Claimed By The Packless Alpha

02 What The Hell? 2

Sienna’s POV

I stumbled back from the mirror, one hand flying to my neck, the other gripping the sink. My knees went weak. My breathing stopped making sense. It was there. On my neck. A claim mark. Deep. Clear. Fresh. Not a love bite. Not a bruise. Not one of those marks a turtleneck and confidence could hide. A real claim mark. Alpha teeth.

My stomach twisted violently. I bent over the sink and threw up. For a while, I stayed like that, shaking over the sink, tears already burning my eyes. This was not happening. This could not be happening. One night. One stupid night.

One fun, reckless, foolish night had turned into the end of my life. The arsehole had claimed me. Kael had claimed me.

I slid down to the bathroom floor, still clutching the towel around my body. The tiles were cold beneath me, but I barely felt them.

“Nyla,” I whispered.

Silence.

“Nyla, help me out here.”

My wolf took one long breath in my head. ‘Before I answer, do you want comfort or truth?’ Nyla asked.

I closed my eyes. “Comfort.”

‘Wrong wolf,’ Nyla replied.

I groaned.

‘It must have happened in the heat of passion,’ Nyla said. ‘We were drunk last night. Very drunk. The kind of drunk where even our ancestors probably looked away.’

“This is not funny,” I snapped.

‘I know. That is why I am making jokes. If I don’t, you will start screaming again, and frankly, my ears are inside your head,’ Nyla replied.

I pressed my hand over the mark and shuddered. “How did this happen?”

‘Well, when a reckless woman and a dangerous Alpha wolf drink too much and start rubbing against each other in a club...’ Nyla began.

“Nyla!”

‘Fine. I warned you to stop drinking,’ Nyla said.

“You always warn me.”

‘And yet here we are, wearing another man’s dental record on our neck,’ Nyla replied.

My eyes filled again. “How am I going to hide this?”

Nyla went quiet for a heartbeat. Then she said softly, ‘We cannot hide it, Sienna.’

My chest tightened. “No. Don’t say that.”

‘I have to say it. That is not a normal mark. It is a claim. His scent is in us now. Strong wolves will know,’ Nyla replied.

I shook my head even though she could not see me. “No. Makeup. A scarf. A high collar. I can cover it.”

‘You can cover the bite. You cannot cover the bond. Unless you plan to drown yourself in perfume until everyone in Silverlake goes blind,’ Nyla said.

“Do not tempt me.”

‘Even then, Nolan might still smell him. Darius definitely will,’ Nyla replied.

Darius. The name hit me like a slap. My joining was next week. Next week. I was supposed to stand before the pack beside Alpha Darius Hale. I was supposed to become his Luna. I was supposed to give my father the status he had been dreaming of. And now another Alpha had marked me. My breath began to shake.

“Why would he do this to us?” I asked, anger rising through the fear.

‘I do not know,’ Nyla answered. ‘But we need to think fast. Darius will reject us when he sees this, and Gideon will be mad.’

I let out a broken laugh. “Mad? Nyla, Father gets mad when the gardener trims the hedge wrong. This will send him straight into madness.”

‘That is why I said mad. I was being polite,’ Nyla replied.

I leaned my head back against the bathroom cabinet. “What if I get a tattoo?”

‘On your neck?’ Nyla asked.

“Yes.”

‘Over an Alpha claim?’ Nyla asked.

“Yes.”

‘Excellent. Then we can add stupid artwork to the stupid decision,’ Nyla replied.

“Nyla.”

‘It would look like an act of defiance against the joining,’ she said. ‘And you know it. Everyone would ask why you suddenly tattooed the exact place an Alpha bites his mate.’

I covered my face with my hands. “But Darius won’t reject us,” I said, even though the words sounded weak.

Nyla said nothing. That silence terrified me.

“What?” I asked. “Say something.”

‘You do not want me to,’ Nyla replied.

“I asked.”

‘Fine. He will reject us,’ Nyla said.

My throat tightened.

‘Maybe not because he wants to,’ she continued. ‘Maybe not because he hates us. But politically? Publicly? As Alpha? He cannot take a woman claimed by another Alpha unless he kills that Alpha or challenges him. And we do not even know Kael’s last name.’

