Marked By Him

Chapter 4

Maya is sitting on the sofa, biting her nail, moving her leg up and down; Em keeps looking at the mark intensely, like it’ll magically disappear if she does it hard enough and long enough; Killian is pacing the floor restlessly, muttering “When will she here?” under his breath, and checking his watch every few seconds.

When I’m about to tell him to calm down and sit down, he stops abruptly and turns to me. “Rue, what happened?”

“I already told you.”

“No, you showed us the bite mark. How did you end up getting it?” he asks. Everyone then stares at me, waiting for me to answer.

I sink back into the sofa, tired. “I’m tired. I don’t really want to talk about it right now.” Killian opens his mouth to say something, but I push myself to stand up and continue, “I’ll tell you later, okay? Right now, I really want a shower.” I might not have mud all over me, but I can still feel it on my skin.

Killian takes a few seconds to finally nod. “Okay.”

As I make my way up the stairs to my bedroom, I think about how I can avoid having the conversation with Killian. But I know it’s inevitable. It’s a conversation that needs to be had. But not today, though. I’m not ready to talk about it today. Tomorrow, maybe. Not today.

*

I rest my forehead against the shower wall, the stream of hot water loosening my sore muscles. After I turn off the water, I step out, wrap a towel around my body and move to the bathroom mirror. Wiping the steam off it, I stare at the bite mark. It looks worse than it did when I woke up—swollen and red. I sigh. It doesn’t look like it’ll heal anytime soon. I dry myself off and get dressed, and make my way downstairs.

Em is the first to see me when I enter the living room. She frowns. And then she’s in front of me before I can even blink, nosing at my neck. “You reek,” she says.

I frown, sniffing myself. “I just took a shower.”

“You reek of werewolf. An alpha.” Her nose wrinkles, face scrunching.

Killian moves towards us. “Is that bad?” Killian asks, worry in his voice.

“A werewolf’s scent wouldn’t bother me, normally, but she smells so strongly of werewolf—an alpha’s claim.” She raises her hand to touch my neck. “It’s like a repellent to keep other werewolves away. Vampires, even.”

“So, you’re saying the mark is protecting her?” he asks.

She says, “Yeah,” and then her fingers brush against the mark.

As soon as her hand comes in contact with the bite mark, a scream rips out of my throat, leaving my throat raw and sore. Em gasps, pulling her hand away as if she’s been burned. And maybe she is because the mark… It’s on fire. Not literally. But it feels like it. Maybe it is; I don’t know. I bite my lip, stifling the next scream that threatens to come from my throat. My eyes water, blurring my vision. I blink the tears out of my eyes. The burning sensation becomes intense, and I feel the urge to scratch it.

I need it to stop.

It hurts.

I’m vaguely aware of everyone panicking around me, even without having to open my eyes to see it. I hear Killian shouting at someone, but I don’t know who. I hear Maya… screaming? Crying? That is so Maya; she always cries when she sees someone cry. And Em? I think she’s the one picking me up right now, but I can’t be sure. Everything hurts.

“Put her on the bed.” That’s Killian. “Melissa says she’ll be here soon.”

Melissa is our neighbour. She’s a witch in her early thirties who occasionally comes over to check in on us and sometimes invites us to dinner at her house. She’s nice. I like her.

Em, I’m sure now, lays me on top of my bed. I curl myself into a fetal position, crying.

“I’ll go check on Maya,” I hear Em say. “I’ll be back.”

I feel the bed dip, and then there’s a hand on my ankle, massaging. “I’m sorry this happened to you,” Killian says. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”

I want to tell him that it’s not his fault. None of this is his fault. I’m the one who went to the party; I’m the one who thought it would be a good idea to venture into the woods alone. This is my fault—not his. But I can’t tell him any of this because everything hurts so bad. But I make a mental note to tell him when this is all over.

The next thing I know, my bedroom door bursts open. That has to be Melissa. I force my eyes open. Her black hair is a little disheveled, and she’s looking at me with so much worry. I must look like s**t, I can’t help but think. Melissa is in her pajamas. Killian’s call must have woken her up. In her hand is a black bag that houses her spell books and herbs. She taught me how to mix a few herbs in case of emergencies. Melissa is a great witch. She, surely, would know how to get rid of the pain.

She’s on my bed now, inspecting my neck. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Yes,” Killian answers gravelly.

“Well, that’s…” she trails off. “That’s unfortunate.”

Tell me about it.

She touches the mark and I flinch, tears streaming down my face.

“Okay,” she says, unzipping her bag. “I have something here. It’ll help with the pain, for now.”

She takes out a small bottle with some weird symbols on it. She says, “This will sting a little,” then adds, “And it’ll be a little cold too.”

I nod, lower lip between my teeth.

“Okay,” she says, gently applying the medicine on the mark and I cry out in pain. My brother holds my hand, gently squeezing it, but I squeeze harder.

“Hang in there, okay,” he says, his voice breaking. “It’ll be over soon.”

Then the pain dissipates and my muscles loosen, the tension leaving my body. My eyelids are heavy and I yawn. I close my eyes, slowly falling asleep.

“The medicine will make you drowsy,” I hear Melissa say. “Have a rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

*

My eyes flutter open and I blink the world into focus. My room is dark—save for the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling; the lights aren’t turned on. My brain is still foggy from sleep so I lay in bed, staring at nothing. When I feel the fog begin to clear, I look at the clock and it blinks 18:03 p.m. I climb out of bed and stretch my body and then lazily make my way downstairs. The pain is gone now but the mark feels itchy. My fingers twitch, wanting to scratch it, but I refrain from doing so, in fear of it burning again.

