Chapter 4: The Mark
1125 Words
Mina POV
The mark was supposed to hurt.
That’s what everyone said.
“Getting marked by an Alpha feels like fire.”
“They say Omegas scream.”
“It burns for days.”
It didn’t.
It felt like coming home.
Kael’s teeth were at my neck, right over my pulse.
We were in the middle of Blackthorn’s training ring.
Snow falling.
200 wolves watching.
Breathing.
Waiting.
“Say it,” he growled against my skin. His breath was hot. His hands were on my hips, holding me up. “Say you’re mine.”
My voice shook. The whole pack could hear it. “I’m yours.”
His teeth sank in.
Pain.
Heat.
Pleasure.
All at once. Like lightning straight to my bones.
Asha howled inside me. Mate. Mate. Mate.
She hadn’t sounded that happy since I was 10.
When he pulled back, blood welled. Dark against my pale skin.
Then it was gone.
Sealed.
And in its place: a black crescent.
His mark.
Jagged.
Beautiful.
Claiming.
The crowd went silent.
You could hear the snow hit the ground.
Then chaos.
“AN OMEGA?!” Beta Dray shouted. His face went red. “You marked an OMEGA, Alpha? In front of all of us?”
“She’s not just an Omega,” Kael said, stepping in front of me. His body blocking all of them. “She’s my Luna.”
More gasps.
Someone dropped a weapon.
An elder woman spat on the ground. “Luna has to be strong. From a good family. With a good lineage. This girl lost her parents to hunters. She brings bad luck. She brings weakness to Blackthorn.”
Kael’s eyes went gold. Full Alpha. The air got heavy. “Anyone else want to say something about my mate?”
No one did.
But I saw it.
The hate.
The whispers.
The way they looked at me like I was dirt on Kael’s boot.
I was an outsider.
Again.
--
That night, the hunters proved them right.
I was in Kael’s cabin, trying to sleep. Couldn’t. The mark was throbbing. Warm.
Then glass shattered.
Three men.
Silver guns.
Masks.
Smelling like death.
“Where’s the girl?” One hissed. His voice was rough. Familiar.
Before I could scream, Kael was there.
He didn’t shift.
He didn’t need to.
He broke the first man’s neck with his bare hands. One twist.
Took the second man’s gun and shot him between the eyes.
The third ran.
Kael let him.
He turned to me. Breathing hard. Chest heaving. Blood on his knuckles. Not his.
“You okay?”
I was shaking. But not from fear. From rage. “They found us.”
“I know.” He pulled me into him. His heart was pounding against mine. “That’s why we’re leaving tonight.”
“Leaving? Where?”
“To hunt them.” His jaw was tight. A muscle ticking. “They killed your parents. They left you alive as bait. They’re not getting a fourth chance.”
I should’ve been scared.
I wasn’t.
I was angry.
Angry that they took my parents.
Angry that they thought I was weak.
“Take me with you,” I said.
“No.”
“KAEL.”
“Mina.” He cupped my face. Both hands. His thumbs brushed my cheeks. “You’re not ready. You trained for 1 day.”
“Then make me ready.” I grabbed his shirt. Fisted it. “You said 30 days. You said I’d be your Luna. Lunas fight. Lunas lead. Lunas bleed.”
He stared at me for a long time. Gold eyes searching mine.
“Fine,” he said finally. Voice rough. “But you listen to me. You do exactly what I say. You stay behind me. Or I send you home in chains.”
“Deal.”
--
2 hours later we were in the woods.
Kael, me, and 10 of his best wolves. All in black. All silent. All deadly.
“The hunters have a camp 3 miles north,” Kael whispered. His breath fogged. “8 men. Silver. We go in quiet. No shifting until I say.”
I nodded. My heart was pounding but my hands were steady.
For the first time since my parents died, I had a purpose.
Not grief.
Revenge.
We crept through the trees.
Snow under our boots.
I could smell them before we saw them.
Sweat.
Gun oil.
Blood.
And fear.
Kael held up a hand. Stop.
Ahead: a fire.
Men laughing.
Drinking.
And on a table...
A body bag.
Zipped.
My stomach dropped. The world tilted. “Is that—“
“Shh.” Kael’s eyes met mine. Gold in the dark. “Not now. Focus.”
He signaled.
Attack.
Wolves shifted.
Roars filled the night.
Glass broke.
Men screamed.
I drew the dagger Kael gave me. Real steel. Heavy.
One of the hunters saw me. A big guy. Raised his gun at my chest.
I didn’t think.
I remembered the training.
I threw.
The dagger hit his throat.
He gurgled.
Dropped.
I just killed a man.
And I didn’t feel guilty.
I felt... free.
Kael looked at me across the fire. Pride in his gold eyes. “Good girl.”
We cleared the camp in 5 minutes.
Bodies everywhere.
But the body bag was empty.
Zipped from the inside.
A note was pinned to the table with a knife.
Kael ripped it off and read it. Then crumpled it.
“What does it say?” I asked.
“They don’t have them,” he said quietly. “Your parents. They’re using the bag to bait us. They want us to come to them.”
“They want me,” I said. My voice was flat.
“Yes.”
“Then we go,” I said. “Tonight.”
“Alone? Absolutely not.”
“Then what?” I yelled. The anger was back. Hot and sharp. “We sit here and wait for them to take more people?! We do nothing?!”
Kael grabbed me. Pulled me into him.
Kissed me.
Hard.
Desperate.
Like he was trying to breathe me in.
“When I say we go, I mean WE,” he said against my lips. “Me and you. And if anything happens to you—“
“It won’t,” I whispered. My hands on his chest. “Because I’m not weak anymore. I’m not an Omega anymore.”
He pulled back and looked at the mark on my neck. Then at me. Really looked.
“Tomorrow night,” he said. “Bloodmoon Arena. You and me.”
“Against who?”
“Against whoever they send.” He smiled. Feral. “Time to show Blackthorn why the moon chose you.”
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