I looked back at the mirror, at the mark ruining my neck. I felt robbed. Stolen. Cheated. Ruined.

Nyla softened a little. ‘I know you are scared.’

“I am not scared,” I lied.

‘Sienna, your knees are shaking so badly I am surprised the tiles have not filed a complaint,’ Nyla replied.

I wiped my face angrily. “I hate him.”

‘That is fair,’ Nyla replied.

“I hate myself too.”

‘That is less useful,’ Nyla said.

I forced myself to stand. My legs almost failed me, but I gripped the sink and held on. I stared at the mark one last time, then turned away quickly before I started screaming again. I rushed to my room and pulled on jeans and a thick turtleneck sweatshirt. I dragged the collar high, covering my neck. Then I sprayed perfume on myself. Too much perfume. Enough perfume to make flowers jealous.

‘If we die from fumes, I am blaming you,’ Nyla muttered.

“Shut up and help me think.”

‘Find him,’ she said immediately.

I paused. That was the first thing she had said all morning that made sense. Find Kael. Find him and demand answers. Maybe he knew how to undo it. Maybe this was some mistake. Maybe he would explain why he had claimed me. I grabbed my bag and ran out of the house.

The journey back to Moonfall Motel felt longer than it had any right to be. My whole body shook in the taxi. My mind kept playing every possible disaster. My father’s rage. Nolan’s disappointment. Darius’s disgust.

The pack whispering. There she goes. Gamma Gideon’s daughter. Claimed by a stranger before her joining. Ruined. Used. Rejected.

I pressed my hand to my covered neck and swallowed the cry trying to climb out of me. When I got to Moonfall Motel, I rushed to the room. It was empty. The bed had been straightened badly. His scent was still there, faint but present. Kael was gone.

My eyes flew to the table. The paper was still there. My number. My name. My stupid lipstick mark. Untouched. He had not taken it. He had not even bothered to pick it up. For some reason, that broke me harder.

The bastard had claimed me but did not want my number. Was I that forgettable? Was I just a random girl to him? Did he go around claiming women and disappearing like some sick serial claimer?

‘Serial claimer sounds like a crime documentary,’ Nyla muttered.

“Not now,” I whispered.

‘Sorry,’ Nyla replied.

I sat on the edge of the bed and started to cry. I cried so hard my chest hurt. I cried because I was scared. I cried because I was angry. I cried because no matter how reckless I had been, I did not deserve this.

I cried because the man who had ruined my life had walked away from it like it was nothing. He had used protection. That meant he did not want anything permanent tying us together. So why claim me? Why leave his mark on my neck? Why make me his when he did not even want to call?

I returned home like a ghost. I went straight to my room, locked the door, and sat on the floor. My body felt heavy. My heart felt worse.

Everything I had been running from had finally caught me. My family. The joining. The lies. My father’s expectations. The fake innocence. The sneaking around. All of it had collapsed on me because of one night with a man whose last name I did not even know.

I buried my face in my hands. “I have to come clean eventually,” I whispered.

‘Yes,’ Nyla said.

“Darius will reject me.”

‘Most likely,’ Nyla replied.

“My father will kill me.”

‘He may shout first,’ Nyla said.

“That is not comforting.”

‘I told you. Wrong wolf,’ Nyla replied.

I laughed once, but it broke into a sob. No one would want me after this. Not Darius. Not any proper wolf. Not any respectable family. I was claimed by a stranger. Marked by an Alpha I could not find. And the worst part was that a tiny, stupid part of me still remembered how handsome he looked sleeping beside me. I hated that part. I hated him more.

“Why would Kael, if that is even his real name, claim me without my consent?” I whispered.

Nyla was quiet for a moment. Then she said, ‘I am sure it was not by force.’

My head snapped up. “Nyla.”

‘I am not defending him. I am defending the truth. We were drunk. You were not exactly sitting in a corner reading scripture last night,’ Nyla replied.

“I said shut up.”

‘Fine. But when we are done crying, we need a plan,’ Nyla said.

I hugged my knees to my chest and stared at nothing. A plan. Yes. I needed a plan. Because my life had just been destroyed. And no amount of perfume was going to save me now.