Chapter 2: The Mark That Wouldn't Break
1804 Words
I didn't run.
Not immediately, anyway.
I stood beneath the darkening sky, staring at the part of the forest where I'd seen those pale eyes.
Nothing moved.
The trees were still. The branches barely shifted in the wind, and whatever had been watching me was gone.
But my wolf hadn't relaxed.
Neither had I.
Kael's words kept circling through my head.
You shouldn't be able to.
What was that supposed to mean?
Why had he looked so frightened when he'd seen my mark?
And why had the Elder looked like she'd seen something she wished she hadn't?
“Elara.”
Mira's voice pulled me back.
I turned around.
She was standing a few steps away, watching me carefully.
“Are you okay?”
For some reason, that almost made me laugh.
Was I okay?
I'd just been rejected by my mate in front of practically the entire pack. Not just any mate, either. The Alpha.
And somehow, that wasn't even the worst part of the night.
“No,” I admitted.
Mira's expression softened.
“I know.”
“I don't think you do.”
She didn't argue.
Instead, she came closer and took my hand.
“Come on. Let's go home.”
I looked toward the forest one more time.
Still nothing.
Maybe I'd imagined the eyes.
Maybe the ceremony had gotten to me.
Except my wolf was still uneasy, and she had never been good at imagining things.
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “Let's go.”
We started walking.
The clearing was already beginning to empty. Families gathered around their newly bonded sons and daughters, talking excitedly about what would happen next.
I kept my eyes down as we passed them.
I didn't need to hear their whispers.
I already knew.
The Alpha rejected her.
Did you see her mark?
The Moon must have made a mistake.
Poor girl.
I hated every single one of them.
Not because they were cruel.
Because they were looking at me like I was broken.
I wasn't broken.
At least, I refused to be.
I lifted my chin and kept walking.
The pack houses were scattered around the forest, their windows glowing warmly against the darkness.
Normally, seeing those lights made me feel safe.
Tonight, they felt like eyes.
Watching.
Judging.
Waiting.
Mira stayed beside me without saying anything.
She knew better than to fill the silence.
When we reached my house, Mira stopped at the bottom of the steps.
“Do you want me to stay?”
I looked at her.
For a moment, I wanted to say yes.
I wanted someone beside me.
Someone who could tell me that the last few hours had been a nightmare and that everything would look different in the morning.
But I knew that wasn't true.
“I'll be okay.”
Mira gave me a look.
“You don't have to pretend with me.”
“I know.”
“Then don't.”
I smiled faintly.
“I'll call you if I need you.”
“You'd better.”
She squeezed my hand before turning around.
I watched her walk away until she disappeared around the corner.
Then I faced my house.
The windows were dark.
That was strange.
My mother usually waited for me after the ceremony. She'd been talking about my eighteenth birthday for weeks.
“Mom?”
Nothing.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside.
The house was completely dark.
“Mom?”
Still nothing.
I switched on the lamp.
The living room was empty.
I checked the kitchen. Nothing.
Her bedroom. Empty.
My stomach tightened.
She couldn't have gone far.
At least, that's what I told myself.
I returned to the living room and noticed something sitting on the table.
An envelope.
My name was written across the front.
ELARA
I stopped.
The handwriting looked like my mother's.
I picked it up.
There was no seal. No address. Nothing else written on it.
Just my name.
I opened it carefully.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
I unfolded it.
Four words were written across the page.
Do not trust the Alpha.
I read it once.
Then again.
My fingers went cold.
“No.”
The paper slipped from my hand.
My mother wouldn't write that.
She had always respected Kael.
So why would she leave me this?
And where was she?
A noise came from outside.
A branch snapping.
I looked toward the window.
The curtains were closed.
For several seconds, I didn't move.
Then I slowly walked over and pulled one side open.
Nothing.
Only the forest.
Dark trees.
Moonlight.
Shadows.
I let out the breath I'd been holding.
Maybe I was becoming paranoid.
Then I saw something move.
A shadow stood between two trees.
Tall.
Completely still.
I stopped breathing.
It wasn't an animal.
It was too tall.
Too still.
I blinked.
The shadow was gone.
My wolf growled softly inside me.
This time, it wasn't fear.
It was a warning.
Elara.
I swallowed.
“What?”
We're not alone.
I stepped away from the window.
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went out.
The darkness swallowed the room.
A cold breeze moved across my skin.
Then I heard it.
A voice.
