Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 271

Chapter 271

Chapter 271

Chapter 271

ARIA

I stared at my reflection in the mirror-except it wasn’t my reflection. It was something else wearing my face, standing where I should be standing, looking at me with eyes that held knowledge and power I was only beginning to understand.

“Welcome to the final trial,” she said, her voice carrying through the reflective surface in ways that defied physics. “Welcome to the truth you’ve been running from. Welcome to seeing what you’re meant to become-and deciding whether you have the courage to accept it.”

Beside me, Ivory had gone completely still. I could see her in my peripheral vision, could see her staring at her own reflection-which I suspected was also showing her something other than herself.

4:00:53

The timer jumped again. We were down to four hours now. Losing time so fast that thinking about it made my brain hurt. At this rate, we had maybe eight more real seconds before everything ran out.

“What do you want from us?” I demanded, addressing the not-me in the mirror. “What is this trial testing?”

“Truth,” not-me said simply. “Hidden truth. Secret desires and confessions that you’ve kept locked away because admitting them would cost too much. This is the final test. Speak what you’ve hidden. Confess what you’ve denied. Only then can you claim the heart crystal and complete the Hunt.”

“And if we don’t?” Ivory asked, her voice tight.

“Then you die,” not-me said with casualness that made the threat somehow worse. “The timer reaches zero. The chamber seals. The air runs out. Your bodies are preserved here as warnings about the price of keeping secrets when truth is demanded. Simple. Final. No second chances.”

3:30:52

Three and a half hours. We were running out of time faster than we could process what was happening.

Not-me shifted her attention to Ivory, and I saw something change in the mirror. Saw other

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figures appearing around Ivory’s reflection. Kael. Younger than he was now. Ivory beside him, also younger, both of them together in ways that spoke to intimacy and partnership.

“Ivory’s sacrifice,” not-me said, her voice taking on an almost conversational tone. “She helped you throughout this Hunt. Never gave up on you. Carried you when you couldn’t walk. Treated your injuries. Refused to abandon you even when abandonment would have been tactically sound. Such loyalty. Such dedication to partnership.”

I could see Ivory’s jaw tightening, could see her hands clenching into fists.

“But she did all of that while robbed of her memories,” not-me continued, her voice becoming sharper. “Robbed the moment you entered the picture. Three years deleted from her mind. Three years she spent with Kael during his curse-suffering with him, protecting him, building partnership that should have culminated in being his mate, his Luna, his partner for life.”

The images in the mirror shifted, showing more scenes. Ivory and Kael fighting together. Training together. Intimate moments I had no right to witness but couldn’t look away from.

“She was the reason Kael survived his curse years,” not-me said. “The one who kept him sane, kept him functional, kept him alive when the wolf threatened to consume him completely. She broke the curse through her dedication. And then a stranger swooped in and claimed all the rewards. Took the position. Took the bond. Took everything Ivory had worked for.”

“That’s not fair,” I protested, but my voice sounded weak even to my own ears.

“Fair?” not-me laughed. “When has any of this been fair? Ivory lost three years of memories and has been navigating the past months honorably, suppressing her desires, hiding her hurt, presenting a united front every time she saw you and Kael together. Pretending she was fine with losing what she’d earned to someone who’d done nothing to deserve it.”

3:00:51

Three hours now. We were accelerating toward zero.

“So here’s the question,” not-me said, her voice becoming almost gentle. “Would Ivory still help you if she had all her memories back? If she remembered every moment with Kael? If she felt the full weight of what she lost when you bonded with him? Would she still be

your loyal partner? Or would she finally let herself choose herself, her own desires, over protecting someone who stole her future?”

Before I could respond, before Ivory could deny it, a beam of light shot from the mirror directly at Ivory. She staggered, her hand going to her head, her face contorting with pain.

I started toward her, preparing to help, to catch her if she fell—

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