Marked by Four Exiled Alphas

By midnight, Alpha Draven Corvane was supposed to mark me as his mate. At eleven seventeen, I stood barefoot outside his private chamber, listening to another woman whisper his name. For several seconds, I couldn’t breathe. The silver mating pendant in my hand suddenly felt too heavy, as though every hope I had carried for years had been trapped inside that tiny piece of metal. Then she laughed. I knew that laugh. Vaela. My best friend. She was the same woman who had spent an hour arranging my hair for tonight’s ceremony. Earlier, she had pinned tiny silver flowers between my curls while smiling at me through the mirror. “You’re nervous,” Vaela had teased. “I’ve waited my whole life for this,” I had replied. “And by tomorrow morning, everyone will know exactly how much their Alpha loves his Luna.” I had actually blushed. Now humiliation burned beneath my skin. My wolf stirred uneasily inside me, confused by the familiar scents coming through the door. Draven’s scent mixed with Vaela’s, followed by something intimate enough to make my stomach twist. Open the door, my wolf urged. My hand moved toward the handle. Before I touched it, Vaela spoke. “Does Avelyn suspect anything?” I froze. The heartbreak crushing my chest turned into something colder. Fear. Draven answered after a pause. “No.” “You’re sure?” Vaela asked. “She still thinks tonight is only about completing our mating bond.” Only? I stepped closer to the door. Vaela lowered her voice. “I still don’t understand why the Council needs her.” “The mark,” Draven replied. Without thinking, I touched the pale crescent-shaped birthmark above my heart. My mother had always called it a blessing from the Moon Goddess. “What about it?” Vaela asked. “Maerith confirmed it last month. Avelyn carries the bloodline.” “What bloodline?” “Eclipseborn.” The word meant nothing to me, but the way Draven said it made my pulse race. Vaela was quiet for a moment. “And what happens tonight?” “Once Avelyn accepts my permanent mark, the ritual begins.” “What ritual?” “The Council transfers what’s dormant inside her.” “Into you?” “Yes.” The corridor seemed to tilt beneath my feet. I pressed one hand against the stone wall to keep myself standing. Vaela gave a short laugh. “So that’s the real reason you’re marrying her.” My throat tightened. I waited for Draven to deny it. Please. Even after hearing him with another woman, some pathetic part of me still wanted him to say that wasn’t true. I wanted him to say he loved me. He didn’t. “It was decided years ago,” Draven said. The word years hurt more than Vaela’s laughter. How much of our relationship had been real? His promises? His kisses? Every time he pulled me against him because another male had looked at me too long? I had mistaken his jealousy for passion and his possessiveness for love. Maybe he had only been guarding something valuable. Not me. Whatever was inside me. “Does she know?” Vaela asked. “No.” “And you’re going to mark her without telling her?” “She doesn’t need to know.” Pain tightened my throat. My wolf growled inside me, but beneath her anger was grief. She had loved him too. Vaela spoke again. “What happens after the ritual?” “She remains Luna.” “Unless it hurts her.” Draven went silent. Fear crawled slowly through my chest. “Draven?” Vaela pressed. “The Council said she’ll survive.” “Said?” “Enough.” “What if she loses her wolf?” “Vaela.” His voice carried an Alpha warning, but I barely heard it. Lose my wolf? I had walked down this corridor believing the worst thing that could happen tonight was finding my mate with another woman. Now I understood I might have been preparing to walk willingly into a ritual that could destroy part of me. I took one step backward. The mating pendant slipped from my trembling fingers and hit the floor with a sharp metallic sound. The voices inside stopped. My heart slammed against my ribs. “Avelyn?” Draven called. I ran. The chamber door opened behind me. “Avelyn!” I lifted the skirt of my ceremonial gown and raced toward the servants’ stairs. Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to stop. “Avelyn, wait!” Once, hearing Draven call my name had made warmth spread through my chest. Tonight, it filled me with panic. A servant carrying folded sheets stared at me as I rushed downstairs. “Luna?” “Not yet,” I whispered. Maybe never. I pushed through the kitchen and nearly collided with one of Draven’s guards. “Lady Avelyn?” I grabbed a wooden tray from the counter and shoved it into his chest. He stumbled backward with a curse, giving me enough time to run through the rear door. Cold night air struck my face. The Mooncrest estate glowed behind me with hundreds of candles prepared for the ceremony. My ceremony. My humiliation. My sacrifice. I reached the stables and rushed toward my mare. “Avelyn.” I stopped. Draven stood at the entrance. His shirt was only half-buttoned. Seeing him like that sent another wave of shame through me. “Listen to me,” Draven said. “I heard enough.” “You heard part of a conversation.” “The part where you planned to use me?” His jaw tightened. The unfinished mating bond pulled painfully between us, and my wolf whimpered at his scent. Even now, after everything, my body remembered loving him. I hated that most of all. Draven stepped closer. “Come inside.” “No.” “Avelyn.” Alpha authority entered his voice. “Come here.” My knees weakened. For one horrible second, instinct told me to obey him. Then anger burned through the fear. I straightened. “Don’t command me.” Surprise flashed across his face. “You are my mate.” “If I were really your mate, you would have told me the truth.” “This is bigger than us.” I laughed bitterly. “No, Draven. It’s bigger than me because I’m the one you’re willing to sacrifice.” His expression changed. That was all the confirmation I needed. I opened Sable’s stall and climbed onto her back. Draven moved toward me. “If you cross the pack boundary tonight, you won’t be safe.” For years, I had believed his side was the safest place in the world. “I wasn’t safe with you.” Pain flickered across his face, but I no longer trusted myself enough to believe it. “Avelyn, don’t do this.” “Tell Maerith to find another woman to sacrifice.” Draven went pale. I kicked Sable into motion. The forest swallowed us. Behind me, Draven shouted my name, but I never looked back. Minutes later, howls rose through the trees. Mooncrest wolves were following. Fear tightened my chest, and I urged Sable faster. There was only one nearby territory they rarely entered. The Black Veil. The land controlled by three exiled Alpha brothers. Rhaen Veyrick. Kaelor Veyrick. Soren Veyrick. Every child in Mooncrest knew their names. Traitors. Rogues. Dangerous wolves who obeyed no Council. I had been warned my entire life never to cross their boundary. Tonight, danger felt safer than home. The black boundary stones finally appeared ahead, but Sable stopped so suddenly I nearly fell. “Come on,” I whispered. She refused to move. The howls behind us grew closer. I slid from her back and touched her face. “Go home.” Sable nudged my shoulder. “Please.” I slapped her flank gently, and after one last hesitation, she turned and disappeared between the trees. I faced the boundary alone. Then I crossed. The forest changed almost immediately. Everything became silent. No insects. No birds. Nothing except my breathing and the pounding of my heart. I took another step. A growl came from my left. Another answered behind me. A third came from somewhere ahead. Three enormous wolves emerged from the darkness. One black. One silver-gray. One almost white beneath the moonlight. My wolf, frantic only seconds ago, suddenly became still. Not frightened. Listening. The black wolf stepped closer. I backed away, pressing a hand over the crescent mark above my heart. Then a man’s voice came from beyond the trees. Low. Stunned. Almost angry. “Why does she smell like mate?” My heart stopped. The three wolves stared at me. A violent heat tore through the mark above my heart. I screamed and dropped to my knees. Then three male voices spoke at once. “Mate.”