UNKNOWINGLY MARKED THE ALPHA

CHAPTER TWELVE

MEADOW’S POV.

“Dot!” I hurried after Dorothy as she walked calmly down the hallway toward her bedroom like she had not just ruined my entire life out there.

The moment we entered her room, I quickly shut the door behind us and turned toward her.

“What was that out there?” I whisper-yelled.

Dorothy barely reacted. She simply moved deeper into the room, adjusting bottles and dried herbs sitting across her wooden table like this was a completely normal evening.

“What are you talking about?” she asked calmly.

I stared at her in disbelief.

“You told Alpha Killian everything!”

Dorothy finally glanced at me over her shoulder.

“You asked me to speak to him about the mark, didn’t you?”

I shook my head. “That is not the point, and you know it!”

“I simply told him the truth,” she said.

I shook my head immediately.

“No, you didn’t,” I argued. “You told him things you were never supposed to tell him. Things that don’t even concern him, Dorothy.”

Dorothy sighed softly before picking up another small jar.

“That secret was never going to stay hidden forever, Meadow. Not with what you’ve done. The moment your path crossed with his and you marked him, a change was triggered.”

“That doesn’t mean you had to expose it yourself!” I said.

She finally turned toward me fully.

“And what exactly would you have preferred?” she asked calmly. “For him to drag you across the territory borders without understanding why you were collapsing? Why you were dying?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it again.

“That’s not what I mean,” I muttered.

Dorothy watched me quietly for a second before speaking again.

“You also accused me of lying.”

“Because you were,” I said immediately. “You can help with the mark, Dot. I know you can.”

Dorothy’s expression did not change.

“No, Meadow. I cannot.”

“Yes, you can.”

Her gaze softened slightly, but she still shook her head.

“I am thirty-five years old,” she said calmly. “Among witches, that is still considered young.”

I crossed my arms tightly over my chest.

“That doesn’t make you inexperienced.”

“The magic tied to mate marks is ancient,” Dorothy continued. “Far older than anything I have studied deeply myself.”

I frowned stubbornly.

“You trained under my grandmother.”

“And your grandmother knew far more than I do.”

“She used to say you were the fastest learner she ever had,” I argued. “She trusted you with everything.”

At that, Dorothy gave a small dismissive wave of her hand.

“Your grandmother, Ophelia, was too kind, Meadow,” she replied lightly. “She exaggerated my abilities.”

“No,” I said quietly. “She didn’t.”

Dorothy looked away again.

And that was when I knew.

Deep down, I already understood what this was really about.

This had never been completely about the mark.

Dorothy was doing this on purpose.

Not because she could not help.

Because she wanted me out of Hollow Mountain by any means necessary.

The realization settled heavily inside my chest.

For months now, Dorothy had watched Lucian and Clarissa slowly destroy me piece by piece.

The betrayal. The broken mate bond. The constant emotional backlash. The pain every single night whenever Lucian strengthened his connection to Clarissa, whenever they became intimate with each other.

Dorothy knew what it was doing to my wolf.

What it was doing to me.

If it continued much longer…

I might not survive it.

And Dorothy knew that too.

“You’re trying to get me out of the pack,” I said softly.

For the first time since the conversation started, Dorothy completely stopped moving.

Silence filled the room.

Then slowly, she sighed and turned toward me.

“I will not stand by with folded arms while Alpha Lucian, your sister, and your stepmother destroy your life, Meadow.”

The quiet firmness in her voice made my chest tighten painfully.

Dorothy stepped closer.

“You are dying here,” she said bluntly. “Your wolf is weakening every single day.”

I immediately looked away.

“Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But little by little, they are breaking both you and your wolf.”

My throat tightened.

Part of me wanted to deny it. Wanted to argue.

But I couldn’t.

Because every single night, I felt it.

The pain. The emptiness. The damage spreading deeper through the bond.

Sometimes it became hard to breathe afterward.

