Three marks, one mate

Fifty five

Desiree’s POV

“Hecate.”

The name lingered in the air even after she said it. I stared at her, my brows slowly pulling together as I tried to place it—tried to make it make sense—but nothing came.

It was just the name.

And yet, the way she stood there…calm, composed, like she had just said something I was supposed to recognize, made irritation curl in my chest.

“I'm supposed to know who that is?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

Her lips curved slightly, not quite a smile, but close enough to make it feel like she something way more than I heard from Brandon, Zachary and Grayson.

“No,” she said simply. “You're not.”

And that only annoyed me more. “Then why say it like that?” I shot back. “Like it's supposed to mean something to me?”

She didn’t answer immediately.Instead, she walked further into the room, with a slow step, her gaze never leaving mine. There was something unsettling about the way she moved that almost made my soul crawl with so much cold in my heart.

“I expected curiosity,” she said after a moment. “Not resistance. This says why the three Alpha's have been hiding me.”

“What's your business with the Alpha? I don't trust strangers who walk into empty rooms and start talking like they own the place,” I replied sharply and that seemed to muse her.

“Fair,” she admitted. “Then let me remove the ‘stranger’ part.”

I raised a brow. “Please do.”

She stopped a few feet away from me, her posture straight, her presence filling the room in a way I couldn’t quite explain.“I am the mother of the Alphas,” she said.

Silence. Raw f*****g silence in the room!

For a second, I just blinked at her. Then I let out a small, disbelieving laugh.“No,” I said immediately, shaking my head. “No, you’re not.”

Her expression didn’t change either.

“They don’t have a mother,” I continued, my voice firmer now. “At least not one that anyone talks about. Not one that exists in this place.”

“I existed long before this place,” she replied calmly.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” I snapped.

“It does,” she countered.

I scoffed, turning away for a second as I tried to process the ridiculousness of the situation.

“So what?” I muttered. “You expect me to just stand here and believe that you’re suddenly their mother who decided to show up out of nowhere?”

“Yes,” she said.

I turned back to her, incredulous.“Just like that?”

“Yes.”

I stared at her for a long moment, searching her face for hesitation, for doubt…for anything that would tell me she was bluffing. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“Why now?” I asked, my tone dropping slightly.

“Because now matters,” she said.

“That’s not an answer.”

“It is the only one you need for now.”

I exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through my hair. “I’m not in the mood for vague answers,” I muttered.

“I know,” she replied. “Which is why I’m here.”

My eyes snapped back to hers.“What is that supposed to mean?”

She tilted her head slightly, studying me again like I was something she was trying to understand.“You felt it, didn’t you?” she asked.

My body stilled.

“That… thing,” she continued. “Just a moment ago.”

I hesitated and she noticed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said,

“You reached beyond yourself,” she said, ignoring my denial. “You touched something you didn’t understand.”

A shiver ran down my spine. “That wasn’t normal,” I admitted quietly before I could stop myself.

“No,” she agreed. “It wasn’t.”

I swallowed. “So what is it?” I asked.

Her gaze softened slightly, “It’s you,” she said.

“That’s not an explanation,” I snapped.

“It’s the truth,” she replied.

I took a step closer, frustration building again. “Then explain it in a way that makes sense,” I demanded. “Because all I’m hearing is nonsense about powers and reaching and things I don’t even remember doing!”

For the first time, something shifted in her expression like she was willing to clarify things for me even when nobody wanted to.“You want clarity,” she said.

“Yes.”

“Then listen.”

I went calm and quiet after that.

“You are not ordinary, Desiree,” she began. “You never were.”

My jaw tightened slightly. “I didn’t ask to be anything,” I muttered.

“No one ever does,” she replied. “Yet here we are.”

I said nothing.

“You are what they call a mind binder,” she continued. “A rare existence. One that connects—not just bodies, but souls, instincts, destinies.”

My stomach twisted. “I didn’t connect anything,” I said quietly.

“You did,” she said firmly. “Whether you remember it or not.”

My hands clenched at my sides.

“And that night,” she added, “you didn’t just bind two people.”

She went solely quiet as she spoke. “You awakened something within yourself.”

A strange unease settled in my chest. “And what does that mean?” I asked.

“It means,” she said, “you are no longer dormant.”

I frowned. “Dormant?”

“You were hidden,” she explained. “Suppressed. Your abilities buried beneath things you didn’t understand.”

“And now?”

“Now,” she said, her voice lowering slightly, “you are becoming visible.”

To who?

I had that question buried in my head. “To who?” I asked aloud.

Her gaze held mine. “To those who are watching.”

A chill ran down my spine.“Who is watching?” I pressed.

She walked past me slightly, her presence brushing against mine in a way that made my breath hitch without reason. “There is a storm coming,” she said.

I turned to face her.“What storm?”

And trust me, it was starting to look stupid, asking her question after every of her parables. Why wouldn't just be straight for once.

To think about it, the three Alpha's were still hiding things from me. Something this big. Their mother coming back to the pack.

“One that has been building long before you stepped into this life,” she replied.

I frowned deeper. “Can you stop talking like everything is a riddle and just say it clearly?” I snapped.

She looked at me again. “War,” she said.

The word hit harder than I expected and it made my heart skipped so badly.

“What kind of war?” I asked.

“The kind that doesn’t ask for permission before it destroys everything in its path.”

My throat went dry. “And what does that have to do with me?” I asked.

Her answer came without hesitation. “Everything.”

I shook my head slowly.

“No,” I said. “No, that’s not possible. I just got here. I don’t even understand half of what’s going on around me. How can I possibly be involved in something like that?”

“Because you already are,” she replied.

My chest tightened. “How?”

Her gaze sharpened slightly. “Because of what you are,” she said. “And because of what you are tied to.”

I swallowed. “The Alphas?” I asked.

She didn’t respond directly but she took a step closer again, her voice lowering. “There are bonds forming around you,” she said. “Not by chance. Not by coincidence.”

My heart began to pound again. “What bonds?”

Her eyes held mine. “Ones that go beyond what you think you understand.”

A strange tension filled the space between us. “What are you saying?” I asked, my voice quieter now.

She studied me for a moment longer until she said it. “You are not meant to have just one path, Desiree.”

I stilled. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” she continued, “your connection does not end where you think it does.”

My breath caught.

“And in time,” she added, “you will understand why there are more than just three tied to you.”

The room felt smaller suddenly.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, my voice barely steadying.

Her lips curved faintly again into a smile “The fourth,”