Marked by the Wolf King
Raised by humans behind the walls of Asterism, Zara was taught only one thing: Wolves are ruthless monsters that are responsible for every death beyond the walls. Hunters are trained to kill wolves without mercy. Zara is one of the deadliest of them all.
Until the man who raised and taught everything she knows did not return alive. His body was covered in blood. Deep in his skin was the one thing feared across human territory: the mark of the wolf king.
While the city mourned the devastating loss of the hunters, the general issued an order that left everyone in shock.
From then on, Zara’s only purpose was revenge. Driven by anger, she crosses beyond the walls to the wolves' territory to end the lives of those responsible, even if it ends her life.
Things didn’t go according to plan as she found something far worse. The world beyond the border was nothing like she was told. Wolves are stronger, terrifying, and more intelligent than she imagined.
The wolf king was the worst of them all.
Ryan Kaine should have killed her the moment she stepped into his territory, but instead, he kept her alive, because something about her felt familiar.
Zara was surrounded by the creature she was raised to hate. She uncovers the truth buried since the Great War, a truth capable of destroying everything she was taught. If all she believed was wrong, then who is the real enemy?
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Chapter: The Open DoorZara’s POV The pathway swallowed the last trace of light behind us; my gaze didn’t leave it for a second until the warmth of my mother’s cottage was gone, as though it had never existed at all.The cold air settled against my skin as I followed Ryan through what felt like a narrow passage. There was barely enough light to see anything ahead of me, so all I did was follow Ryan's heartbeat, clutching the book against my chest beneath the clothes my mother had given me. Kael walked several steps ahead before lighting a wooden torch.For a moment, nobody spoke. Even Kira, who usually had something to say regardless of how terrible the situation was, remained silent. I couldn’t shake the thought of my mother. Standing there alone. Come back to me. I swallowed hard and lowered my eyes to the uneven stone beneath my feet, because if I let myself think about her any longer. I knew I would turn around, whether my life was at stake or not.A faint scratching sound came from somewhere to my rig
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: Come back to meZara’s POV My mother’s words hung in the air longer than they should have. “Please keep her safe…or I wouldn’t hesitate to break free and destroy the little that is left of your kingdom.”Everyone, including me, braced for Ryan to answer the way he always did, the way he always reminded the world he was the Lycan king, and no one snapped at him without losing something for it. Instead, he went still. Not the stillness of restraint, but the stillness of a predator recalculating. He held his gaze on my mother before glancing at me, then dipped his chin in the smallest possible nod.That unsettled me more than it should have. Minutes ago, the air between them had been thick enough to choke on, both of them coiled and ready to tear into each other, and now, without a single growl exchanged, they had silently agreed on the one thing my own instincts rejected: I was leaving.“Absolutely not.” I shook my head and closed the distance between my mother and me, my body moving before my mind co
Last Updated: 2026-09-03
Chapter: The Last GoodbyeZara’s POV The silence inside the cottage was unbearable; even the fire crackling in the stone hearth sounded unnaturally loud. Each pop of the burning wood made me flinch. Ryan still stood there, right in front of Karl, who was still staring at his arm. The salty breeze drifting through the open window carried the scent of the sea, yet it did nothing to wash away the metallic blood that still lingered in the room. The smell of blood was sharp, though no blood was to be found, as if the book hadn’t just sucked the blood right in front of me.My mother was the first to move. She gave a warm smile to both Karl and Kira and stood up like she hadn’t just regenerated his arm. She walked towards me, but Ryan stepped in between us slowly and deliberately. His boots creaked softly against the old wooden floor as his eyes remained locked on my mother. There was no longer anger in his expression. He turned back to the Ryan I remembered. Unreadable. Like he was trying to fit the pieces together
Last Updated: 2026-08-06
