Pain and Denial

I woke up to a throbbing ache at the base of my skull. The pain radiated down my neck, a searing heat that felt like burning coals pressed against my skin. I groaned, my eyelids fluttering open against the harsh fluorescent lights of the ceiling.

"Thank the goddess," Sabrina breathed. Her face hovered over mine, etched with worry.

I reached up, my fingers brushing against the side of my neck. A sharp hiss escaped my lips. The skin there burned with an unnatural fire. It was swollen, tender, and pulsing with a venomous ache.

"You shouldn’t touch that," Sabrina warned, pulling my hand away. She cast a nervous glance toward the door.

"What happened?" My voice sounded like crushed gravel. I blinked, letting my vision focus. The trees were gone. The damp earth was gone. I was back in the pack infirmary. The sterile white walls stared back at me, mocking my current reality.

"Torin found you in the woods," Sabrina said, keeping her voice low. "It was a good thing he did. You were knocked out cold. From what he told us, some stranger got to you first. You were forcefully marked."

A bitter, acidic feeling pooled in the pit of my stomach. The phantom sensation of Torin's teeth tearing into my flesh flashed through my mind. His golden eyes. His feral growl.

"He marked me, Brina," I whispered. My voice shook with the pathetic reality of it. I felt violated. Stripped of my choice.

"Cassia!" Sabrina scolded. Her tone shifted instantly, her eyes flashing with a sudden, fierce anger. "You can’t say that! I know you went through a terrible shock out there, but you cannot defame the Alpha’s name that way."

I stared at her. The room seemed to tilt. My best friend stood there, defending the monster who attacked me.

"You really think I would lie?" I forced the words out. I hated how weak I sounded. I lay trapped on this narrow bed, unable to even turn my head without agony spiking through my spine, forced to watch her doubt me. "You really think I would drag his name through the mud for fun?"

A lone tear slipped down my cheek. It hurt to raise my hand to wipe it away. It hurt that the burning in my neck refused to stop, clouding my thoughts. But worst of all, it hurt that Sabrina didn't believe me.

"I don’t think you’re lying, Cas," she softened slightly, though her stance remained defensive. "I just think you were in too much shock to know who it actually was. It’s mating season. A lot of strange wolves are crossing our borders to find their mates. It could have been anyone. Besides, Torin would never lie. Not about something like this."

I almost snorted. Never lie? The irony tasted like ash on my tongue.

"Please leave."

I barely recognized my own voice. It sounded broken. Hollowed out. I hated feeling this vulnerable.

"Cassia..."

"Please, just leave!" I snapped, the sudden burst of energy sending a fresh wave of pain through my neck. "I want to be alone."

I was terrified, and her blind loyalty to him was only suffocating me further.

"I’m sorry," Sabrina murmured. She hesitated, lingering by the edge of the bed as if she wanted to bridge the gap between us. When I didn't look at her, she dropped her gaze. "I’ll... I’ll let you rest."

She slipped out, the door clicking shut behind her.

I lay alone with the deafening silence of the room. Panic gnawed at my chest. Torin had rejected me in front of everyone, chose someone else, and then hunted me down to force his mark on me. What did this mean for my future? A dark part of my mind whispered that I was bound to him now, chained to his side unless I found a way to carve the mark out of my flesh.

I let out a shaky breath. "This was not how this day was supposed to go."

The door swung open.

I didn't need to turn my head to know who stepped over the threshold. My body vibrated. My wolf stirred, recognizing the potent, woodsy scent that flooded the sterile room. The mating bond, now cemented by his bite, reacted to his presence instantly.

"Hey," Torin said. His voice was smooth, betraying none of the malice from the woods. He took slow, cautious steps toward the bed.

I pressed my lips together. I had nothing to say to him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, pulling a chair up and sitting right beside me. He reached out, wrapping his large hand around mine.

I yanked my hand back like I had been burned. I wanted to scream at him, to curse him until my throat bled.

"Don’t!" I hissed as he reached for me again.

"I am worried about you," Torin murmured, his expression a mask of perfect innocence. "When I found you bleeding on the forest floor, I thought—"

"Torin," I cut him off. My chest heaved. If he spun one more lie, I was going to lose my mind. "Please leave."

He didn’t move. He just sat there, staring at me as if I were a puzzle he couldn't figure out.

"Cassia," he sighed, leaning back in the chair. The innocent facade slipped, replaced by the commanding Alpha. "You know I can’t do that."

I bit my lip to keep from screaming. He reached forward again, and this time, his fingers brushed against the raw, swollen flesh of my mark. A traitorous jolt of pleasure shot through my veins at his touch, a sickening side effect of the bond. I hated myself for feeling it.

"You marked me last night, didn't you?" I demanded, though we both knew the truth. "Why did you tell Sabrina some stranger did it?"

"I love you, Cassia," he replied, ignoring my question.

"And yet you paraded another female in front of the pack and chose her as your mate," I shot back. His father’s cruel words echoed in my skull. I wasn't going to let him sweep that humiliation under the rug.

"You’ll understand soon enough."

"Torin," I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to sit up. The proximity to him gave my wolf a sickening burst of energy. "You can reject the bond. You can remove this mark. You know you can."

His eyes darkened. The golden rings around his irises flared with sudden, possessive fury.

"It's not fair," I choked out.

"Enough," his voice dropped an octave, vibrating with Alpha command. "You want to leave me? You think rejecting the bond would be enough?" He threw his head back and let out a dark, mocking laugh. "How do you possibly expect me to let you go?"

