Marked by the werewolf

CHAPTER 5

Crystal's Pov

I woke up to silence.

No husband beside me or apology from last night. Just the empty space in our bed that had become normal over six years of marriage.

My cheek still throbbed where my mother-in-law had slapped me yesterday. I touched it gently, wincing. The bruise would need extra makeup today.

I reached for my phone, remembering the new member from yesterday, eager to know what he had typed back . I opened the secret app from my vault and saw one new message from Golden Wolf and my heart jumped.

"Fiction doesn't feel like this. Fiction doesn't know that a werewolf's biggest fear isn't death, it's living alone forever. Who are you really, StarlessNight?"

I stared at the message and my throat became tight. Who was this person? And why asking who I was? I wanted to block the user but I don't know why I couldn't do so.

I told myself not yet. I wasn't ready to let this go but then I set the phone down without replying and got ready for the day. I used foundation to cover the bruise and concealer for the birthmark. The armor I wore to face the world.

Today, I was going to Lily's house. I needed my best friend more than ever.

Lily opened the door before I could knock, took one look at my face, and pulled me inside.

"I'm going to kill them," she said flatly. "Every single one of them."

I managed a weak smile. "Get in line."

Her apartment was small but warm, decorated with plants and books and everything that felt like home. She guided me to the couch and disappeared into the kitchen.

"She hit you again, didn't she?when I see Marcus," she called out, "I'm going to skin him alive for letting that witch hit you."

I'd thought I'd covered the bruise well enough, apparently not.

"Lily..."

"Don't defend him." She came back with two glasses of wine. "Six years, Crystal. Six years you've put up with those people treating you like garbage. His useless parents are living in your house, controlling everything and he just stands there."

I took the wine and drank. She wasn't wrong.

We spent the next hour doing exactly what we'd planned. Trash talking everyone who'd hurt me. Zara and her smug face, Brady Wolfe and his infuriating smirk, my mother-in-law and her cruelty, Marcus and his weakness.

By the time we'd exhausted our anger, I felt lighter. Lily had always been good at making the unbearable feel manageable.

We switched to drinking juice and lounging on her couch in comfortable silence.

Then Lily suddenly asked, "Crystal, your family hunts werewolves, right? What do you really think about them?"

I nearly choked on my drink.

"What?" I coughed, staring at her. "Where.... Where did that come from?"

Lily's expression was carefully neutral. "Just curious. Do you think they deserve to die? The werewolves?"

My heart raced. Why was she asking this? We'd been having a normal conversation, and suddenly this?

"I don't know," I said slowly. "I don't even think they exist anymore. If they ever did, my family treats it like tradition more than reality."

"But if they did exist." Lily leaned forward. "If you met one, would you kill them?"

"Lily, why are you asking me this?"

She studied me for a long moment. "Just wondering what you believe. Not what your family taught you but what you actually believe."

I set down my glass. "If werewolves existed, I don't think they'd all deserve death. Nothing is that simple."

Something flickered across Lily's face like relief, maybe.

My phone rang before I could push further and it was my manager.

"I need to take this," I told Lily.

"Crystal!" My manager's voice was electric. "The director wants you for the lead in the biggest romance film of the year."

My heart lifted. Finally.

"What's the project?"

"Against the World. A couple fighting to stay together despite everything trying to tear them apart. It's a huge budget and it could cement you back at the top."

"Who's the male lead?"

There was no answer

"Who is it?" I pressed.

"Brady Wolfe."

The name hit like ice water. "What? No, I'm not taking it."

"Crystal, listen..."

"I said no. Find another project or use another male lead"

"If you turn this down, it looks like you're afraid of him. Like he's already won."

I closed my eyes. She was right, refusing would be admitting defeat.

And I hadn't spent six years enduring everything just to let Brady Wolfe win.

"Fine," I said. "I'll do it."

I hung up and looked at Lily.

"You accepted something," she said. "I can tell by your face."

"Ughhhhh. Yeah. I just accepted to do a film film with my slowly becoming enemy, Brady Wolfe."

Lily's eyebrows rose. "The man who beat you at the awards?"

"The same." I stood. "I need to go because first table read is this afternoon."

She hugged me again. "Be careful, Crystal. Something about all this feels off."

I wish I'd listened to her.

The studio was all glass and steel as I walked in wearing confidence like armor.

The cast was assembled. S

The supporting actors, director and crew members.