Chapter: PowersZara’s POV Karl’s scream echoed through the cottage. It was my first time hearing him cry out like that. It was not the kind of scream that was ordinary. It was raw, torn from somewhere so deep that it made the hair on my body stand on end. He collapsed on the floor, using what looked like his last strength to move backward against the wall. Blood poured from the amputated arm, splashing onto the wooden floor in thick crimson drops before spreading into dark pools beneath him.“Karl!” Kira cried out to him. Tears were already streaming down her face, but Ryan pulled away from halfway, pulling her tightly against his side. She was covered in blood. Her brother’s blood.“Don’t look,” he ordered, covering Kira’s eyes and staring at Karl. Kira struggled against him immediately. “But Karl…”“I said stay back.” Ryan's voice grew louder.She buried her face against him anyway, sobbing uncontrollably; her shoulders trembled beneath his grip.Ryan did not seem to care that she was crying; his
Last Updated: 2026-08-05
Chapter: The Language of BloodZara’s POV “Maybe she deserves to know,” Karl said. No one answered him immediately. I stared at him, almost unable to believe that Karl of all people defended me again, and this time not for the sake of Kira. The same Karl who had spent so much of my time in the wolf territory looking at me as though I was some walking disaster, someone whose existence irritated him. I remembered the way he held my throat when I stood before Ryan. Even when I had nearly died in the chamber, even when Kira’s life was connected to mine, there had always been something guarded in his eyes, each time he looked at me.But now he behaved differently around me for reasons I don’t understand.I looked at Ryan. For once, he didn’t disagree with Karl. And that surprised me even more than Karl’s words and behavior. Ryan stood near the broken wall, one hand hanging loosely at his side while the other remained slightly clenched. Blood still stained the corner of his mouth, but he had already forgotten about tha
Last Updated: 2026-08-04
Chapter: The Prison She Chose.Zara’s POV I had been through a lot already; they didn’t realize that a little information wouldn't kill me. I had spent years surviving without it. What could be worse than not knowing my own name, not remembering my own mother, surviving the way the werewolves looked at me like I was some monster, surviving Ryan’s anger, his interrogation, his hand around my throat, the chamber, the poison, the execution that should have ended my life? I had died once and somehow found my way back.So why did everyone look at me as though the truth would be the thing that finally killed me?I looked at my mother, then at Ryan, then at Karl, who remained strangely quiet since his argument with Ryan. I took a deep breath, sat on the chair nearby, and buried my face in my hands.None of them spoke. I suddenly became aware of everything around me; the fire behind me crackled softly, sending another wave of warmth against my back. I could feel their stares on me. My entire body had become weighed down
Last Updated: 2026-08-03
Chapter: Asleep.{Isla’s POV}“Take me to it,” I said again.“But what if your husband…”“With all due respect, sir, don’t make me repeat myself.”The old man led me down a passage so old I could smell it. It smelled like rain. He walked slowly with his hand on the wall as if he were looking for a hidden key. The pass had been mine all this time, and no one told me about it.Everything was starting to make sense. Why my father never allowed me to go to events as myself. Why he didn’t allow me to work. Why he trapped me in that house and spread false things about my name.Every paper, every seal was signed in my name. It was all mine. And Richard took that from me.“I can’t believe they didn’t tell you about it. And now it's going to be in Blackwood’s name in a year.” The old man said.I followed him with my fist shut, and all I could think was that my father had sold something that wasn’t his to sell, and that he had sold me along with it.The safe was behind a painting of a mountain. Inside was a sma
Last Updated: 2026-11-03
Chapter: The Greyhaven Pass{Isla’s POV}“Wakey, wakey.” I heard a voice say above my head.But I knew whose it was. It was Nessa’s.“I don’t have work today. Leave me alone.” I said, still keeping my eyes shut. “What are you still doing in my room? Don’t you have work in the house?”“No, ma’am. In case you forgot. I am a caretaker. Your caretaker. You are my responsibility. And Axel has ordered me to get you ready before 9 am.”I removed the duvet from my face and slowly opened my eyes. Something felt different. There was a warmth in my chest, low down and steady, like a hand resting there. It had been there ever since last night, when Nessa was jumping on my bed.When I got up from the bed, Nessa had already laid out the outfit I was wearing. It was a casual one. Usually, I’d let myself get excited and delusional, but surprisingly, I didn’t care.I just did what I always do in the morning and went to the bathroom for my pill. It lives in an orange bottle in the cabinet. I have taken one every morning since my