Sometimes my wolf stayed silent for hours.

Sometimes I honestly wondered how much more of it I could survive.

Dorothy’s expression softened slightly as she watched me.

“I needed a way to break the Alpha command binding you to this territory,” she admitted quietly.

I looked back at her sharply.

“And now one has appeared.”

My eyes widened slowly.

“You’re using Alpha Killian.”

Dorothy did not even try to deny it.

“Yes.”

I stared at her.

“Dot—”

“He is of royal blood, Meadow. He is strong enough to override Lucian’s command,” she continued calmly. “If he breaks it, you will finally be free to leave this place.”

I immediately shook my head.

“You don’t know that.”

“I know exactly that.”

Her voice remained calm, but firm.

Then it softened slightly again.

“After that, you can go somewhere far away from Hollow Mountain,” she said quietly. “Somewhere Alpha Lucian and Clarissa can no longer touch your life. I owe this to your grandmother after everything she did for me when she was alive.”

My chest tightened painfully.

Freedom.

The word sounded strange.

Almost unreal.

For so long, I had stopped believing freedom was even possible for me anymore.

I had spent years trapped here through one means or another.

Years pretending I could survive it.

Years trying not to completely fall apart.

And now Dorothy was standing there talking like escape was suddenly real.

But another thought hit me almost immediately.

“You’re talking like I actually have a choice,” I whispered.

Dorothy looked at me carefully.

“You do.”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

“No, I don’t.” I rubbed my forehead tiredly. “You heard him outside, Dot. Alpha Killian barely tolerates me. You saw how he just stood up and walked out without a single word. What makes you think he’ll agree to help me in any way, no matter how desperate he is?”

Dorothy’s expression turned thoughtful.

“Perhaps,” she said slowly. “But he still came after you tonight.”

I frowned instantly.

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“Maybe not,” she replied calmly. “But Alpha Killian does not strike me as the kind of man who wastes his time chasing things he truly does not care about.”

Heat rushed into my face immediately.

“That is not what this is. He came after me because he needs me to get rid of the mark, not for any other reason.”

Dorothy only hummed softly.

I frowned.

“Dot.”

“I am simply making an observation.”

“Well, stop observing.”

A small smile briefly tugged at the corner of her mouth before disappearing again.

Then her expression turned serious.

“What did Clarissa say to you after what she saw?”

For a moment, my thoughts returned to what happened in the woods earlier.

Clarissa had seen everything.

Seen Alpha Killian shirtless. Seen me wearing his shirt. Seen him pinning me against a tree in the middle of the woods at night.

There was absolutely no version of that story that ended well for me.

I sighed and shook my head.

“She didn’t say anything. She just turned around and left.”

I answered honestly, but something about the entire situation still bothered me.

The way Clarissa had reacted…

Of course she looked upset. Clarissa and Eloisa always managed to find fault in anything involving me. That part wasn’t surprising.

But this felt different.

“What is it, Meadow?” Dorothy asked quietly.

I hesitated.

“Clarissa acted strangely when she saw us,” I admitted.

Dorothy frowned slightly. “Strangely how?”

“I don’t really know how to explain it.” I frowned, trying to put the feeling into words. “Alpha Killian is basically a stranger to her, right? She doesn’t know him, and he doesn’t know her. So her reaction shouldn’t have been that intense.”

Dorothy stayed silent, listening carefully.

“But when she looked at us…” I continued slowly, “it felt wrong somehow. Almost like…” I paused again before finally saying it. “Like she had walked in on me with Lucian.”

Dorothy’s expression shifted slightly.

“I mean, that would obviously never happen,” I said quickly. “But if it did, I would understand why Clarissa reacted badly because Lucian is her mate now.”

I slowly shook my head.

“But Alpha Killian?” I whispered. “The way she looked at him… at us… it didn’t feel normal, Dot. It felt personal somehow, in a way I can’t even explain.”