Chapter 3 :The Mark Beneath Her Skin

Aria

The cabin felt smaller after Kael’s words.

Because you’re mine.

They echoed in my head long after he vanished into the trees.

I stood at the sink, staring at my reflection in the dark window. My hair was tangled, my face pale, but my eyes… they didn’t look like mine anymore. Something inside them shimmered when the light hit right, like gold dust trapped beneath the surface.

When I reached to splash water on my face, pain pricked across my shoulder. I tugged the shirt aside. Beneath the bandage, faint lines glowed through the gauze, twisting shapes that hadn’t been there before. I peeled it away with trembling fingers.

A mark spread from the place he’d touched me: thin, curling like smoke, the faintest red-gold glow pulsing with my heartbeat. It didn’t look like a wound. It looked alive.

“What the hell…” I whispered.

The room tilted. For a second, I thought I heard something, a whisper, soft and female, almost inside my head.

He found you.

I spun around, but no one was there.

My pulse raced. I backed into the wall, clutching my shoulder, until the whisper faded. When it was gone, the silence felt heavier, like the whole house was holding its breath.

The door opened without warning.

I jumped, slamming the shirt back in place. Kael filled the doorway, damp hair, eyes too sharp for comfort.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people,” I said, hating that my voice shook.

His gaze flicked to my shoulder. “It’s burning, isn’t it?”

“What?”

He stepped closer. “The mark.”

My throat dried. “You mean this?” I pulled the shirt aside before I could stop myself. The glow brightened when he neared.

His expression darkened with recognition, and something else. “It’s starting.”

“What’s starting?”

“The bond.”

I stared at him. “Bond? You sound insane.”

“Maybe I am,” he muttered, almost to himself. “You weren’t supposed to be pulled in.”

The heat beneath my skin surged. “It hurts,” I whispered.

He hesitated only a second before closing the distance. His palm hovered above my shoulder, not touching. The light flared, and the pain dulled into warmth, not normal warmth, but the kind that spread through my whole body, heavy and dizzying.

“Better?” he asked quietly.

I nodded, barely. He stepped back like it burned him too.

“You said I’m yours,” I blurted out. “What does that even mean?”

Kael’s jaw worked. “It means fate has a cruel sense of humor.”

He turned to leave. “Lucien and Ronan are waiting outside. Don’t wander alone.”

And just like that, he was gone again.

~~~~~~

Kael

The air outside crackled with energy I could feel in my teeth. Ronan waited at the bottom of the steps, arms crossed. “I saw the light from the ridge,” he said. “It’s begun, hasn’t it?”

“She bears the mark,” I admitted.

Lucien swore under his breath. “That fast?”

“She’s reacting stronger than any bond I’ve seen.” I raked a hand through my hair. “The prophecy’s moving quicker than we thought.”

Ronan eyed me. “Can you keep control?”

I didn’t answer. Because the truth was, I wasn’t sure.

Every second near her felt like standing too close to fire. I could hear her heartbeat through the walls, smell her fear, her confusion, and something darker, something that pulled at the wolf in me until my control splintered.

Lucien kicked a stone into the dirt. “If the mark’s showing, the council will notice soon. You need a plan before they do.”

“I know.”

“Then make one.” He glanced toward the cabin. “Because if the bond snaps completely before the next Blood Moon, she won’t survive the heat.”

My stomach turned cold. “She’s human.”

“Exactly,” Ronan said. “Her body isn’t built for our magic. Either you stabilize the bond… or it consumes her.”

I looked toward the faint light in her window. “Then I’ll have to keep her close.”

Lucien smirked. “That’s one way to put it.”

“Lucien.”

“Fine, fine.” He held up his hands. “Just don’t pretend you’re not tempted.”

I didn’t bother denying it. There was no point.

~~~~~~

Aria

The whispers returned after nightfall. They slid between my thoughts, half-formed words I couldn’t catch. Sometimes they sounded like a heartbeat; sometimes like my name.

I wrapped the blanket tighter around me and stared at the fire. When Kael came in, the air shifted. The whispering stopped, but the heat inside me flared again.

He moved like someone who’d spent his life fighting invisible wars. He dropped a stack of logs beside the hearth and crouched to feed the fire. The flames painted his face in gold and shadow. For a moment, I forgot fear and just watched him.

“What’s happening to me?” I asked quietly.

He didn’t look up. “Your body’s adjusting. The mark links us. You’ll feel what I feel, eventually.”

“That sounds… invasive.”

“It is.”

I almost smiled despite myself. “You’re terrible at comforting people.”

He met my eyes then, and the spark there wiped the smile from my lips. “I’m not supposed to comfort you,” he said. “I’m supposed to protect you.”

“From what?”

“Everyone else. Including me.”

The room went still. The fire popped; outside, a wolf howled somewhere far off.

“I keep hearing voices,” I admitted. “Whispers.”

He stiffened. “What do they say?”

“That you found me.”

His jaw clenched. “Then the Moon’s spirit has already noticed you.”

“Moon’s spirit,” I repeated flatly. “You keep saying things that make no sense.”

Kael stood. “It will. Soon.”

When he turned to go, I grabbed his hand. “Don’t leave me alone again.”

He froze, eyes on where my fingers touched his. The mark on my shoulder pulsed in answer; light spilled faintly through the fabric. His breath hitched.

“Aria,” he said, low and rough. “You don’t know what that does to me.”

“Then explain it.”

He took a slow step closer until the heat between us felt alive. His thumb brushed my knuckles, a touch so light it hurt. “It’s the bond. It wants us near. It doesn’t care what we want.”

My chest ached. “And what do you want?”

Kael’s gaze dropped to my mouth for a heartbeat too long. “For you to be safe,” he said finally, and pulled away.

When the door shut, the mark dimmed again, but the echo of his heartbeat stayed in mine.

~~~~~~

Kael

Outside, the night was colder. I shifted just enough for my wolf’s senses to heighten, but not enough to lose control. Her scent still clung to me, warm and maddening.

Ronan appeared from the shadows. “You’re fighting it.”

“I have to.”

“You can’t. Not forever.”

I looked toward the cabin. “Then I’ll learn how.”

Ronan gave a slow nod. “Lucien’s right about one thing, the council will come. If they learn she’s marked before the Blood Moon, they’ll see her as a weapon.”

“She’s not a weapon.”

“They won’t care.”

I breathed out through my teeth. The mark glowing under her skin wasn’t just a bond. It was a beacon. Every dominant wolf in the region would feel it soon.

“I’ll keep her hidden,” I said.

Ronan tilted his head. “And when she starts feeling everything you do?”

That stopped me. I didn’t answer. Because already, when her fear spiked, my chest tightened. When she relaxed, my pulse slowed.

The bond was forming faster than it should.

Fate wasn’t waiting for the Blood Moon.

~~~~~~

Aria

Sleep came in fragments. Every time I drifted off, I dreamed of gold eyes and forests soaked in light. Once, I saw a woman made of moonlight whispering words I couldn’t hear. When I woke, the mark burned bright under my skin.

I pressed a hand to it. The warmth eased, but the whisper returned.

He’s the key. You are the fire.

I sat up, heart hammering. Outside the window, Kael stood beneath the trees, head tipped back to the sky. The moonlight caught on his hair, on the line of his shoulders. He looked both human and not, caught between worlds.

And so was I.