathering in his gaze.


    “What if I don’t want to be your brother?” he said suddenly.


    I blinked, startled. “What, you don’t want Eric to see you as one?”


    His voice dropped lower. “The only person who could ever make me a brother… is you.”


    ? ??? 75%<b></b>


    Finished


    Augh slipped past my lips, though it was brittle. “Fine then. If you don’t want the title, I won’t force it on you.”


    But his next words cut sharper. “And you? Will you always only see me as your little brother?”


    I studied him carefully. The boy I once teased was gone–this man before me bore the weight of scars and war, the wolf in his blood fully awake. “Not just a brother,” I said softly. “You’re myrade. My packmate


    in arms.”


    Even now, after both of us had left the Recon Unit, I still thought of him that way.


    His gaze flickered―hurt, longing, something untamed. Comrade. Brother. Labels he couldn’t escape in my


    eyes.


    “Then what about Ss Whitmor?” Kade asked, his tone edged with something dangerous.


    I frowned. “Why bring him up?”


    “I need to know what you think of him.”


    “My assignment is to protect him,” I said simply.


    “Only that?”


    “What else would it be?” My voice sharpened.


    His lips pressed into a grim line. I could feel the tension in him–the same unease I’d caught since that night Ss had taken my hand, linking his pinky with mine in a promise too intimate for what it should have been. Kade had seen it. He hadn’t forgotten.


    “Do you… like him?” The words spilled from Kade, raw and unrestrained.


    I choked on my own breath, coughing, “What nonsense are you talking about?”


    “In The Capital, half the unmated she–wolves whisper Ss’s name,” Kade pressed. “That face, that power- it draws them in. And I worry you’ll be drawn in too. But Ss is not someone you can give your heart to. The Whitmors… their blood carries a kind of madness. They’re never truly whole.”


    His words echoed in me as images rose unbidden: Ss’s back, scored with chaotic scars, the muffled growls that tore from his throat in the grip of nightmares.


    My heart clenched strangely.


    “Every wolf bears scars from the life they’ve lived,” I said atst. My voice was steady, though my chest felt anything but. “I don’t believe Ss is broken. Just… different.”


    Send Gifts


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