Married to the alpha, marked by another

Chapter 7

Drew’s Pov

After midnight, I went to Sarah's room. Not because it was the right thing to do, but because I couldn't sleep. Every time I shut my eyes, I saw her fall. I could feel her weight in my arms.

I smelled that faint, persistent pull that wasn't from strangers. This time I knocked. "Come in," she said softly. Sarah was sitting against the headboard with her knees under the blanket. She looked like she was awake when she shouldn't have been.

Being more careful. Like she had already made up her mind. I closed the door behind me. I told her, "You should be resting." She looked me in the eye. "You should be asking questions to whyI'm not sleeping" Fair.

I moved slowly across the room and stopped near the chair instead of the bed. Keeping distance and taking charge. A lie I told myself.

I said, "You said you would tell me about yourself." "All of it." She nodded her head. "I will." No more holes. No more lies. My jaw got tight. "Why now?"

"Because you're the Alpha of this pack," she said. "And because you've been nice to me even when you didn't have to be." That hurt more than I thought it would.

“Now start talking," I said.

She took a slow breath and started, "My pack was Hollomoon.""A small and vibrant pack. We didn't have neighbors; we only had debts to pay. She smiled a little, not in a funny way but a smile that carries unspoken agony.

I didn't say anything. She went on, "I was born an omega." "Not safe." Not loved. "Just... useful." My wolf moved, unhappy.

She said, "My father borrowed a lot of money from Lycan Lucian's territory during a bad winter for his farm business." "He couldn't pay it back." The debt got bigger.

I already knew how this would end. I let her say it anyway. "When I turned twenty," she said quietly, "Lucian came to get me.

"My hands slowly curled up at my sides."He called it marriage," she said next. "That was honorable," they said. He told me I would be safe. Her mouth twisted.

"At first, he made sense." "And then?" I asked. "And then he stopped pretending," she said. "He was always cheating. He reminded me that I was bought. That my body was money.

I didn't deserve that love. Rage burned low and deadly. "I ran," she said plainly. "I ran one night." "Where did you go?" I asked. "A park that isn't on either side," she said. "I was hiding there. For days.

My chest got tight. She went on, "That's where they found me." "Not Mother Luna." A group of Workers on patrol. They thought I was a bad person. Sarah said, "They asked questions." "Led me to a station. "Run my name."

She tightened her grip on the blanket. "They told me that a woman had been looking for me for years." My heart raced."They said she had left directions.

If anyone who fits my description is found, she should be called right away. I swallowed. Sarah said, "They called mother Luna right in front of her."

I didn't take a breath. "She came herself," Sarah said again. She didn't send guards nor send anyone to represent her.

She walked in and looked at me like I was real. It hurt my chest a lot. Sarah said, "She told me she knew my parents." "She told me that she knew when my mom died. She cried when she said it.

She said she had been looking for me for years but didn't know that Lucian had taken me. I let out a long breath. Sarah said, "She sounded... honest.""And she was nice, safeguarding, and soft in a way that didn't feel forced.

Mother Luna. "She promised me safety," Sarah said next."Silvermoon, safety, and a chance to run away from my oppressor.

"And you believed her," I said. "I had to," she said softly. I nodded once. "But," Sarah continued, her voice getting tighter, "she asked me for something." My eyes got sharper.

What? I asked.

"She told me not to talk about my past." "Not to the elders." No one. My jaw hurt. "And not to me," I said. She looked me in the eye. "Yes." "Why?" I asked. Sarah said, "She said it was for my safety." "Politics in Silvermoon were... complicated." That I would be safer if fewer people knew where I came from.

Silence closed in. "And now you're telling me anyway," I said. "Yes." "Why did you change your mind?" I asked.

She paused for a moment, then looked at me straight on."Because you didn't treat me like a burden," she said. "You didn't question me. You didn't trap me. You held me like I was important.

My chest got tight. Not comfortable. That's true." And because," she said softly, "you need to know who's in your territory if I'm going to stay here." I looked at her. The strength that lies beneath the softness. She didn't show off.

I asked, "Is Lucian still looking for you? "Yes," she said. "He knows I'm here."That felt like a challenge that settled into my bones.

Sarah said, "I have a friend in his pack.""Her name is Mira." She helped me get away. She still sends warnings when she can. "I said, "An informant." She corrected herself, saying "A survivor." I almost smiled.

"I said, "You know what this means." "Yes," she said. "It means that Silvermoon is no longer neutral." I nodded once. I said slowly, "You trusted me with this.""Yes." The word hung in the air between us.

I should have taken a step back. Instead, I got closer. I said softly, "You're not a burden.""You're a duty. And I don't leave those behind.

She couldn't catch her breath. Just barely. "And the unborn pup?" I asked, quietly. She didn't mean to, but her hand went to her stomach. "Lucian's."My wolf growled.

I said coldly, "That doesn't change anything." "Except how hard I'll fight."She looked at my face. "Why?" I looked her in the eye. "Because someone tried to own you," I said. "And they can't take back what Silvermoon shelters.

"A knock broke the moment. Sharp and Important. A guard said "Alpha" through the door. "We got a message and it's tagged important.

"I turned around slowly. "The seal of Lycan Lucian is on it," the guard said. Sarah stopped moving. When I talked to her, I didn't look back at her.

I told them to "lock this wing." "Add more guards." Then I unlocked the door. Sarah's voice was steady but scared behind me.

"What does he want?" I stopped. I said, "Not permission." I knew one thing for sure as I walked into the hallway: Lucian hadn't come to ask. He had come to claim.