Marked
551 Words
Kade should have been dead.
But he wasn’t.
He lay beside Mira in their cabin, chest rising slow and steady. His skin was pale, but the wound had vanished without a trace. No scar. No bruise. Nothing.
And that was the problem.
Mira sat on the edge of the bed, her hands trembling in her lap. Outside, the night was quiet. Too quiet. The forest felt as though it was holding its breath.
“You haven’t told me what happened,” Kade murmured beside her.
She froze.
“You were bleeding out,” she said softly. “Then something… changed. You healed.”
“Because of you?”
She hesitated. “Yes.”
Lie.
Partially.
Because her magic was never made to heal. It consumed. She didn’t save him not alone. Veyra had.
And the price for that deal now twisted inside her.
Literally.
Later that night, after Kade had drifted back into sleep, Mira slipped into the small bathroom and stared at her reflection in the cracked mirror.
Her irises shimmered faintly not her usual silver, but tinged with gold. Her skin glowed faintly under moonlight, pulsing in slow waves like something inside her was alive.
She lifted her shirt.
A faint symbol burned on her lower belly a spiral of ancient runes, glowing faintly like ink made of starlight and blood.
“Nine moons from now,” Veyra’s voice whispered in her mind again, “I’ll return.”
She dropped the fabric, heart pounding.
Was she… pregnant already?
No. That wasn’t possible. Not yet. But something had begun. A seed planted. A magic brand only Veyra understood.
She wasn’t just cursed anymore.
She was claimed.
The following morning, Mira joined the pack council with Kade.
The air was tense.
Lucan had been chained in the dungeons. Maelra was missing. The elders stared at her with a mix of fear and awe.
“She saved your Alpha,” Elder Nyra said.
“She made a deal,” muttered another. “I felt it. The air changed that night.”
Kade looked at Mira. “Did you?”
Her throat closed. “I did what I had to.”
“For us,” Kade said, defending her.
But the damage had been done. Whispers spread. Eyes narrowed. Even among allies, fear was blooming like poison.
That night, as Kade slept again, restless and haunted by dreams he couldn’t remember, Mira stepped outside alone.
The moon was high.
And in the shadows of the trees, she felt him watching.
Veyra.
She turned. “Why are you still here?”
The horned figure stepped from between two oaks, arms folded. “Checking on my investment.”
She crossed her arms. “You’ve got what you want. What else?”
“Oh, sweet Mira…” Veyra smirked. “This isn’t over. Not even close.”
He stepped closer.
“You think this is about love? About survival? No. You’ve just taken your first step toward something far older than your pack wars.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Veyra whispered, brushing a clawed finger under her chin, “you’re not just cursed anymore. You’re a key. And soon… every realm that’s ever feared your bloodline will come hunting for you.”
And then he was gone.
Just like smoke.
- Writer
