Chapter 11: Marked in the Fire
479 Words
The courtyard was chaos.
Sierra’s scream still echoed in the air, but all Aria could hear was the rage in Kael’s growl.
He crouched beside Sierra, blood splattered on his arm, the envelope of betrayal crushed in his fist.
He rose slowly his power rolling off him in waves.
“Who gave her this?” he snarled.
No one answered.
He turned to Jace. “I want the guards who let those Bloodroot scum through. Interrogate them. Now.”
Jace nodded and vanished into the dark.
Aria stood frozen, heart pounding, eyes locked on the torn photos.
They were of her young. Weak. Crying on the floor after her rejection. Curled on the forest floor after running.
She hadn’t seen these images in years.
She didn’t even know they existed.
Someone had followed her.
Watched her.
Collected proof of her pain.
And now they were using it to turn Stormfang against her.
Kael looked at her.
“Don’t say it,” she whispered. “Don’t say you regret claiming me.”
His eyes darkened. “I regret not marking you sooner.”
That night, Kael cleared his wing.
No guards.
No Sierra.
No Jace.
Just her.
He stood in the doorway of her room, bare-chested, eyes full of storm and fire.
“I need you to say it,” he said. “One more time. Say you want me.”
She stepped forward, every inch of her buzzing with heat. “I don’t just want you, Kael. I choose you.”
His lips crashed into hers.
There was nothing soft about it.
It was rough, hungry, and desperate.
But underneath it all… he was shaking.
She pulled his hand to her neck.
“Do it,” she breathed. “Mark me.”
He hesitated just for a heartbeat.
Then
His fangs sank into her skin.
She gasped, her knees buckling as the bond exploded through her like fire and lightning.
Her wolf howled.
Her past burned.
And Kael?
He let go.
Every ounce of control shattered as the bond took over.
He kissed her deeper, slower, then spun her onto the bed, pinning her down like she was the only thing that mattered.
Because now?
She was.
His mate.
His Luna.
His obsession.
The next morning, the entire pack felt it.
The official mark.
The Luna bond.
And when Aria walked into the hall with Kael’s bite still red and raw on her neck?
They bowed.
They didn’t whisper.
They didn’t question.
They respected her.
Feared her.
And for the first time in her life…
Aria felt powerful.
But Sierra wasn’t done.
Bruised and bitter, she sat in the medical wing, staring at her bandaged hand and smiling.
Because even though Kael had finally marked Aria…
She had already sent the final letter to Bloodroot.
And Liam?
He wasn’t coming back to talk.
He was coming back with soldiers.
- Writer
