Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 200

Chapter 200

ARIA

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Finished

Never gets old. The phrase registered through my shock and indignation. He’d done this before. Multiple times. To someone who’d responded similarly enough that he’d developed a pattern, an expectation of reaction, a habit of finding this prank hilarious.

He’d done this to Ivory. During his curse years, during their time together, this had been something between them. A morning routine or a training preparation ritual that had become familiar enough to be “never gets old.”

And he’d just done it to me without thinking. Without consciously choosing to repeat the pattern. Just automatically doing what his muscle memory remembered, what felt natural from years of practice with someone else.

I stood there dripping, freezing, watching him laugh, and I couldn’t decide if I was more upset about being doused with ice water or about the casual way he’d just revealed how deeply ingrained his habits with Ivory

were.

But calling him out on it-pointing out that he’d subconsciously done to me what he’d done to her-felt like poking a sleeping bear. He was laughing without abandon for the first time I’d ever witnessed. Genuinely happy and unguarded in ways he never was during normal pack business. And ruining that moment by making it about my insecurity seemed cruel.

So I said nothing about the comparison. Just stood there shivering while he gradually got his laughter under control.

“I’m sorry,” he said, though he was still grinning. “I should have warned you. But I knew if I told you beforehand, you’d refuse. Or try to bargain. And this is honestly the most effective way to wake someone up completely. The cold shock gets your blood pumping, your muscles activated, your mind fully present. Much better than trying to function while still half-asleep.”

He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my shoulders, his hands rubbing my arms through the fabric to generate warmth. “There. Now you’re properly awake. And you’ll find the soreness is less noticeable when you’re this cold. The shock overrides other discomfort.

He was right, annoyingly. The ice water had been so overwhelming that the muscle soreness had faded to background noise. I was still uncomfortable, but the sharp pain had been replaced by full-body cold that demanded more immediate attention.

“Come on,” Kael said, helping me out of the bathroom. “Get dressed in training clothes. Layers-it’s cold this early but you’ll heat up once we start working. And hurry. We really are going to be late if we don’t leave in the next five minutes.”

I dressed as quickly as my cold, stiff body would allow. Training clothes that I’d barely worn since arriving in Shadowmere. Practical boots. My hair pulled back into a braid that would stay out of my face during physical activity. No jewelry except the Luna arm ring that I was supposed to wear always.

When we finally made it outside, the sky was just beginning to lighten from pure black to deep purple. The training grounds were already crowded with pack members-far more than I’d expected.

There were two distinct groups. The larger group consisted of spectators-pack members who’d come to watch but weren’t participating. They’d claimed spots along the edges of the training field, settling in with

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19:39 Sat, Jan 10 GGO

Chapter 200

50%

Finished

blankets and thermoses of what was probably coffee or tea, prepared to spend the morning observing.

The smaller group consisted of those actually competing-maybe forty or fifty wolves total. They were warming up, stretching, running practice drills. All of them looked serious, focused, already in competition. mindset despite the early hour.

I recognized most of them. Warriors, primarily. Guards who’d trained in combat. A few civilians who apparently had exceptional skills despite not holding military positions. And scattered throughout-the pack members who held authority or status that automatically granted them entry to preliminary rounds.

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