I climb from my bed and head to the bathroom. At the bathroom sink, I splash cold water on my face.

I hear muffled voices coming from the living room.

“It’s unheard of,” Melissa says. “A werewolf mating a human? I’ve never heard it happen before.”

I stop in my tracks to listen.

“What do you think will happen?” Killian asks, voice laced with worry.

“There’s no telling what will happen when she completes the bond. It could be dangerous,” Melissa says.

I make my presence known then, clearing my throat.

Melissa and Killian turn to look at me. Melissa has changed out of her pajamas and her hair is neatly tied in a ponytail. My brother looks like s**t. His eyes are puffy and bloodshot, like he’d been crying. The last time I saw my brother cry was three years ago, so it was surprising to see him like this.

“Rue, did you rest well?” Melissa asks.

“Yeah,” I say weakly.

“How’s the mark?” she asks as I sit down on the sofa.

“Itchy.”

She nods in understanding. “It’s to be expected.”

“Where are the others?” I ask no one in particular, but Mel answers, saying: “Emily took Maya home.”

“Were you going to tell me?” Killian asks.

I lower my head, fiddling with my hands. “No.”

Silence.

“Why?” he asks.

“Because I don’t want this,” I say. “I don’t want to be marked.”

“You should have at least told me, Rue.”

“You were gonna force me to do the mating ceremony as soon as I told you about the mark.”

He lowers his gaze. “I’m sorry if that’s what you thought I was going to do. I would never force you to do something, especially the mating ceremony. You, of all people, should know that.”

I avert my eyes from his eyes, hanging my head in shame for thinking such a thing about my brother. “I’m sorry.”

“But, Rue, you do know what happens when you don’t do the mating ceremony, right?” he says, his eyebrows creased with concern.

I laugh bitterly. “I don’t become a werewolf.”

“You die!”

“I’d rather die!”

“You don’t mean that. You don’t mean that,” he says, shaking his head.

“You know what werewolves do to humans. Have you forgotten?” I ask.

“I know that,” he says, “but Rue—”

“There are no buts!” I don’t mean to shout, but Killian is making me really angry right now. “They killed our parents. I am not going to mate one of them, Alpha or not. I don’t care.”

Killian opens his mouth to say something, but Mel speaks before he does.

“You know what needs to happen now, Rue?” Mel chimes in.

I lean back on the sofa and sigh, defeated. “Yeah.”

“We will need to find your mate,” she says and I grimace at the word mate. “The summoning spell will do, but we’ll do that tomorrow when you are well rested, okay?”

“Sure.”

Mel looks at me like she wants to say something but she doesn’t; instead she gets up and says, “Goodnight, Rue.”

“Night, Mel.”

Mel smiles at me as she walks out the living room with Killian behind her. They disappear down the hallway and I let out a sigh.

Tonight was supposed to be our movie night — a tradition Killian and I have had since our parents died, but after today's events I don’t feel like watching a movie and neither does Killian. We are both worn out; so, after dinner we both retire to our bedrooms. I sit on the windowsill, looking out the window, at the moon. I rub my eyes and rest my head on the window, tired.

I want to go out and take a walk, to take my mind off things. But I can’t. Not when werewolves and vampires lurk in the shadows (Em is like the only vampire I know that doesn’t go around draining people’s blood). It would be too dangerous. I don’t want my head ripped off, thank you very much. I look down at the street and that's when I see it: a figure standing in the middle of the street looking at me! I jerk my head back in surprise. There’s no mistaking those red, glowing eyes staring right at me — it is a werewolf, in human form. Although there is a streetlight, it doesn’t cast enough light for me to make out his features. The mark tingles, and then, instinctively, I know who it is.

I blink and he’s gone, like he'd never been there at all. I get up, my body on autopilot, and creep down the stairs and out the front door. I run down the street to where I'd seen him. I try to ignore the disappointment I feel.

It takes me a few seconds to realise that I’m outside at night where vampires can easily drain my f*****g blood. And I’m right because as soon as I turn to run back, a vampire stands in front of me, fangs bared and eyes glowing intensely. I swallow dryly.

Damn it.

There’s no way I’m going to get out of this unscathed — and there’s no one around to help me. Then again, no one would be stupid enough to be out at night, other than me, of course. What the hell was I thinking? It would be futile to run away because no human can outrun a vampire, but my legs have a mind of their own, and I find myself running for my life. f**k, f**k, f**k, I’m going to die.

He’s right in front me before I know it. If I were mated to Mr Big Wolf, I would take him down with ease (he looks like a young vampire) but I’m not. I stumble backwards, almost falling down. He grabs me, slamming me down on the street. I wince at the impact. He holds me down, his fangs ready to drain my blood. I try to push him off of me, but I’m weak, and he’s strong.

“What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here?” He runs his hands down my neck. He falters when he sees the mark. “Interesting,” he says.

“Let go of me, you monster!” I bark at him.

“Feisty, are we?” He smirks. “I like the feisty ones.”

“f**k you.”

“Oh, I'm going to have so much fun with you,” he says as his fangs graze my neck, where there’s no bite mark.

I writhe under him, screaming at him to let me go. He licks my neck, and my face contorts with disgust. His fangs sink into my neck, breaking the skin. I cry out in pain. My body goes limp as I lose blood. The mark burning is last thing I rememberd before darkness consumes me.