Gianna.
I didn’t want to believe it.
Even as the words replayed in my head — He marked us — I kept shaking my head like it was some twisted nightmare I’d have to wake up from. But every time my fingers brushed that tender spot on my neck, the pain reminded me it was real.
Ivan had marked me.
Without asking. Without warning.
Like I was some possession he could just claim.
I paced my room for what felt like forever, fury bubbling under my skin like magma. Then something inside me snapped. I stormed out, the door slamming so hard behind me, it rattled the frame.
His room was two doors down.
I didn’t knock.
I barged in.
Empty.
The bed was neatly made. The faint scent of his cologne lingered in the air — pine, storm, and something dark — but he wasn’t there.
“Coward,” I muttered, f
