Marked by the Alpha: My Forced Mate

Chapter 3

The words on Mia’s phone swam before her eyes, her breath catching in her throat. Simple as they were, they carved a cold, winding path of dread down her spine.

*I’m coming for you, mate.*

She dropped the device onto her bed as if it burned, the screen still glowing like a taunt. Her hands trembled as she snatched it back, fingers hovering over the reply box. But what could she possibly say? Who was this? How had they gotten her number?

And how did they know about the mark?

Panic coiled in her chest, hot and fast. She threw off the covers and stumbled to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. The harsh overhead light flickered on, and her gaze flew immediately to the mirror.

She turned her head, yanking her hair aside.

There it was.

A faint, silver brand just below her ear, shaped like a wolf’s claw. It caught the light, almost as if it hummed with a life of its own. She’d thought it was a bruise, a trick of the night. But it wasn’t. It was something else. Something impossible.

Her blood turned to ice. This wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a hallucination. It was real.

And whoever had sent that text… they knew exactly what it meant.

The mark on her neck flared again, a sharp, searing heat, as if the wolf’s phantom paw was pressing against her skin. She pressed her palm hard against it, trying to smother the fire, but it only blazed hotter.

That’s when she heard it.

A low, distant howl, drifting up from the darkness outside her dorm.

Mia froze. Her head snapped toward the window. The third floor. The woods were miles away. There was no way.

But the howl came again, closer this time. Deeper. Wilder.

And it was coming for her.

Her phone buzzed once more.

Another text, from the same unknown number.

*You belong to me now. Don’t run.*