Chapter 4: Marked
425 Words
Kade didn’t wait for permission.
He grabbed Maya’s wrist and pulled her past Selene, past the staring crowd, up the sweeping staircase before anyone could say another word. Her heart was hammering so hard she thought it would break her ribs.
“Let go of me!” she hissed, yanking her arm.
Kade didn’t stop. “Not until you’re safe.”
“Safe? From what? Your pack looks like they want to tear me apart.”
His jaw tightened. “They won’t. Not while I’m alive.”
He shoved open a massive oak door and dragged her inside a room that was clearly his. Dark walls, a huge bed, a fireplace that crackled with heat. It smelled like him—pine, smoke, and something dangerous she couldn’t name.
Maya spun on him the moment the door slammed shut.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “You can’t just kidnap me and call me your mate. This isn’t the 1800s.”
Kade crossed his arms, leaning against the door like he owned the entire world. “I’m not kidnapping you. I’m protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From them.” He nodded toward the door. “From the rogues hunting you. From yourself.”
Maya froze. “What are you talking about?”
Kade’s gold eyes darkened. He stepped closer, slow and deliberate, until she had to crane her neck to look at him.
“Your birthday wasn’t just a birthday, Maya,” he said quietly. “It was your awakening. Your wolf is waking up. And if I don’t mark you soon, it’ll kill you.”
Mark.
The word sent a shiver down her spine. She’d heard the stories. Mates marked each other with a bite. It bonded them for life.
“I’m not getting marked by you,” she said, but her voice wavered.
Kade reached out, thumb brushing over her pulse point on her neck. Her breath hitched despite herself.
“You don’t have a choice,” he murmured. “Your body already chose me. Can’t you feel it?”
She could. God, she could. The heat, the pull, the ache that had been building since she first saw him. It was maddening.
Kade leaned down until his lips were a breath away from her ear.
“Fight me if you want,” he whispered. “But when your wolf begs for my mark tonight, you’ll thank me.”
Maya’s knees nearly gave out.
And for the first time, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to run.
- Writer
