Chapter 5: The Mark
469 Words
Maya couldn’t sleep.
Every nerve in her body felt on fire. It started as a dull ache low in her stomach and spread until her skin felt too tight, her bones too small. Her heart pounded like it was trying to claw its way out of her chest.
The wolf.
Kade’s words kept echoing in her head. *Your wolf is waking up. If I don’t mark you soon, it’ll kill you.*
She hated how much she believed him.
A soft knock broke the silence.
“Come in,” she said before she could stop herself.
The door opened and Kade stepped inside. He was shirtless, sweat clinging to his skin, like he’d just come from a fight. His eyes were brighter than before, pupils blown wide.
“You feel it too,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
Maya sat up, pulling the blanket to her chest. “Get out.”
He closed the door behind him and locked it.
“I can’t,” he said simply. “The bond won’t let me stay away when you’re like this.”
“Like what?”
“In pain,” he said, crossing the room in three strides. He knelt in front of her bed, close enough that she could feel the heat rolling off him. “Your wolf is panicking, Maya. It thinks I’m going to leave you.”
“I’m not your wolf,” she snapped.
“No,” he agreed. “But you’re mine.”
His fingers brushed against her cheek, and every argument in her head vanished. The room fell away. All she could feel was him. The pull, the heat, the need.
“Kade,” she whispered, hating how breathless she sounded.
He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers. “Say stop, and I will.”
She should have said it.
She didn’t.
Kade’s hands slid to her shoulders, tilting her head to the side. His lips brushed against her neck, hot and careful. Maya’s fingers tangled in his hair without her permission.
When his teeth sank into her skin, it wasn’t pain.
It was fire.
Pleasure and agony mixed together, spreading through her veins like lightning. She cried out, back arching off the bed as the mark sealed.
The world exploded.
Colors she’d never seen before flashed behind her eyes. Sounds became sharper. Her senses overloaded. And in the center of it all was Kade—his emotions pouring into her through the bond. Possessive. Protective. Desperate.
Love.
The word hit her harder than the bite itself.
When it was over, she collapsed against him, trembling. Kade held her like she might break, licking over the mark he’d just made.
“Mine,” he growled against her skin.
Maya closed her eyes, and for the first time since she met him, she didn’t disagree.
- Writer
