Marked for Revenge

I finally arrived at Hill Pack — the heart of Lupus Celestial.

Chase was already waiting at the port, standing beside a sleek black limousine. Tall, broad-shouldered, and exuding dominance, he looked every bit the future Lycan King. But even from a distance, I could tell — he was growing impatient.

I approached slowly.

“Brother Chase,” I said softly.

He froze.

His sharp eyes scanned me, stunned by what I had become. I looked down, clutching my hands together to avoid his gaze.

He had never imagined that the gaunt, scarred girl before him was once the proud daughter of Moon-Lake’s Alpha — now just a shell, ragged, dirt-smeared, and barely recognizable.

“So... you’re really Taryn,” he said coldly.

Then, with no sympathy, he began complaining about my decision to arrive by ship rather than by plane, as if even that was a personal offense.

He drove.

I sat silently in the backseat.

The air between us was heavy with everything unsaid. I used to cling to him like ivy clings to stone — desperate for warmth. But Chase never returned even the faintest kindness. When my father and I were accused of treason and cast out, he severed our bond with terrifying ease.

Now, I kept to myself. Quiet. Unmoving. The kind of silence you learn in pain.

A plush wolf dangled from the front passenger seat — soft, childish, and familiar. I glanced at it briefly before looking away. Of course. That seat must belong to Wynette, his Luna-to-be. My stomach twisted.

I had been about to take that seat.

But that silly plush had reminded me: I didn’t belong here anymore.

I quickly pulled back.

Even breathing too loudly felt like a mistake.

“Don’t play games like you used to,” Chase said abruptly. “I only had you brought back because my grandmother misses you. Behave, and don’t overthink this.”

I met his eyes in the rearview mirror, forcing a bitter smile.

So nothing had changed.

He still believed I — and my father — had betrayed the alliance.

He still despised me.

Yet he waited three years to mention his grandmother — and did so on the eve of his engagement? Of course. It wasn’t care. It was control.

I touched the fading scars along my arm, my wolf barely surviving under the silver wound.

What was the point in explaining now?

“I…” I began, then swallowed the question I’d wanted to ask for so long.

Maybe… I had stopped caring.

“Chase, that—”

He cut me off.

“Call me Alpha. We’re not close. You’re here to visit my grandmother, not because you’re part of this pack.”

I stared at him, too stunned to respond. My lips parted, but no words came.

I nodded instead. “How is your grandmother?”

He didn’t answer. But the shadow in his eyes said enough.

I tightened my fists in my lap, thinking of the few people who had once loved me. Most were gone now. Chase’s grandmother might be the last one left in this cruel world who cared whether I lived or died.