My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 172

Mina

We walked back to her quarters in a silence that felt heavy enough to crush the stone beneath our boots. Every guard we passed pounded their fist heavy against their chests for her. They didn't see the girl who was crying ten minutes ago. They likely saw the Luna who had handled the Southern rot.

Inside her room, the fire was roaring. It was warm, but I couldn't stop shivering.

Sera started to pace. She yanked at the laces of her wool tunic, her fingers fumbling, her movements jerky and frantic. "The black dress? No, that’s too much for a council meeting. Maybe the grey leathers? That’s better right?"

I walked over to the wardrobe. I didn't say a word. I pulled out a dark wool tunic, something heavy and somber. I tossed it onto the bed.

"Wear this," I said.

Sera stopped pacing. She looked at the tunic, then at me. She walked over, standing so close I could smell the metallic tang of her mother’s blood still clinging to her skin.

"Mina, look at me," she pleaded.

I kept my eyes on the tunic.

"Please," she whispered. She reached out and grabbed my hands. Her fingers were ice cold. "I’m scared. I’m actually terrified. I don't know if I can keep this on. I feel like I'm falling apart."

I looked up then. I saw the tears. They looked real. They felt real. For a second, the ice around my heart cracked. I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe that the monster I saw in the Queen’s room was just a suit of armor she had to put on.

"You're not falling apart, Sera," I said, my voice softening in spite of myself. "You're the strongest person in this mountain. That's the problem."

Sera let out a broken sob and pulled me into a hug. She buried her face in my shoulder, shaking, her breath hot against my neck. "Don't leave me, Mina. Please. You're the only one who knows me. You're the only one I trust. If you leave, I have nothing."

I held her. I smoothed her hair, feeling the silver pins I’d put there myself. My chest felt like it was being squeezed by an iron band. I loved her. I genuinely, fiercely loved her. She was my sister in every way that mattered.

But as I held her, my eyes drifted to the vanity table. I saw the recording crystal she had set down there.

I remembered the look on her face when she played it. She hadn't been scared then. She hadn't been falling apart. She had been enjoying it. She had been tasting the power of having her mother’s dignity in the palm of her hand.

I realized then that this—this hug, these tears, this begging—it was just another layer. Another mask. She was using my love for her to anchor me to her side, because an Alpha needs a loyal shadow, and she knew I was the only one who could give it to her.

She was manipulating me. She was using the "frailty" she knew I responded to, just to make sure I didn't walk out that door.

The realization hit me like a punch to the stomach. I pulled back, my hands dropping from her shoulders.

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