Marked by the Shadow King

Chapter 2

A chilling laugh cut through the garden's silence – deep, mocking, and eerily familiar. The sound made my blood run cold despite the heat still coursing through my body.

My breath caught as a figure emerged from the shadows. Even in the dim light, there was no mistaking that confident stride, that cruel smile. Aria. My stomach twisted at the sight of her.

Everyone knew Aria's reputation. She was like a storm that swept through the pack, leaving devastation in her wake. Her list of conquests was legendary – if she wasn't flaunting a new lover, she was busy making both young and seasoned wolves fall at her feet. From my first day here, every instinct had screamed to stay far away from her particular brand of chaos.

"Lucius," she called out, barely containing her glee. "You'll never believe who our little stalker is." Her laughter punctuated each word, her eyes gleaming with malicious delight.

I watched as confusion played across Lucius's face. He stood there, looking between Aria and me with furrowed brows.

"Don't you get it?" Aria's voice dripped with venom. "She's the one – you know, *mateless*? *Wolfless*?" She emphasized each word like she was savoring a delicious secret.

My mind reeled. How did she know? Who had been spreading these whispers about me? The shame I'd tried so hard to bury threatened to suffocate me.

Recognition suddenly lit up Lucius's features. "Oh! *That* omega?" His laugh joined Aria's, the sound like daggers in my chest.

Humiliation burned through me. I spun on my heel, determined to escape this nightmare, but Lucius's voice froze me in place.

"Come back here!" The command resonated through our newfound bond, anchoring me to the spot. I couldn't move, couldn't run – and gods, I was still burning with need, my thighs slick with evidence of my arousal. The thought of them noticing made me want to die of shame.

His touch came without warning – fingers trailing across my shoulders, tracing my collarbones. My treacherous body leaned into the contact, craving more even as my mind screamed in protest. When he pulled away, the loss was physical pain.

"Aww, look at her," Aria cooed mockingly. "She's actually responding to you!" Lucius's laughter boomed through the garden.

Heat flooded my cheeks. *Please*, I prayed silently, *don't let them smell my heat. Don't let this get worse.*

"You can let me go now," I managed through clenched teeth, fighting to keep my voice steady.

Lucius's eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. "Well, would you look at that – it can speak!" He shared another knowing look with Aria, who was practically cackling in the corner.

His expression suddenly darkened as he inhaled deeply. "I can smell your arousal." The words were like ice down my spine.

Aria doubled over with fresh laughter. "Oh, this is too perfect! You actually thought you had a chance? That someone would want *you*?" She wiped tears from her eyes. "Aren't you just pathetic, Melissa?"

My name on her lips sent a chill through me. How did she know who I was? How long had they been watching, waiting to spring this trap?

Lucius began circling me slowly, like a predator toying with wounded prey. His eyes raked over me, filled with a mixture of disgust and dark amusement. "What exactly did you think would happen tonight?" he asked, his voice dripping with contempt. "That the moon would somehow make you worthy?"

I stood there, trapped by his command, as their laughter echoed through the garden. The heat that had felt so promising moments ago now burned like shame in my veins.

"You really thought I’d accept you just because you've been mateless for how long now? Or is it because you're in heat and desperate for relief?" Lucius sneered, his voice laced with mockery.

I swallowed hard, my heart hammering in my chest.

"That I would claim you simply because fate says you're supposed to be my mate?" he pressed, his icy stare pinning me in place.

I had no words. No defense. I simply bowed my head, letting the crushing weight of shame smother me.

It wasn’t my fault I was an omega.

My parents had died in a fire—trying to save a stranger in the midst of war. And when I was rescued by the Ice Stone Pack, I was branded an omega. A lowly rank handed to me because no one knew where I truly belonged. Rumors whispered that the Lycan King himself had obliterated my entire pack, and with my past erased, I had no proof of my lineage.

"Look at me when I’m talking to you!"

Lucius’s sharp command yanked me from my thoughts, and my head snapped up instinctively. I had zoned out, escaping the humiliation he was making me endure, but now, I was face-to-face with the pure disdain radiating from his eyes.

"I can't be mated to someone like you," he continued, voice dripping with disgust. "I don’t associate with your kind."

The words hit harder than any physical blow.

Aria giggled, her presence slithering between us as she wrapped herself around Lucius like a snake marking its territory. She knew exactly what she was doing, taunting me, feeding off my pain. Jealousy clawed its way up my spine, intertwining with the boiling anger in my gut.

"What are we going to do about her, Lucius?" she purred, her fingers teasing over his chest.

I saw the effect she had on him. The way his body responded to her.

