Adriel POV
"Get the hell away from her door, Mitchell."
My voice is a low, vibrating snarl that rattles the heavy oak panelling of the corridor.
My brother doesn't flinch. He stands there in the dim light of the west wing, his fingers hovering inches from the brass handle of Betty’s bedroom. His jaw ticks. A pulse beats wildly in his throat, a clear sign of the volatile mate-bond ripping through his veins.
"I felt your pathetic anxiety from across the castle," Mitchell snaps back, his voice a harsh whisper that barely carries over the crackle of the wall torches. "You're suffocating the entire floor with your panic. I came to see if she’s breathing."
"She is sleeping," I say, stepping into his personal space until our chests almost collide. "No thanks to father. He terrified her, thre
