THE ROGUE ALPHA’S FORSAKEN MATE

Chapter 3

I woke to the cold morning air against my skin.

For a few seconds, I lay still, staring up at the canopy of trees above me while my mind slowly pieced together where I was. Then the memories of the previous night came rushing back, the forest, the stranger, and everything that had happened between us. I immediately looked around, but he was gone.

Relief washed over me. I didn't know him, didn't know his name or where he came from, and whatever had happened between us had been a choice I made in a moment when I desperately needed to forget the pain waiting for me at home. Waking up alone was probably for the best.

I brushed the dirt from my clothes and pushed myself to my feet. My body was sore from sleeping on the hard ground, and exhaustion weighed heavily on my limbs, but I couldn't stay in the forest forever. My father would be furious, the elders would have questions, and Mara had probably spent the entire night wondering where I was.

I took a deep breath and reached up to fix my hair. My fingers brushed against the side of my neck, and I stopped. Something felt strange. I touched the same spot again, and there was a warmth beneath my fingertips that I hadn't noticed before. I frowned, running my fingers slowly across my neck, trying to understand what I was feeling. There was something beneath my skin, something that hadn't been there last night.

My heart skipped. I moved toward a small pool of clear water nearby and knelt beside it. The surface was still enough to show my reflection, and I pushed my hair away from my neck. Then I froze.

A golden mark curved across the side of my neck, intricate and glowing faintly in the morning light. I stared at it, my mind refusing to understand what I was seeing. Then everything inside me went still.

No.

I touched the mark, and warmth spread through my fingers. I pulled my hand away immediately. A claim. Someone had marked me. My breathing changed, becoming shallow and uneven. I looked around the forest as though the stranger might suddenly appear again, but he was gone. He had left his mark on me, and I hadn't expected that. I hadn't asked for it. I didn't even know who he was.

My fingers returned to my neck, more cautiously this time. The mark seemed to pulse beneath my skin, faint and alive. My wolf stirred inside me, and I realized with a jolt that she recognized it. That frightened me more than anything.

I had spent years wondering what it would feel like to be claimed. I had imagined Declan's mark on my neck so many times that I could almost picture the moment. But never like this. Never by a stranger whose name I didn't even know.

I stepped away from the water, my mind racing through the events of the previous night. His voice warning me that I shouldn't be in the forest. The way he had helped me without asking questions. The way I had slowly stopped being afraid of him. The way I had chosen to stay with him.

I had trusted him. But I had never given him permission to claim me. At least, I didn't think I had. Could a claim happen without intention? Could someone mark another wolf without telling them? And what did this mean for my bond with Declan?

I almost laughed at the thought. What bond? Declan had never claimed me. He had been with Wren instead. Yet somehow, on the same night I had lost the man I thought would be my mate, I had ended up carrying another man's mark.

I pressed my palm against my neck, feeling the warmth radiating from the mark. I needed answers, and the only person who could give them to me was gone. I looked around again, but there were no footprints to follow, no sign of where he had gone. Just the forest and the growing morning light.

For the first time, the fact that he had left didn't feel like relief. It felt like a problem. I didn't even know where to begin looking for him.

My phone vibrated inside my pocket, and I pulled it out to see a message from my father. Come home immediately. The elders want to see you.

My stomach dropped. They knew. I stared at the message, my mind racing through the possibilities. Had someone seen me leave the pack? Had Declan told them what happened? Or had someone already noticed the mark?

My hand immediately went back to my neck. I couldn't let them see it, not yet. I didn't even understand what it was myself. I quickly pulled my hair over the side of my neck and started walking.

Every step toward home made me more nervous. The pack had already been waiting to see Declan claim me, and now I was returning without him, carrying the mark of a man nobody knew existed. A stranger had entered my life for one night, and somehow, he had left me with a secret that could change everything.

I didn't know his name. I didn't know where he came from. I didn't know why he had marked me. But I knew I couldn't hide this forever.

The elders were waiting, and whatever happened next, I was going to have to face it.