Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 161

Lia

Tonight was one of those nights were I was close to being done.

After the protests and Jesse nearly going crazy, one of the guys, I just decided to lock myself in my room. It wasn’t until late that I decided to come out to get some air.

The air was nice. It was free too.

One would think that I had gotten enough air from earlier, but here I was, trying my best to calm myself and not worry over everything that had happened earlier.

I sat on the edge of the balcony upstairs, staring out over the city. The lights blurred together, a tangled mess of color and movement, much like my own thoughts.

Everything used to be so simple, but I had to stop thinking like this. It was important for me to realize that my life wasn’t going to be the same again. This was my life now, so I better get used to it, honestly. Yawning, I leaned against the railing and then jumped when I heard the door to the balcony open.

“It’s just me. Your amazing and loving brother who has come to lift your spirits,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. I snorted, patting the spot next to me. “Well, hurry up and come join me, amazing big brother of mine.”

It felt like it had been so long for Michael and me to just sit here and have a talk He was my brother, someone who had been there for me since I was young. Because the two of us were siblings. Then our parents died, and it was just the two of us.

But he had his own family now with Gabi and the twins. Yes, they lived just next door, but it didn’t change the fact that he did have his own family that he was trying to raise.

Still, he took the time to come out here and be with me.

I smiled at my brother, turning my attention to gazing back out over the balcony. Why wouldn’t life be simple again?

Oh yeah, because I was a savior. It was so annoying. I wish I could just have a moment to fall asleep and gather my thoughts. Michael leaned against the railing beside me, arms crossed. “You gonna tell me what’s going on, or do I have to guess?”

I exhaled slowly. “It just feels like too much, Michael. Every time I think we’ve made progress, something else falls apart. The council fights, the protestors scream, and half the people in that room would rather go to war than even consider peace. I don’t know if I can fix this.”

Michael was quiet for a moment, then said, “No one’s asking you to fix it alone.”

I shook my head. “Aren’t they? Everyone looks at me like I’m supposed to have all the answers. Like I’m the only one who can pull this off.”

“You’re not.” His voice was steady, grounding. “But you are the one who won’t give up when it gets hard.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “Maybe I should.”

Michael turned to face me fully. “Do you believe that?”

I swallowed hard, looking down at my hands. “I don’t know. I just… I don’t know if it’s even worth it. What if, after everything, nothing changes?”

Michael sighed, then sat beside me. “Lia, you’ve never been the kind of person to let doubt stop you. You don’t fight because it’s easy. You fight because it matters. Because if you don’t, who will?”

I clenched my jaw. “I’m tired, Michael.”

“I know.” He nudged my shoulder. “But you’re still here.” I closed my eyes for a moment, letting his words settle.

“Tell me something,” he continued. “If you walk away, if you stop fighting-what happens?”

I didn’t answer, but we both knew. The council would fracture. The dragons would lose any chance at true acceptance. The fragile peace we’d built would crumble.

Michael nodded like he could hear my thoughts. “Exactly. That’s why you’re still fighting. Because it is worth it. Because even when it feels impossible, you know you can make a difference.”

I let out a slow breath. “And if I fail?”

“Then you pick yourself up and try again. That’s who you are, Lia.” He gave me a small, confident smile. “And that’s why you can do this.”

I looked at him for a long moment, then finally, finally, nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay,” he echoed. “Now come on. Let’s go remind everyone why they should be listening to you in the first place.” I let out a shaky breath and stood. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”

“You weren’t going to hurt Lia, Jesse. Come on the both of us know you wouldn’t do that, so don’t try to go down that line of thinking. The two of you are good together. Hell, the five of you are good together.”

I smirked. “Finally accepting that we are her four fates mates?”

“Dude, I accepted that a long time ago. Why are you acting like it’s so shocking that I am accepting it?”

I grinned. “Just kidding.”

It was nice to talk to Michael. Without Michael, neither one of us would’ve ever met Lia or have known that she was our fated mate. Some people weren’t lucky enough to find their fated mate, but we were. This was something I would continue to be grateful for.

Sighing, I went back to the room I shared with Matt. The two of us were good roommates. He had a temper, but was able to keep it in check with me. Colby was the best one to deal with Rain because of how irritating Rain could get.

Not that I didn’t love Rain. The guy was one of my best friends and a part of my pack

One thing was for sure, though. I wasn’t going to allow myself to lose control ever again like that. I could be scary and dangerous when I wanted to be, but it was something that was carefully planned.

What happened earlier was not carefully planned. It happened out of nowhere without warning because seeing someone try to attack Lia had been almost more than I could stand.

Had they managed to hurt her, I knew I would’ve lost it. No doubt about it. But they didn’t, so this was what I was choosing to focus all of my attention on.

Let’s hope that the next time we have to go out and need to deal with protestors, it doesn’t end up like that again. I would be pissed off this happen again.

But I had to accept that there were going to be more protestors. They did not seem like they wanted to stop.

Why couldn’t they just accept that the dragons were here to stay? I accepted it. A lot of us accepted it, yet they wanted to fight it with their stupid signs. Did they have the right to protest? Absolutely, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.