The Marks Pull
1159 Words
That very morning, Maria requested an audience with King Caius. He welcomed her into the small conference room adjacent to the throne chamber. Over a pot of steaming tea, Maria relayed everything Eliza had told her the night before at the ball.
Caius listened intently, brows furrowed. Maria admitted she feared the Luna and Alpha of the Blue Coral Pack would be too powerful for her to protect Seryna from alone. So, she chose to trust him.
He nodded gravely. "You did the right thing. I had already sent my soldiers to arrest them... and Eliza as well."
Maria looked alarmed. "Eliza only did what she was told most wolves cant disobey the command of their alpha your majesty. She doesn’t deserve punishment." Maria pleaded on behalf of her old friend.
Caius's eyes glazed over briefly as he sent a message through the mind-link to his men. "They are only to question her. No harm will come to her, I promise. We must be thorough, but fair."
Maria sighed in relief, trusting the promise of a king who, more importantly, was her daughter’s mate. Her heart eased slightly, maternal instincts stirring as she silently prayed this new chapter would finally bring her daughter the peace and love she had always deserved.
Seryna
The morning light spilled through the enchanted crystal-pane windows of Caius’s chambers, gilding everything it touched in honey-gold warmth. It was soft—gentler than I expected for a royal bedroom in a palace built by wolves. The scent of jasmine and moonflowers lingered in the air, no doubt some enchantment woven into the sheets. Everything here felt like magic disguised as comfort.
And yet… nothing compared to the warmth that lingered in my bones, in my belly, in the place where Caius had claimed me.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Rose teased in my mind. “How ya feeling?”
I turned my face into the pillow, a smile tugging at my lips. “Like I never want to move again,” I whispered.
Memories rushed in—his mouth on my skin, the soft glow of our marks bonding us under the silver light, the way he had looked at me like I was a celestial secret only he was allowed to unravel. My fingers slid instinctively to my neck, brushing the edge of the mark. A flicker of heat bloomed under my skin, despite the soreness, all I wanted was for him to be inside of me again.
Rose let out a slow whistle. “You know,he can feel what you feel right?, I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up here in a few minutes."
The door creaked.
“I stand corrected,” she chuckled.
Caius
I stepped into the room, heart pounding at the sight of her tangled in silver sheets. The golden light danced across her skin like it worshiped her—and maybe it did. My mate. My moon-born Goddess.
“You summoned me, little mate?” I asked, voice thick with desire.
She looked up through a curtain of loose hair, her expression shy but hungry. One glance and she was in my arms again.
I wanted nothing more than to fill her up again. We started in bed, but we were both sore from last night, so I brought her somewhere warm and soothing.
The bathroom—my sanctuary carved from black-veined marble and inlaid with glowing runes—answered our presence. The tub, shaped like a crescent moon, filled itself with steaming, crystalline water. Lunar petals floated on the surface, releasing warmth and scent in tendrils of magic.
I went into the bath with her, her legs wrapping around me as if pulled by some ancient tide, her kisses steamy and wet. I slid myself inside of her, bodies moving in sync beneath the water’s surface. Her moans mingled with mine, echoing off the shimmering walls—though no sound would pass beyond them. The enchantments made sure of that.
If the night before had been reverent, this was hungry, molten. And when it ended, we floated in each other's arms, breathless and sated, the world outside the steam nothing but mist.
Seryna
His fingers traced idle patterns across my bare back, just above where the water touched my skin.
“You’re addictive,” he murmured.
I smiled, lazy and full. “And you’re… delightfully indulgent.”
Then I saw them.
Lines of pale scarring, some thin and silvery, others thick like old grief. I brushed a fingertip over one, my playful mood sobering. “These should’ve healed.”
“Field medics,” he replied quietly. “They did what they could.”
I didn’t respond—only shifted forward and kissed one.
The tub pulsed beneath us, the runes responded as if sensing my wish. They lit up along the basin edge, then shimmered as something materialized on a hovering shelf: my old medical satchel.
“My kit…” I whispered. “But that was back in the apartment—”
“ You bear my mark now, the runes respond to their masters,” Caius said softly, watching me with amusement.
I climbed out, the air instantly warm against my wet skin as a robe in my favorite shade of blue appeared on a nearby rack. I slipped into it as the satchel hovered beside me, unsealing at my touch.
Caius
She worked like a priestess at an altar—mixing, muttering softly under her breath, coaxing violet light from herbs and tonics into a thick elixir that glowed with layered magic. I had never seen anything like it.
When she turned, her eyes burned with resolve.
“Come closer.”
I smirked. “Ready for more?”
But she looked serious this time. So I stood, water dripping from me as I stepped free of the tub. Towels—warmed and enchanted—fluttered across my skin, drying me gently as I approached her.
She dipped an applicator into the potion and dropped it on the scars.
They sizzled. I hissed.
And then… they faded.
Vanished.
I looked down, stunned. “What in the Goddess’s name—”
“Permanent scar reversal elixir,” she said softly. “My own recipe. It draws from marrow-deep cellular memory and replaces it with lunar-infused tissue.”
I stared. Not at my healed body—but at her.
She didn’t just heal skin. She unmade pain. She rewrote history.
I leaned forward, kissed her forehead, and whispered, “You are an amazing woman.”
Seryna
The compliment set my cheeks aflame, but I didn’t look away. I held his gaze, our bond humming between us like a silent heartbeat.
“I didn’t do it because you needed fixing,” I said. “I just… wanted to give something back.”
He smiled—slow and stunned. “You gave me peace.”
I leaned into him, content and still damp from our bath, and let myself hope again.
- Writer
