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Chapter 25
“Brianna, are you okay?”
Marcus’s voice was hoarse, and worried, as he pulled me into his arms. His entire body was trembling, not from fear, but from the barely restrained rage I could feel pulsing beneath his skin. When his eyes landed on the shredded remains of my clothes, the bruises marring my skin, and the distant look in my eyes, a low growl rumbled in his chest.
Without hesitation, he yanked off his leather jacket and wrapped it around me with trembling hands. The familiar scent of smoke and alpha power instantly enveloped me. It was grounding. Safe.
“You’re safe now.”
He murmured his voice almost a whisper, but enough for me to hear.
“I’ve got you. I’m taking you home.”
The disgusting rogues who had dared to touch me stepped forward, arrogance still in their eyes, maybe thinking they could bluff their way out of this. Idiots. They hadn’t seen Marcus in full alpha mode.
A second later, the woods behind us erupted with movement. His pack emerged like shadows made flesh, wolves and men alike, eyes gleaming gold and silver in the moonlight. Marcus didn’t need to say a word. His Beta lunged first, and the rest followed like a wrecking crew. Growls, bones snapping, and screams echoed into the forest. Within moments, those bastards were groaning and crawling on the ground, bloody, broken, and humiliated.
Marcus didn’t even look at them again. He scooped me up like I weighed nothing. His heat radiated through me as he carried me toward his black SUV, each step full of restrained fury. When he saw the deep handprint on my cheek, clearly made by a wolf’s shifted strength, his jaw. clenched so tight I thought it might snap.
His golden eyes glowed with rage.
“I’m so sorry, Brianna…”
He said, his voice cracking.
“I should’ve gotten to w
Mate…
sooner. I should’ve protected you. My mate.”
The word felt foreign, even now. Even after everything. Especially after everything.
The adrenaline faded as we drove through the winding forest road, the silence wrapping around us like fog. I leaned back in the seat, exhausted, the pain in my body finally catching up with me.
“How did you find me?”
I asked, my voice hoarse but calm.
“I tracked your phone.”
He muttered, keeping his eyes on the road.
“At first, it didn’t work. I had to call in the best tech witch back home to crack the interference. You were just past the boundary line, out of our territory. Once we got a lock, I ran. I shifted
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halfway and didn’t stop until I found you.”
His hands gripped the wheel harder. His knuckles were white.
I glanced sideways at him. His wolf was still close to the surface, I could feel it in the air, in the way his power kept brushing against mine like it was trying to comfort me.
Or mark me..
I swallowed hard.
“I need to tell you about Ava. She-”
“I know.”
His tone was too calm. Unnaturally calm.
I turned to look at him, startled.
“What?”
“I know everything.”
The calmness was eerie.
“She’s mated to someone else. A warlock. The second she heard about me and Kaela, she ran off to the eastern coven to get glamour spells and enchantments, trying to make herself look like Kaela. She was trying to worm her way into me. Seduce me. Drain our resources.”
I blinked.
“How do you know all that?”
“I had her investigated.”
He said flatly.
“She and her mate are in custody now. My enforcers are making sure they don’t walk out free.”
Then he glanced at me again, this time his gaze softening. He reached for my hand. ‘Brianna… come back to me. Let’s start over. I need you. Lucas needs you too.”
I pulled my hand away, slow but firm, the chill in my voice unmistakable.
“Why do you want me back?”
He hesitated for a second.
‘Because I love you.”
let out a quiet laugh, cold and sharp like a blade in the dark.
‘If those rogues had… if and your council found out, would you still want me?”
still want me.mething had happened to me t
His jaw tightened. That flicker of hesitation, too quick for a human to catch, was enough.
He said.
‘Of course. I love you. All of you.”
He sounded convincing. Maybe he even believed it. But I saw through him.
Marcus was an alpha to his bones. Proud. Possessive. Territorial. If I had been violated, he might still claim to love me… but he would’ve hidden me away, never let the pack see their Luna ‘tainted.”
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Just like he buried Kaela’s memory when her secrets came to light.
I stared out the window.
“Marcus, you can lie to everyone else. But not to yourself. Your pride will always mean more to you than your love for me.”
And that was the truth. A brutal, liberating truth.
For the first time in years, I felt something close to peace. Thank the Moon Goddess I never fully gave him my heart. If I had…
I shivered and didn’t finish the thought.
Marcus didn’t argue. His silence was louder than anything he could’ve said. He drove me home. and dropped me off without another word.
After I showered, scrubbing every trace of that nightmare from my skin, I curled into bed, wrapped in a blanket, the scent of pine and power still clinging faintly to Marcus’s jacket draped over a chair.
My body ached, but the worst was over.
Then my phone rang.
It was Lucas.
My first instinct was to ignore it. I wasn’t sure I could handle him tonight.
Not after everything. But then I remembered, Marcus had saved me. Whatever his reasons, he came through. Maybe… maybe picking up wouldn’t hurt.
I swiped to answer.
“Mom! I heard what happened. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
Lucas’s voice came through the line, cracked with panic and raw emotion.
My heart clenched.
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“I’m fine, Lucas…”