The softness in his tone terrified me. It was the same gentle voice he used back when things were simple, back when we were just us. Now, it felt like a trap.

"Then why?" I demanded, tears blurring my vision again. "Why did you do this to us?"

Torin leaned in close. "I didn’t want to tell you this yet, but I’m not going to mate with Valerie. It’s a political alliance. Just for a short while. Once the treaty is solidified, she goes right back to her pack."

He avoided my eyes as he said it. My gut twisted. My rational mind screamed that he was lying, weaving another web to keep me docile. But the mate bond—the naive part of my soul—latched onto his words like a lifeline.

"For real?" I whispered, hating the desperate, pleading tone of my own voice. I was begging him not to lie to me.

"Of course," Torin murmured. He pulled me forward, wrapping his arms around me in a bone-crushing hug. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, rubbing his nose right against the fresh mark.

***

**Sabrina's POV**

Two days. It had been two days since the mating ceremony, and I still hadn't found a moment alone with Silas.

I knew he was my mate. I knew it the second I smelled him that morning. His scent drew me in like a moth to a flame, an intoxicating pull that made my wolf restless and desperate. But I forced myself to hold back. Tradition dictated that he should be the one to approach me, to claim me. I refused to be the desperate female throwing herself at a male who hadn't made a move.

I stood in the pack kitchen, arranging a plate of food for Cassia. I let out a heavy sigh, staring down at the tray. I felt terrible. I hoped she would forgive me for keeping Torin's choice a secret. I just didn't want to break her heart before I had to.

I picked up the tray and turned to leave.

Silas walked through the doorway.

My breath hitched. The air between us cracked with sudden tension. He paused for a fraction of a second, his gaze flicking to me before darting away. He went out of his way to avoid looking at me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, forcing my voice to stay level, playing it cool despite the frantic racing of my heart.

"It’s the pack kitchen," he replied, his tone dismissive. He strode past me, the heat of his body sending a shiver down my spine. He yanked open the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and turned back toward the door.

That was it. No recognition. No spark in his eyes. I stood frozen, watching his broad shoulders and well-sculpted back disappear into the hallway as quickly as he had arrived.

My chest ached. I tried to brush it off, to tell myself he was just busy, but the sting of his indifference burned.

Balancing the tray in my hands, I headed down the corridor toward the infirmary. I needed to see Cassia. I needed a distraction. Hopefully, she wasn't as furious with me as she was earlier.

As I approached the medical wing, I heard voices echoing from around the corner. I slowed my pace, recognizing the deep, authoritative rumble of Alpha Torin.

"Have you found her yet?" Torin asked. His voice was firm, yet laced with a rare, brotherly softness he only ever used with his inner circle. "Your mate?"

I stopped dead in my tracks. My heart leaped into my throat. I pressed my back against the cold stone wall, holding my breath so I wouldn't make a sound. The scent of the roasted chicken on the tray would mask my scent, assuming they weren't searching for me.

Silence stretched for a painful second.

"Not yet."

It was Silas. His voice was flat. Empty.

The words felt like a physical blow to my stomach. I swallowed hard, biting down on my lip to keep a wounded whine from escaping my throat.

"I hope you find her soon," Torin replied.

Footsteps echoed, heading in my direction. Panic flared. I spun around and hurried back down the hall, desperate to vanish before they rounded the corner. I ran until I found an empty alcove, sliding down the wall until I hit the floor.

I set the tray aside and brought my knees to my chest. I choked back the heavy, suffocating sobs that clawed up my throat.

He knew. He had to know.

*Did he just not want me?* I thought, burying my face in my hands. The rejection shattered my heart into a thousand jagged pieces as I sat there, waiting in the shadows for them to leave Cassia's door.

***

**Cassia's POV**

I spent the better part of an hour fighting the urge to snap at Torin or fall for his honey-coated promises. I was torn in half, my mind warring with my biology.

When he finally stood up and announced he had pack matters to attend to, a wave of relief washed over me. I needed him gone. I needed the space to think.

He paused at the door, muttering something to a passing guard, but I didn't care enough to listen. I just wanted to rest.

But rest felt impossible. The moment Torin’s scent began to fade from the room, the agony in my neck returned threefold. The bond demanded his presence to soothe the trauma of the forced claim. Without him near, the bite felt like it was infected with liquid fire. I clenched my jaw, staring at the ceiling. I would rather endure this torture and die than call him back and admit I needed him.

I let out a ragged sigh. If I survived this, it was going to be a miracle.

Somewhere in the middle of the blinding pain, exhaustion dragged me under. I slipped into a restless, feverish sleep.

*Hmm.*

A quiet, vibrating hum pulled me from the darkness.

I didn't open my eyes immediately. I could feel the presence from within, a strange, shifting energy in the room that I couldn't quite explain. The air grew heavy, thick with static.

"Don’t move."

My eyes snapped open.

It was the voice. That deep, velvety voice of the mystery man who had visited me before. The one who had offered me a shred of comfort in the dark.

The infirmary lights were off, the room swallowed by pitch blackness. I strained my eyes, trying to get a grasp of his features, to finally see the face of the man who stalked the shadows. But he was just a blur, a massive silhouette blocking out the faint moonlight from the window.

He leaned over the bed. His hand reached down toward me.

I expected the soothing, calming touch he had offered before. But the second his skin made contact with mine, an unnatural, freezing current ripped through my body. It wasn't comfort. It was pure, unadulterated wrongness. A visceral terror spiked through my veins, setting off every alarm bell in my head.

Before my mind could even process the absolute horror radiating from his touch, I opened my mouth and let out a bloodcurdling scream.