I parked my bike in my usual spot and was constantly aware of my surroundings so that nothing could sneak up on me. Not even Shay.
If the book had been telling the truth, I’d have to be careful.
I was turning the key to lock my bike when I saw something red in the corner of my eye. Everly was back, and I don’t think I had ever been so happy to see her pale face.
I dropped everything I had and started running toward my best friend.
But before I could touch her, she stopped running, and her face started doing weird contractions. Like she was smelling something that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
I slowed down and walked until I reached her. I was unsure of what had made her stop, and I didn’t want to take her by surprise.
“Are you all right, Everly?” I asked. She didn’t say anything but kept sniffing the air. “Everly?” I asked again.
She turned around 360 degrees and came closer to me.
Without any warning, she grabbed my scarf and pulled it down to expose the four dots I had tried to cover up.
“No way! Shay marked you!” she screamed.
“Ssssshhhh!” I hushed her. “You don’t need to announce it to everyone at once! How did you know? I haven’t told a single soul.”
She looked at me as if I was stupid. “Duh, I can smell it. That’s another ability of the mark. Other wolves can smell if you have been marked and by whom. The mark is a symbol that you’re occupied.”
Her face changed from serious to ecstatic. “The Loucrious blood is back in the game!” she shouted again.
I stopped listening. It felt like Everly had punched me in the gut and left me breathless. Every wolf would know that Shay had marked me?
I hadn’t read about that part. Probably because I had thrown the book into my drawer because I had been so angry after realizing that Shay had prevented me from feeling anything toward Archer.
“How do I cover it up?!” I asked her desperately.
“You can’t,” she replied confused. “Didn’t you do this voluntarily?”
I sighed. This wasn’t how I had imagined telling her, but she had to know eventually.
“Do you remember how Shay dragged me outside on New Year’s Eve?” I asked. She nodded and listened carefully.
“He wanted to teach me how to control my senses under stress, hence the fireworks. I got it under control, and he announced that I had finished my training as a wolf. I was ecstatic, so I started running…”
I paused.
“Do you also remember when I told you about Archer’s sister and how she had burned me with her knife?” Again, she just nodded.
“Shay had banned me from ever seeing Cassandra again, and I hadn’t told him that I was dating Archer. I didn’t know that wolfsbane could turn my fur black, and he saw the mark.
“He snapped and started talking about how he had planned to wait until spring when I would come to him, but that he couldn’t let me be with someone like Archer. A Hunter with that kind of status.”
I held my breath and suppressed the tears pressing behind my eyes.
“He marked me soon after, and I haven’t seen him since.”
Everly started moving around. “You know… It’s not okay and all that, but it’s actually kinda hard to blame him…” What did she say?
“He marked me against my will, Everly!” I shouted.
“You don’t understand this yet, Rieka,” she said defensively. “A mate is a special thing, and if Shay is convinced that you are his…
“I’m just saying that I understand his rage and his reaction. Not that it was okay, but you will understand how it is when spring comes around. How desperate even the strongest wolf can get.”
I couldn’t believe that she was defending him.
“Besides… In a few years, Shay will be old enough to start experiencing the consequences of missing a mate,” she added.
“But what about Archer?” I whispered.
She looked up and straight into my eyes. “Your mother broke the bond, and I’m not doubting for a second that you won’t be able to do that too… But this isn’t just about you. It’s about Shay too.
“You only get one mate throughout your entire lifetime, and Shay will need a mate if he wants to stay an Alpha of this pack. If that mate really is you, and you choose Archer… It could doom the entire pack.”
It could affect the pack? Was a mate really that important?
“I love Archer, you know that, Rieka. He is a wonderful man, but he is also a Hunter. I have never been afraid of him, but his family is another story, and if they find out that you’re a Loucrious…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence, and I couldn’t blame her.
The Marquardts and the Loucriouses had a bad history together, and our relationship wasn’t the most ideal.
“You know that I love you Rieka, and I will do everything in my power to protect you. I promise you. No matter your decision,” she said and squeezed my hand.
Everly had enlightened me with another point of perspective. Shay was the Alpha and the leader of a pack. My pack. And I could be the reason for its downfall.
“Ready to go inside?” she asked. “The bell won’t wait for us.”
She was too small to reach my shoulders comfortably, so she put her arm around my waist. I laughed and put my arm around her neck.
We approached the building, and I was looking around to see if Shay was watching out for the young wolves again today. But he was nowhere to be seen, which felt like a relief.
I smiled and carried on with the conversation, but as we walked through the doors, I felt a rush through my body and the mark starting to throb.
“That’s her?” I heard a man whisper behind me.
I turned around and saw Shay surrounded by a group of guys in the corner.
The guy to the right must have been the one to ask the question. He had chestnut brown hair and was standing right beside Shay like he was watching out for anything approaching them.
I met Shay’s eyes, and it looked like they had been glued to me ever since I stepped through the doors. They locked with mine, and his mouth posed a smile.
“Are you coming?” Everly asked behind me.
The mark had gone from a slight throbbing to full-on pulsating. I could feel pearls of sweat running from my hairline, but I forced myself to turn away and followed her.
My hand covered the mark, hoping that it would ease the feeling.
Shay was trying to create a mind-link, but I pushed him out. I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say to me, but the question roamed in my mind.
Could he feel the same as me?