Last Updated: 2026-11-02
Chapter: Properly.{Isla’s POV} Nessa ran the bath so hot I couldn’t see my reflection in the mirror again.She found the zipper on my backless dress and drew it down slowly. The way I hoped Axel would take it down this night, or at least our wedding night.The dress fell into the corner, and we both looked at it.“I will take it to the laundry…”“Burn it,” I said.Nessa blinked. “Ma’am, that’s at least twenty thousand dollars. I know a woman on Averly Row who would give you half. If I get the receipt.”“No,” I said.“A third then. Nobody would ever know.”“It has a dead man’s blood on it, Nessa. I’m not selling it to some stranger who will wear it to her anniversary dinner. I said burn it. That’s an order.”“Yes, ma’am,” she said and carried it out at arm’s length, though I know she isn’t burning it.I got in. The water went pink around my knees, and I watched it for a long time. I didn’t know when Nessa came in till I felt her hands on my back. Then she started rinsing my hair without a word, which w
Last Updated: 2026-10-31
Chapter: Engine Running {Isla’s POV}The wiper was the loudest in the car.I was cold but couldn’t care less about that. Tonight’s event replayed in my head.Marcus drove with both hands on the wheel, and his eyes didn’t leave the road once. Not even when he received a phone call from his husband. For a second, I was scared they were going to kill me, but I remembered they still needed my signature.I folded myself into the corner of the back seat in a dress with no back. Every time we passed a streetlight, the car went gold, then dark, and each time it went gold, I could see the blood dried into the creases of my knuckles. None of it was mine. I curled my fingers; Poppy's picture was underneath it. I had been holding it so tight my fingers had gone numb, and when I opened it, the school photograph was creased down the middle, and I couldn’t help but think why Axel would kill that man.“Marcus.”“Mrs. Blackwood.”“Why did Axel kill him? Where did he get the gun?”The wipers went right, left, and Marcus eyes
Last Updated: 2026-10-29
Chapter: Someone Who Can Braid.{Axel’s POV}She walked back in.I stood where she had left me and watched her go through the glass door. For a second, I thought she was going to the car. I was about to find Marcus to drive her.But in her ruined makeup and bloody chest, she walked straight into the party.I should have followed her. But I didn’t. I wanted to see what she would do. I had been watching her the whole night. It wouldn’t harm a soul if I did it a little longer.She went straight to the bar, took a glass, and swallowed it whole. Then she walked across the room to the pillar, and all eyes followed her as she did it.Two women were standing there. Diane Hollis, whose husband sits on the council, and a friend of hers whose name I don’t care to learn.The whole room fell silent. They were all watching my wife as she slowly made her way to the pillar.“My mother’s name was Amelia,” Isla said. Almost polite. “In case you were wondering.”Diane Hollis smiled at her. “Was it, dear? I heard she had a few other na
Last Updated: 2026-10-25
Chapter: I don’t know.{Isla’s POV}My husband killed a man because he touched me, and I have never been so angry in my life.The music inside never stopped.No one heard it.A man was lying on the grass with a hole in his head, and somewhere behind those glass doors, a violin was still playing something pretty. His blood was splashed on my face, and all I could think of was Poppy, his daughter.My ears were ringing. My wrist was throbbing where he had held it. The air smelled burnt.Jonah’s jacket was lying on the step where it had fallen off my shoulders, and his wallet had slid out of the pocket and lay open on the stone.Poppy picture stared back at me. Gap in her teeth. That braid.Axel came down the steps.At a normal pace. The way he walked into his office every morning, like nothing in the world had happened that needed him to hurry. He put his gun in his jacket somewhere. He crossed Jonah’s leg without looking at them, the way you cross a puddle.Then he stopped in front of me and took out a napkin
Last Updated: 2026-10-24
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