Chapter 9:The pack finds out

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*Chapter 9: The Pack Finds Out*

I didn’t sleep.

How could I?

The black mark on my neck throbbed with every heartbeat. Kieran’s mark. Kieran’s curse. 

And by dawn, the whole pack would know.

I stood in front of the cracked mirror in the omega dorm, hair covering my neck. It didn’t help. You could still see the edge of it, dark and ugly against my skin. 

Like a brand. Like shame.

“Who bit you?”

I spun around. Tasha. My roommate. 15 years old and already cruel.

“Nobody,” I lied, pulling my collar higher.

She laughed. “Liar. That’s a mate mark. A black one. That’s an Alpha bite.” Her eyes narrowed. “Whose is it?”

Before I could answer, the dorm doors slammed open.

Three warriors. 

Behind them, Alpha Kieran.

The room went silent.

“Everyone out,” he ordered. His voice had no emotion. “Now.”

Girls scrambled, tripping over each other to leave. Tasha shot me one last look - smug, knowing - before she ran.

Now it was just me and him.

Kieran didn’t look at me. He looked at the floor, at the wall, anywhere but my neck. 

“Put this on,” he said, tossing me a high-neck jacket. His jacket. It smelled like him.

“I don’t need your charity.”

“You need it unless you want the entire pack to see what we did last night.”

We. 

Like it was both our faults.

I yanked the jacket on and zipped it to my chin. “Happy?”

“No.” Finally he looked at me. His golden eyes were bloodshot. Tired. “The council called a meeting. At sunrise. About the mark.”

My stomach dropped. “They know?”

“Tasha ran to her father. He’s on the council.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Congratulations. In 20 minutes every Alpha, Beta, and elder will know I marked the sister of the omega I rejected.”

“And what are you going to tell them?” I crossed my arms. “That it was an accident? That I seduced you?”

Kieran’s jaw ticked. “I’m going to tell them the truth. That the moon goddess is playing games.”

“And then what? You reject me again? In public this time?”

The words tasted bitter.

He stepped closer. Too close. “I don’t want this bond, omega. But I also don’t want you hurt.”

“Then unmark me.”

“I can’t.” For the first time, he sounded desperate. “Black marks don’t fade. It means the moon forced it. It means...”

“It means what?”

“It means we’re bound. Whether we like it or not.”

The doors opened again before I could answer. 

Beta Cole. Kieran’s second.

“It’s time, Alpha.”

The meeting hall was packed.

50 wolves. All staring. 

The second I walked in with Kieran, whispers started.

“Is that her?”

“That’s Mae’s sister.”

“Look at her neck. He really did it.”

“Disgusting.”

My face burned. I kept my eyes forward.

The council table sat at the front. 5 elders. And in the middle, Tasha’s father, Elder Voss. He was smiling.

“Kieran Blackwood,” Elder Voss stood. “Care to explain why you have the rejected omega’s sister wearing your mark?”

Kieran stepped forward. “It wasn’t planned. The bond manifested during a confrontation. The moon goddess—”

“Bullshit,” Voss spat. “You rejected Mae publicly. Humiliated her. And now you mark her sister? This is a power play.”

“It’s not—”

“Silence!” Another elder slammed his fist. “Alpha, you know the law. Marking a pack member without consent is punishable. Marking your rejected mate’s sister? That’s treason.”

My heart stopped.

Treason.

Kieran didn’t flinch. “Then punish me. Not her. She had no choice.”

Aww. The Alpha was defending me. Too bad I didn’t want his protection.

Elder Voss looked at me. “And you. What do you have to say for yourself, girl?”

Every eye turned to me.

I could lie. Say he forced me. Watch him get stripped of his title.

I could beg. Say it was a mistake. Watch them separate us forever.

Or I could tell the truth.

I lifted my chin and unzipped the jacket.

The black mark was on full display. Ugly. Glowing faintly.

“I didn’t ask for this,” I said, voice steady. “But the moon did. And I’m tired of being rejected by everyone. By my sister’s Alpha. By my own pack.”

I looked straight at Kieran.

“So if I’m bound to you, Alpha... then you’re bound to me too.”

Gasps.

Kieran stared at me like he’d never seen me before.

Elder Voss’s smile dropped. “This is an outrage—”

“The moon has spoken,” Kieran cut him off. His voice boomed through the hall. “And I do not defy the moon.”

He turned to me and held out his hand.

In front of the entire pack.

“Come, mate.”

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