The king’s Mark
520 Words
The crack in the earth sealed almost as quickly as it appeared.
But the silence it left behind?
That lingered.
Ryan’s hands were still on my shoulders.
Too tight.
Too careful.
Like he wasn’t sure if I would break…
or break him.
“Aria,” he said slowly, his voice rough with something dangerously close to restraint. “You need to calm down.”
Calm down.
The words should have irritated me.
Instead…
They slid off something inside me that was suddenly very, very still.
Selene watched the exchange with quiet amusement.
“You feel it now, don’t you?” she said softly.
I didn’t answer.
Because yes.
I did.
The world felt… smaller.
Quieter.
Like everything around me had edges I could suddenly see.
Ryan swallowed hard.
His wolf was unsettled.
I could feel it.
That alone should have terrified me.
Instead
Something dark inside me purred.
Selene took one slow step closer.
Ryan growled low in his chest.
She ignored him completely.
Dangerous woman.
“Your problem,” Selene said gently, her silver eyes locked on mine, “is that you’re still thinking like prey.”
My spine stiffened.
Her voice dropped softer.
Colder.
“But you were never prey, Aria.”
The words slid deep.
Too deep.
My wolf shifted restlessly.
Not in fear.
In agreement.
Ryan’s grip tightened.
“Enough,” he warned.
Selene finally looked at him.
And smiled like she knew something he didn’t.
“You should be very careful, Alpha,” she said mildly.
Ryan’s jaw flexed.
“I don’t take warnings from strangers.”
Selene’s smile widened just slightly.
“Oh,” she said softly.
“You will.”
The temperature in the clearing seemed to drop.
Then Selene’s head tilted slightly.
Like she was listening to something far away.
Her expression changed.
Not fear.
Never fear.
Recognition.
“Well,” she murmured.
“…that didn’t take long.”
Every instinct in Ryan’s body snapped to attention.
“What didn’t
Selene looked back at me.
And for the first time…
I saw something that wasn’t manipulation.
It was calculation.
Careful.
Measured.
Almost… impressed
“He knows,” she said quietly.
A cold weight dropped into my stomach.
Ryan went deadly still.
“Who knows?”
Selene’s silver eyes gleamed.
“The one who has been waiting for her to wake up.”
The forest went silent again.
But this time
It didn’t feel empty.
It felt watched.
Selene took one slow step back into the shadows.
Retreating.
On purpose.
“Tick tock, little apex,” she said softly.
Then her gaze sharpened.
“And when the king comes…”
Her smile turned razor thin.
“…pray he wants to keep you.”
And then
She disappeared.
Gone.
Like she had never been there at all.
The silence she left behind was suffocating.
Ryan turned to me slowly.
Too slowly.
His voice was no longer steady.
“Aria…”
My heart was pounding now.
Hard.
Uneven.
Because deep in my bones…
Something ancient had just stirred.
And far beyond our pack lands…
Far beyond the forest…
A king had just lifted his head.
- Writer
