Mated to My Intended's Enemy novel Chapter 106

Chapter 106: Chapter 106 Forgiveness and Family

Victoria

I found myself walking through the sterile corridors of Howlthorne Pack’s medical facility alongside Lilith. The scent of antiseptic couldn’t quite mask the underlying smells of healing herbs and wolf musk that permeated any pack hospital.

"He’s been asking for you," Lilith said quietly as we approached Enzo’s room. "Ever since he regained full consciousness. The doctors say his physical injuries are healing well, but..."

"But the emotional trauma will take longer," I finished. I understood all too well. My own sleep had been plagued by nightmares of Marcus’s artificial eye and Aurora’s final moments.

Lilith nodded, her hand briefly touching my arm. "Victoria, I want you to know—whatever he says, whatever his reaction is to the news about Aurora—he’s not the same man who hurt you. The Enzo I fell in love with is still in there, buried under all that pain and manipulation."

I squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I know. And Lilith? Thank you. For staying with him through all of this. For believing he could be better."

She gave me a watery smile before pushing open the door to Enzo’s room.

My brother sat propped up against a mountain of pillows, looking thinner and more fragile than I’d ever seen him. The arrogant, cruel Alpha who had terrorized me for years was gone, replaced by a man who seemed almost afraid of his own shadow. When he saw me, his eyes—so similar to our father’s—filled with an emotion I’d never seen there before: genuine remorse.

"Victoria," he said, his voice hoarse from the breathing tube they’d only recently removed. "You came."

I pulled a chair close to his bed, noting how he instinctively flinched when I moved too quickly. Marcus had done a thorough job breaking him down.

"Of course I came," I said gently.

Enzo’s eyes welled up at those words. "After everything I did to you... I don’t deserve—"

"Stop," I interrupted. "We’re not going to do this, Enzo. What I said before about not being able to forgive you was true, but now I want to try to restore our brotherly relationship as well. We should both look forward."

He stared at me for a long moment, searching my face for any sign of the hatred he clearly expected to find. When he didn’t find it, fresh tears spilled down his cheeks.

"She’s dead, isn’t she?" he whispered. "Aurora. I can feel it somehow."

I nodded slowly. "She died at the temple."

Enzo closed his eyes, his jaw working as he processed this information. When he opened them again, his expression was a complex mixture of grief, anger, and something that might have been relief.

"I don’t know how to feel about that," he admitted. "Part of me still hates her for what she did to us, to our family. The lies she told me about Dad, about you..." His voice broke. "She poisoned everything good in me, Victoria. She made me believe that love was weakness, that power was the only thing that mattered."

"But she was still your mother," I said quietly. "It’s okay to mourn her, even while you’re angry with her."

"How can you be so understanding?" Enzo demanded, his old fire flickering briefly. "How can you sit here and comfort me when I—when I sold you, Victoria. I literally sold my own sister to pay my debts. I let that monster put his hands on you, convince you that you were worthless—"

"Because you’re not the only one who was manipulated," I said firmly. "Aurora spent years filling your head with poison, and Marcus spent months torturing you until you couldn’t think straight. That doesn’t excuse what you did, but it explains it."

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