The Alpha Who Marked the Wrong Sister

Chapter 2: The Aftermath

The moment Kael’s fangs left her skin, the clearing erupted.

Voices rose in shocked disbelief. Growls rumbled from several males. Someone shouted her name. Someone else shouted Selene’s. The air itself felt heavier, thick with the scent of confusion, anger, and the unmistakable claim that now marked Lyra as the Alpha’s.

Lyra’s legs still refused to hold her properly. She would have collapsed if Kael’s arm hadn’t remained locked around her waist like a steel band. His body was burning hot against hers, his breathing rough near her ear. The fresh mark on her neck throbbed in time with her racing heartbeat, sending strange sparks of heat down her spine every few seconds.

She couldn’t look at anyone. Least of all him.

“Kael!” Selene’s voice cracked through the noise, sharp and broken. “What have you done?!”

Kael finally lifted his head. His gray eyes were still dark with his wolf, but something colder and more human was beginning to return. He looked at Selene for the first time since the marking, and the expression on his face was unreadable.

“It is done,” he said, his voice low and final.

“Done?” Selene’s laugh was high and hysterical. Tears already glittered in her eyes, but they looked more like fury than sorrow. “You were supposed to mark *me*! We’ve been promised for years! Everyone knows it!”

Several pack members murmured in agreement. Lyra felt their stares burning into her back like physical heat. She wanted to shrink into herself, to disappear. This was never supposed to happen. She had prepared herself to watch the man she loved claim her sister. She had not prepared herself to become the center of this disaster.

Kael’s arm tightened around her almost imperceptibly.

“My wolf chose,” he said, still looking at Selene. “The bond is formed. It cannot be undone.”

“Then force it!” Selene stepped forward, her crimson dress swirling around her legs. “Reject her! You can still reject the bond and mark me instead. She’s nothing—she’s always been nothing!”

The words landed like a slap. Lyra flinched.

Kael’s growl was soft but dangerous enough that several wolves nearest to them took a step back. “Watch your tongue, Selene.”

“Or what?” Selene’s beautiful face twisted. “You’ll protect *her* now? The quiet little shadow who spends her days in the forest instead of learning how to be a proper Luna?” Her blue eyes locked onto Lyra with pure venom. “You must have done something. Some kind of trick. There’s no other explanation.”

Lyra finally found her voice. It came out quieter than she wanted. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Liar.”

Kael moved so fast that Lyra barely registered it. One second he was holding her; the next he had placed himself slightly in front of her, his large body blocking Selene’s view. The air around him crackled with dominant energy.

“Enough.” His voice carried the full weight of the Alpha command. “The ceremony is over. The mark has been given. Lyra is under my protection from this moment forward.”

The pack fell into an uneasy silence.

Selene stared at him as if he had grown a second head. Then her expression crumpled into something ugly and broken. Without another word, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the clearing, her golden hair flying behind her like a banner of rage. A few of her closest friends hurried after her.

Lyra’s mother stood frozen near the edge of the crowd, one hand covering her mouth. Her father looked pale. Neither of them moved toward her.

Kael turned his head just enough to look down at Lyra. His eyes were still too intense, too dark. When he spoke, his voice was quieter, meant only for her.

“Can you walk?”

She nodded, even though she wasn’t entirely sure. Her legs felt weak and her neck still pulsed with the strange new heat of the mark.

Kael didn’t wait for a more convincing answer. He kept one arm firmly around her waist and began guiding her out of the clearing. The crowd parted automatically. No one dared block the Alpha’s path, even when the path he took was the last one anyone expected.

They walked in silence through the trees. The further they got from the ceremony grounds, the louder Lyra’s thoughts became. The mate bond hummed between them like a living thing. She could feel echoes of his emotions—anger, confusion, and something darker and more possessive that made her stomach twist.

She had dreamed of being close to him for years. She had never imagined it would feel like this: tense, heavy, and completely out of her control.

When the large Alpha house came into view, Lyra’s steps slowed.

Kael noticed immediately. “You will stay here from now on.”

Her head snapped up. “What?”

“The mark is fresh. The bond is unstable. You need to be close until it settles.” His tone left no room for argument. “Your old room in your parents’ house is no longer safe. Too many people are angry tonight.”

Lyra’s heart sank. Staying under the same roof as him felt both like a dream and a nightmare.

“I don’t want to cause more trouble,” she said quietly.

Kael stopped walking and turned to face her fully. The moonlight caught the sharp lines of his face and the lingering red on his lower lip from her blood. For a moment, something almost like regret flickered across his features.

“You already did,” he said, voice rough. “The moment my wolf decided you were mine.”

He reached up and brushed his thumb lightly over the edge of the mark on her neck. The simple touch sent a jolt of heat straight through her body. Lyra’s breath hitched.

Kael’s eyes darkened at her reaction. He pulled his hand back as if the contact had burned him too.

“Come,” he said, turning toward the house again. “I’ll show you to your room.”

Lyra followed him up the stone steps, her mind spinning. Behind them, the pack was still reeling. Ahead of her waited a future she had never dared to want—and one that already felt like it might destroy her.

As the heavy front door closed behind them, shutting out the night and the whispers, one truth settled deep in her bones:

Nothing would ever be the same again.