And then I saw Zara Ming , She sat near the front, laughing too loud at something someone said. When she saw me, her smile sharpened.

"Crystal. What a surprise. I didn't know you were in this film."

Liar. She knew. She'd probably paid someone to make sure she got cast.

"Zara. Still trying to ride on other people's projects, I see."

Her smile didn't waver. "I'm the antagonist. Perfect casting, don't you think?"

Before I could respond, the door opened.

Brady Wolfe walked in.

The room shifted. Everyone felt it. That pull, that presence he carried like a weapon.

His eyes found mine immediately. Gold. Always gold.

My birthmark tingled beneath my collar.

I looked away first. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

The table read began. Our characters were lovers fighting the world to stay together. Every line of dialogue felt too intimate, too raw. Reading opposite Brady made my skin burn.

During the break, I escaped to the hallway for air. There, I saw Brady too and decided to confront him. I called out to him but he didn't answer so I quickened my pace, even almost running to meet up with him.

"Hey, I've been calling you. We need to talk," I caught his arm , making him face me.

He turned and was standing too close, his eyes were fixed on me like he was studying me.

" I didn't answer because I didn't see a need to. What do we want to talk about?" He snapped back.

I ignored him and continued "What did you mean the other night?" I demanded. "By we meet again, have we met before?"

Brady's lips curved into a smirk. "Haven't we?"

"What?"

He stepped closer. "Well....I suppose we've seen each other on TV, so meeting in real life counts as meeting again."

It was a deflection. I knew it was a lie. That statement was personal, Icould feel it but I didn't press because he definitely won't give me satisfaction.

"Did you suggest they cast us together?" I asked.

"You really think high of yourself, don't you?" He retorted back.

"What do you want from me?" I finally asked

His eyes darkened. "Everything."

The word hung between us, loaded with meaning I couldn't decipher.

"I'm married," I said coldly. "If you're doing all this to get my attention, you're wasting your time. I'd never have anything to do with someone so proud and arrogant."

Brady laughed.

The sound was unexpected. It was rich and genuine, transforming his entire face. For a moment, I forgot to breathe. I didn't kniw he could smile like that.

Then he stopped abruptly, like he'd caught himself doing something wrong.

"You're not my type either," he said, his voice cutting. "I don't like women who can't even manage to keep an award. Or....someone with such a loose mouth."

Loose mouth? What did that mean?

Before I could ask, he walked away.

I stood there, furious and confused and my birthmark was burning again beneath my makeup.

The second half of the reading was t*****e. Every glance Brady sent my way felt calculated and every line we read together filled with tension. Then I started sweating and my neck was itching again where the birthmark was.

I scratched my neck and I could feel that my birthmark was glowing or about to glow. I caught Zara staring intensely at me and I felt uncomfortable, not sure what she was looking at.

I asked to be excused and started making my way to the bathroom but felt Zara was going to follow me and she did. I was almost running while covering my neck with my hand, quickly using my phone screen to check myself and saw that the mark was starting to glow faintly.

When I glanced back, I saw that Zara was following though she immediately hide herself when she saw me look back.

I ducked down a dimly lit hallway and the emergency exit signs cast shadows everywhere.

The footsteps behind me was gerting closer. I pressed against the wall, hand still covering my glowing neck.

"Crystal? Where did you go?" Zara's voice echoed.

She was close now and might catch the sight of my glowing birthmark. I was terrified, what was I supposed to do now?

Then suddenly a hand grabbed mine and pulled me around the corner , pressing me against the wall as his lips met mine. He was kissing me and his hand were placed on my neck, covering the glowing light.

I froze in shock but then instinct kicked in and I kissed back. I smelled pine and something darker and recognition hit me hard. I opened my eyes immediately and saw Brady.

Through the shadows and with my corner eyes, I caught a glimpse of Zara's silhouette. She was looking at us, but the lighting was too dim so she couldn't see our faces.

"Where is she?" Zara muttered.

"Miss Ming!" A voice called. "The director needs you on set!" Her footsteps retreated.

I was so grateful for that voice that called her away. I could have been exposed but for...

Brady's hand stayed on my neck as his lips pulled back slightly. The neck has stopped glowing and itching now.

I stared up at him and saw his golden eyes, which I've always found strange was unreadable in the shadows.

He'd saved me. The man who wanted to destroy me had just saved me but why would Brady Wolfe save me?