The Forceful Mark

I snapped my eyes open. The heavy pull of sleep shattered, leaving me staring at the ceiling of the dark infirmary. The mysterious, woodsy scent of the stranger still clung to my skin, a stark contrast to the cold reality sinking into my bones. Outside the window, the bright moon hung in the sky, mocking my pain with its serene beauty. Faint cheers and lively music drifted through the glass. The pack was celebrating. Everyone reveling in the mate the moon goddess had blessed them with, while I lay here, rotting from the inside out because Torin chose power over our bond.

The door handle clicked. I stiffened.

"Anyone awake in here?" Sabrina whispered, stepping into the gloom of the room.

I rolled my eyes. As if the whole pack didn't know I was confined to this sterile bed. I turned my head away, ignoring her pitying stare.

"Cassia..." She shifted her weight, the silence stretching tight between us. She looked at a total loss for what to say. She tried a weak smile, a fragile attempt to pretend the humiliating rejection of the past few hours hadn't happened. I kept my mouth shut. She was part of the crowd that welcomed him back. Part of the pack that watched me shatter into pieces.

"I'll leave you to rest," Sabrina mumbled, finally taking the hint that I wanted nothing to do with her. The door shut behind her.

I waited a beat. I threw the thin blanket off my legs. I needed out. The four walls of this room were suffocating me, pressing down on my chest until I couldn't drag in a breath. I swung my legs over the edge, padded over to the open window, and climbed onto the sill. I didn't care about the drop. I just jumped.

My bare feet hit the cool grass. I sprinted. I had no destination in mind, just an overwhelming need to put distance between myself and the pitying gossip of the pack. I bypassed the main grounds, sticking to the shadows, my legs carrying me on autopilot toward the one place I always felt safe. The secluded pond at the edge of the territory. My sanctuary. Our private spot.

The trees parted, revealing the familiar clearing bathed in silver moonlight. I slowed my frantic pace, desperate to sink onto the soft earth and just breathe. But a silhouette ruined the view.

Someone was sitting there.

I crept closer, my heart slamming against my ribs. It was Valerie. She was perched right on the flat rock Torin and I used to claim as our own. That spot belonged to us. It was where we used to sit for hours, planning a future that was now dead. An unspoken rule existed in this pack: no one came here. Just him and me.

My jaw clenched. I took a step forward, a territorial growl building in my throat, ready to demand she leave my sight. Then the bushes rustled. Torin stepped out of the tree line.

I froze. The breath hitched in my lungs. He walked right up to Valerie, his posture relaxed, and handed her a small bundle. He murmured something low, and she looked up at him and laughed. The sound echoed across the still water, light and carefree.

A bitter, acidic taste flooded my mouth. He brought her here. He had stripped away my mate bond, and now he was stripping away my memories, handing our sacred space over to the woman who replaced me.

My foot slipped on the damp grass. I stumbled, catching myself on a low branch before I hit the dirt. The rustle of leaves was loud in the quiet clearing. Valerie turned her head toward the sound.

I didn't wait to see if she spotted me. I spun around and ran. I bolted deep into the dense woods, branches whipping my face and thorns tearing at my clothes. I ran until my lungs burned and my legs gave out. I collapsed onto the rough forest floor, curling my knees to my chest. The tears I fought so hard to hold back broke free. I wanted to scream, to tear my own hair out, to wail into the night. But werewolf hearing was too sharp. Even in the middle of nowhere, they would hear my pathetic sobs. I bit down on my own wrist, crying into my own skin until the sheer exhaustion dragged me into a fitful, dreamless sleep.

***

A blinding headache cracked my skull open. I groaned, shielding my eyes from the harsh morning sun piercing through the forest canopy.

"You're up."

The deep voice sent a harsh jolt through my spine. I scrambled backward, my hands scraping against the dirt. Torin stood over me, casting a long, dark shadow. His face was a blank canvas. No guilt. No remorse. Nothing.

"What do you want?" I muttered, forcing myself to stand. I dusted the dead leaves off my pants, refusing to look him in the eye.

"You were near the borders yesterday," he stated, his tone flat and demanding. "Why?"

I scoffed. "Why do you care?"

"You are not to go near pack borders." He took a step closer, his broad chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. His eyes locked onto mine, hard and unyielding.

The sheer audacity of his demand ignited a spark of rage in my chest. "You lost the right to tell me what to do the exact second you rejected me. Why don't you go play in the woods with your little mate and leave me alone."

A dull throb started at the base of my spine, the familiar brutal ache of my dying wolf warning me. I tried to walk past him, desperate to get back before the pain escalated.

Torin shifted, blocking my path. "I am your Alpha. You will do as I say."

I tilted my head, flashing him a bitter smirk. "You aren't mated yet. You haven't completed the ceremony. So you are not fully Alpha."

The shift in him was instantaneous. The emotionless mask shattered. He lunged. Before I could even blink, his large hand clamped around my throat. He lifted me off the ground and shoved me backward, slamming my spine against the thick trunk of an oak tree. The rough bark dug into my skin. All the air punched out of my lungs in a harsh gasp.

I grabbed his thick wrist, my nails digging into his skin, my legs kicking out as I dangled helplessly. He had never laid a hand on me in anger. He had never even raised his voice at me. This violent, possessive monster standing before me was a stranger.

"Now you will listen, and you will listen well," he hissed. His irises bled from deep brown to a piercing, glowing gold. His wolf was right at the surface, feral and unhinged. "You will listen to me. You will obey me. And you will never challenge my authority again."

He tightened his grip. Black spots danced at the edges of my vision.

"Am I understood?" he growled. The sound vibrated right through my chest, terrifying and foreign. "I said, am I understood!"

"Y-yes," I choked out, a pathetic wheeze escaping my lips as panic set in.

He dropped me. I crumpled to the dirt, gasping for air, clutching my bruised throat as I coughed. Torin turned his back, running a hand through his hair as he started to walk away from me.

"Is this your grand plan?" I croaked, the rebellious defiance burning hotter than my fear. My voice was a shredded rasp. "To keep me trapped here forever?"

He stopped dead in his tracks.

"You're weak," I spat, pushing myself onto my hands and knees. "Throwing away what we had for power. It's pathetic. I pity you."

He slowly turned around. His golden eyes locked onto me, practically burning a hole through my skull.

"I will find a second chance mate," I pushed further, aiming to inflict a fraction of the agony he caused me. "I will get out of here. I will find a true mate who actually wants me, and I will be happy. But you? I hope you rot."

He didn't speak. He didn't blink. He crossed the distance between us in a blur of motion. His hand shot out, grabbing my neck in a vice grip. He yanked me up, hauling me flush against his solid chest.

"You're mine," he snarled, his breath hot against my face. "Whether you like it or not."

"You wish," I sneered right back.

Something snapped inside him. A primal, dark fury overtook his features. He didn't shove me away. He didn't yell. Instead, his fingers dug brutally into my windpipe, cutting off my air. I thrashed, scratching at his face, panic surging through my veins as oxygen starvation set in.

Torin shoved my head to the side, exposing my neck. He buried his face in the crook of my shoulder and drove his sharp, elongated canines straight into my flesh.

Agony ripped through my neck. He was biting me. He was tearing into my skin, forcing his venom and his permanent mark into my bloodstream without my consent. The sheer violation and savage pain overloaded my senses. *He marked me.* The realization echoed in the empty cavern of my mind, a horrifying truth that I couldn't escape.

The woods spun around me. My hands fell limp at my sides. The bright morning sun faded, swallowed by a heavy, suffocating blackness as my consciousness slipped away.