Right outside my bedroom window.
“Elara.”
My entire body went rigid.
“Elara…”
I backed away from the window.
Something struck the outside wall.
Hard.
My wolf surged forward.
My senses sharpened almost instantly.
I could hear the wind moving through the trees.
And another heartbeat.
Close.
Far too close.
Someone was standing outside my house.
Eventually, the lights came back on.
I ran to the front door and locked it.
Then the back door.
Then every window I could reach.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
My eyes dropped to my wrist.
The mark was still glowing.
Except it had changed.
The silver lines that had looked like small cracks earlier had spread farther across my skin.
They almost looked like branches now.
I reached out and touched one.
Pain shot through my arm.
I gasped.
The room disappeared.
Suddenly, I was standing in a forest.
But it wasn't my forest.
The trees were enormous, their branches twisting high above me.
Above the trees hung a red Moon.
A woman stood several feet away.
She wore white.
Her eyes were silver.
I knew who she was.
The Moon Goddess.
She looked directly at me.
Then she spoke.
Her voice came from everywhere.
“You were never supposed to find him.”
I tried to move.
I couldn't.
She raised one hand.
A thin silver thread appeared between her fingers.
It stretched past me.
I turned.
Kael stood behind me.
Blood covered his shirt.
His eyes glowed silver.
There was no anger in his face.
No hatred.
Only grief.
The Moon Goddess looked at him.
Then back at me.
“The bond was altered.”
The silver thread snapped.
Everything around me shattered.
I screamed.
And suddenly I was back in my living room.
I collapsed onto the floor.
The vision was gone.
But her words remained.
The bond was altered.
I looked at my wrist.
The mark was burning.
Then—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I froze.
Someone was at the front door.
“Who is it?”
No answer.
Another knock.
Harder this time.
Then I heard a familiar voice.
“Elara.”
Kael.
I opened the door halfway.
He stood on the porch alone.
His expression was difficult to read.
“What are you doing here?”
His eyes immediately dropped to my wrist.
He went completely still.
The color drained from his face.
“Where did you get that?”
“It appeared tonight.”
He took a step closer.
I stepped back.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
Then I held up the note.
His eyes narrowed.
“Where did you get that?”
“It was on my table.”
“Who left it?”
“I don't know.”
He took a slow breath.
“Elara, listen to me.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“You need to leave this territory.”
“You already told me that.”
“I mean tonight.”
“Why?”
He glanced over his shoulder toward the forest.
Then he looked back at me.
“They're looking for you.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
“Kael.”
His eyes met mine.
“People who believe you shouldn't exist.”
A chill ran through me.
“What does that mean?”
His gaze returned to my wrist.
“Your mother never told you?”
“My mother isn't here.”
His expression changed.
“What?”
“She disappeared.”
For the first time, Kael looked genuinely shocked.
“When?”
“Before I came home.”
He stepped closer.
“Did she leave anything?”
I hesitated.
Then I handed him the note.
He read it.
His face hardened.
“Where's the rest?”
“There isn't any.”
He folded the paper and gave it back.
Then he said something that made my stomach drop.
“Your mother knew this day would come.”
I stared at him.
“How do you know that?”
He said nothing.
“You knew her?”
“Elara...”
“You knew my mother?”
He looked away.
That was answer enough.
“What happened to her?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
His eyes snapped back to mine.
“How can you tell?”
I frowned.
“What?”
Instead, he looked at my wrist again.
“The mark…”
“What about it?”
His voice dropped.
“It doesn't just reveal your mate.”
My stomach twisted.
“Then what does it reveal?”
He didn't answer.
He stepped backward.
“You have until sunrise.”
“For what?”
“To leave.”
“And if I don't?”
His expression darkened.
“Then they'll come for you.”
“Who are they?”
He turned toward the forest.
Then he looked back.
His eyes met mine.
And for the first time, I saw something I hadn't seen in him before.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for me.
“Ask your mother why she lied about your birth.”
Then he walked away.
I stayed in the doorway, watching until the darkness swallowed him.
My mother's disappearance.
The strange mark.
The impossible bond.
The Moon Goddess.
Kael's rejection.
And now a lie about my birth.
Everything I'd ever known about myself suddenly felt less certain.
I closed the door and locked it.
Then I looked down at my wrist.
The silver mark pulsed once.
My wolf was silent for a long time.
Then, so quietly I almost wondered if I'd imagined it, she whispered:
We aren't who they told us we were.
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