A sinister smirk curled his lips as he turned his attention back to me, his voice ringing with cruel finality.

"I, Lucius Hayden of the Ice Stone—"

My breath hitched.

No.

No, this wasn’t happening. I had just found my mate. He wasn’t going to—

"I hereby reject you—"

A white-hot pain slashed through my chest, knocking the breath from my lungs.

"What’s your name?" he asked casually, his voice a distant echo through my haze of agony.

I couldn’t answer. My body trembled as I fought against the unbearable weight crushing me from the inside.

"Her name is Melissa," Aria answered instead, her voice like silk laced with poison.

My head whipped toward her in shock. How did she know my name? But her expression was smug, unapologetic.

"I, Lucius Hayden of the Ice Stone Pack, heir and prince, reject you, Melissa—the omega of the Ice Stone Pack and filth of the earth."

Something inside me shattered.

Pain ripped through me, an unbearable force surging through my limbs. My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the cold ground, gasping for air.

"You’re pathetic," Aria sneered from above me, while Lucius simply observed, intrigued by my suffering.

"A little rejection, and you’re already wailing on the floor?" He scoffed. "How were you ever supposed to be my Luna?"

Then, his voice turned sharper, crueler.

"Your parents must have been very disappointed before they roasted in that fire."

My ears rang. My vision blurred.

He did not just say that.

A white-hot rage surged through me, stronger than the pain, stronger than the humiliation.

"What did you just say?" My voice wavered with emotion, tears streaking down my face.

Lucius only smirked, reveling in my suffering.

"That your parents were worthless, and that’s why they died?"

I didn’t let him finish.

Aria gasped.

My foot connected with his groin before I could even think, my body acting on pure instinct.

For one brief, satisfying moment, I saw the shock on his face—the way his smirk faltered as pain shot through him.

Then reality crashed down on me.

I just kicked the prince of the Ice Stone Pack.

I had to get out of there.

Without a second thought, I turned and ran.

My breaths came in sharp pants as I tore through the halls, brushing past guards who barely had time to react.

"Guards!" A furious voice roared from behind me.

No. No. No.

I pushed harder, my legs burning as I raced toward the palace gates. I may have been wolfless, but I had something they didn’t in their human forms—speed.

"Get her!" Another order rang out.

I wasn’t about to wait around to see who it came from.

Run.

That was all I could do.

I darted through the trees, my feet barely touching the ground as I moved. The wind howled in my ears, whispering, urging me forward. Shadows loomed, stretching into monstrous figures in the darkness.

I couldn’t stop.

I wouldn’t stop.

"Moon Goddess, if you can hear me—save me!" I whispered desperately into the night.

I had only one chance.

If I could make it to the party, blend into the crowd, they wouldn’t be able to catch me.

But as I neared, my heart sank.

There were more guards than guests.

And in that moment, I knew—hiding in the party was a death sentence.

I veered off, lungs burning, trees blurring past me.

I had no plan, no direction—only the desperate need to survive.

And so, I ran.

After what felt like an eternity of running, I finally noticed something—silence.

The wind no longer roared in my ears. The only sound was my ragged breathing, sharp and uneven. Relief flooded me, but it was short-lived.

The moment I stopped, a deep, aching burn spread through my legs, my muscles screaming in protest. My back hunched as I braced my hands against my knees, forcing air in and out of my lungs. Each breath scraped against my throat, leaving a scorching trail in its wake.

Minutes passed—or was it hours?—before I finally straightened, my hand gripping a tree for support. The world around me was dark—thicker, heavier than before. Slowly, my vision adjusted to the shadows that cloaked the forest.

Something was wrong.

The trees here were different.

Broader. Taller. Their twisted branches stretched into the sky like skeletal hands, swallowing the last remnants of moonlight. My mind instantly searched for the blue mark—the symbol that always marked Ice Stone’s territory.

I scanned the trees.

Once.

Twice.

Nothing.

Panic slithered into my veins.

Where the hell was I?

A sharp breeze cut through me, and I shivered—not from the cold, but from the creeping realization settling in my bones. There were worse things than the humiliation I had just endured.

Far worse.

For over twenty minutes, I wandered, my frantic eyes searching for anything—any sign—that could guide me back. My breath hitched as dread tightened around my throat. My legs finally gave out, and I slumped against a massive tree.

And then—I saw it.

A red mark.

My heart stopped.

No. No. No.

I knew that mark. Everyone did.

These lands belonged to King Avalor.

A monster. A ruler so merciless, even the strongest alphas feared him.

My eyes widened, pulse hammering in my ears.

I needed to get out.