UNKNOWINGLY MARKED THE ALPHA

CHAPTER FIVE

KILLIAN'S POV.

I walked away from that place without looking back.

My jaw was locked so tightly it ached. Rage moved beneath my skin like fire—hot, sharp, restless. Every step I took echoed through the hallway, but nothing quieted the storm inside me.

Because I knew what I had seen.

At first, I told myself it was only resemblance.

A woman with the same face.

Someone unlucky enough to resemble a memory I had buried long ago.

But deep down, I knew the truth.

It was her.

The woman from three years ago.

The woman who had rejected me before I had even learned her name.

My hands curled into fists at my sides.

I remembered that night with brutal clarity. The moon had been high. The wind had been cold. I had stood before the female fate had chosen for me, expecting confusion perhaps, maybe hesitation.

Instead, I received contempt.

She had looked me in the eye and told me she already had her life planned out.

And I was not part of it.

She wanted status.

Power.

A title.

All things she believed I could not give her.

She wanted to be Luna of her pack, mate to her Alpha.

So she rejected the bond before it had even begun.

Ares stirred inside me, his growl low and vicious.

"She disgusts me."

I said nothing.

"She should never have stood before us again."

“Enough,” I muttered under my breath as I turned into the main corridor.

My wolf was no gentler than I was. If anything, he hated betrayal more deeply.

Seeing her again had torn open an old scar I had no interest in touching.

Not because I wanted her.

Not because I cared where she was now.

But because some betrayals left poison behind long after they ended.

And there she had been.

Standing beside Alpha Lucian as if she belonged there.

Smiling.

Breathing.

Existing in the same space as me again.

Ares snarled.

"You should have exposed her."

I shook my head. “No.”

"You should have told them what she is."

“I said no. Let it go.”

My voice came out colder than the walls around me.

The truth was simple.

I had left because staying would have ended badly.

Not for me, for them.

The moment I recognized her my temper had snapped tight as wire. Another second in that place and I might have humiliated her in front of everyone.

Or worse, humiliated myself by reacting at all.

That was not why I had come here.

I had not crossed half the lands to see a ghost from my past.

I came for answers.

For the unknown female who had marked me six months ago and vanished before I could even understand what happened.

Instead, I had found two women tied to unfinished business.

One from my past.

One who had become my present problem.

My fingers brushed the side of my neck unconsciously.

Even now, I could feel the faint pull of the mark.

So she was an omega.

I had seen the way she dropped to her knees the moment Leander arrived. The fear in her scent. The submission forced into her body.

That was all the proof I needed.

I had been marked by an omega.

My goddess.

I raked a hand through my hair.

The little omega had looked terrified when she saw the mark was still there.

Good.

She should be.

She had sunk her teeth into the neck of an Alpha and disappeared like smoke.

No one did that to me and simply walked away.

Footsteps sounded behind me, dragging me from my thoughts.

“Killian.”

Leander.

I entered the receiving room and stopped near the fireplace. Flames crackled softly, filling the silence. I inhaled once, slow and steady, forcing my temper back into chains.

A moment later, my brother stepped inside.

Leander studied me the way he always did when he knew I was hiding something.

“What was that about?”

I walked to the side table where a decanter sat untouched. I poured a drink, lifted the glass, and swallowed it in one burn.

“Nothing.”

One dark brow lifted.

“You nearly shook the entire place with your temper.”

I set the empty glass down harder than I intended.

“It is nothing, Leander. Forget it.”

He crossed his arms.

Leander was gentler than most men, calmer than nearly everyone, and annoyingly patient when he wanted answers.

For several long seconds, he simply watched me.

Then he sighed.

“Fine.”

He did not believe me.

I did not care.

I loosened the cuffs of my sleeves and turned away.

“Have you found the boy we came for?”

Leander let the matter drop, though only for now.

“One of their guards is about to take me to him.”

I gave a short nod.

“Good.”

The entire reason for this visit was Ethan—a young boy believed to have clues about the missing couple Leander had been searching for for weeks. My brother insisted on coming personally because of how much they mean to him. The couple who took him in the first time he ended up in Moonveil after an accident with no memory of who he was. A couple who has become much like his parents.

I had only joined him because I had my own trail to follow.

I had been half-conscious in that hospital bed weeks ago, but I remembered enough. I remembered overhearing Leander mention a witch in Hollow Mountain.

And a ward who gathered herbs for her.

That caught my attention immediately.

The omega.

I had known nothing about her then, but I remembered the basket she carried that night.

Moonflowers.

Witch plants.

So I came with Leander.

I intended to find the female who had accidentally marked me and force a solution out of whoever could give one, because I refuse to carry the mark of any female. I didn't want mate and I refuse to have one forced on me because of one single, tiny mistake.

Now that trail had become far more complicated.

Leander tilted his head.

“Do you want to come with me?”

I grabbed the jacket I had thrown over a nearby chair.

“No.”

The word came out colder than intended.

“I am tired from the journey. I would rather rest.”

Leander’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He knew I was lying.

I was not tired.

I was furious.

And if I saw either of those women again too soon, my control might not hold.

Still, he only nodded.

“As you wish.”

Silence settled between us.

Then Ares spoke again.

"The omega is unmarked."

“I know.”

"She trembled when you touched her."

“She should have.”

"Yet she spoke back."

That made my jaw tighten.

She had.

Even frightened, she had still snapped at me.

There had been fear in her scent.

But pride too.

Defiance.

I could still hear her voice.

"If I wanted a royal problem, I would have asked for one."

A small, humorless smile nearly touched my mouth.

Bold little creature.

She had no idea what she had done.

No idea what she had involved herself in.

Until I found a way to remove the mark from my neck, she would remain my problem.

And I did not like loose ends.

Leander noticed the expression.

“What is amusing?”

“Nothing.” I answered.

He snorted.

“You are in a strange mood tonight.”

“You noticed?”

Before he could answer, footsteps approached outside the room.

Then Ron entered with two guards behind him.

The man wore an eager smile that failed to hide his nerves. His scent was sour with anxiety.

He bowed quickly.

“Your Majesties. Your guest rooms have been prepared.”

I said nothing.

Ron rushed on.

“You may freshen up first. After that, I will personally send someone to escort His Majesty to Ethan.”

Leander answered with calm politeness.

“Thank you.”

Ron turned to me, perhaps waiting for praise.

Unfortunate for him, I was not Leander.

I looked through him as if he were furniture.

His smile faltered.

Good.

Men like Ron enjoyed power only when it stood beneath them.

Before true power, they bent.

Leander moved toward the door.

“I will change first, then go.”

Ron bowed again.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

I started toward the opposite hallway.

Ron stepped aside quickly to clear my path.

Wise choice.

As I passed him, I caught another scent lingering faintly in the air.

Soap.

Fresh linen.

Wildflowers.

Her.

The omega.

My steps slowed for half a second.

Then continued.

Because I refused to be distracted.

Yet no matter how far I walked, my mind returned to the same two faces.

One female I wished had stayed buried in the past where she belongs.

And one female foolish enough to mark me... then run. And somehow they were both in the same pack. I sighed, shaking my head.

The moon goddess must think this is funny.