Chapter 3: The Silver Crescent Mark

⋅ ⋅ ⚘ALEXIA'S POINT OF VIEW⚘ ⋅ ⋅

“Mason…” Lena’s face lit up the moment she saw him. She rushed toward us, closing the distance as half of my face remained buried against his hard chest.

From the glowing look in her eyes, it was obvious she was far happier to see him than she had ever been with Drake.

Then her tone shifted, melting into an exaggerated sweetness. “Alexia… I didn’t mean any of that! Are you okay? I was just joking!”

I couldn’t believe her. She was putting on a fake facade the second she realized who was standing behind me.

Her hand extended toward my shoulder, but the moment she reached out, I shoved it away. She lost her balance, stumbled backward, and crashed to the floor with a loud gasp, likely spraining her ankle.

I didn’t care, nor did I feel an ounce of pity for her. She tried to scramble back to her feet, but her extravagant silk dress tangled around her limbs, making her struggle so ridiculous that several pack members around us burst into loud laughter.

With the crowd’s cruel attention shifted away from me and onto the humiliated future Luna, I snapped back to reality. I was glued to a striking stranger who oozed raw power and authority.

I quickly stepped away from his chest and turned to run out of the hall, not expecting him to follow me.

“I think you need help with your dress,” his deep voice called out from behind me. He pointed to the ruined fabric. “Wanna go and stitch it up? My suite isn’t far. We wouldn’t want you roaming around half-exposed for those guards to gawk at.”

Realizing he was right and that I couldn’t cross the pack grounds in my mother’s torn dress, I nodded and followed him upstairs to his luxurious private suite.

The room was grand, lit only by the warm glow of a single golden lamp, with dark furniture and a massive bed resting in the center.

Without being asked, I walked over and sat nervously on the edge of the bed. I watched him approach the bar cart, uncork a bottle of rich red wine, and pour two glasses. He walked over and handed one to me.

“So, what’s up with you two?” he asked.

His casual question caught me off guard. I lowered my eyes to the wine glass, suddenly unsure how much of my broken heart I wanted to reveal to a man I had only just met.

“Well…” I took a breath and told him everything—from my history with Drake, his unexpected return with Lena, my broken engagement, and the humiliating ambush in the grand hall.

Mason let out a low chuckle, taking a sip from his glass. “Lena was actually one of the women my family tried to arrange for me to marry, but I’ve never been interested in spoiled, self-centered girls like her.”

A tiny smile tugged at my lips. “So you’re saying I’m different?”

His eyes lingered on mine. “I’m saying I haven’t figured you out yet.”

I sent him a small, quiet smile, sipping the wine in my hands to soothe my racing pulse.

For the first time since Drake had shattered my heart, I didn’t feel like the rejected girl everyone pitied. Sitting here with Mason, I felt strangely seen.

“You know you’re very beautiful, right?” he murmured.

No one had said those words to me tonight. Not when I was standing in front of everyone with my heart shattered. Hearing them from him made something inside me ache in a completely different way.

A fierce, embarrassing blush rushed to my face, heating my cheeks down to my collarbones. Caught off guard, I gulped down several quick mouthfuls of wine just to give my hands something to do.

“Yeah… about your dress…”

“All I need is a jacket to cover myself so I can leave,” I said quickly.

“No,” he replied softly.

I watched as his fingers moved to his collar, casually unbuttoning his white shirt.

A sudden, scorching wave of heat traveled straight to my core as his sculpted chest was slowly exposed, revealing sun-kissed skin and defined muscles. He slipped the shirt off and offered it to me.

“You can wear this for now.”

Another burning blush spread across my neck. I hesitated, then gave a soft nod.

“Alright, I’ll change into this here,” I murmured.

But Mason didn’t turn around.

He leaned casually against the wall, sipping his wine while watching me intently with dark, piercing eyes, as if waiting for me to undress.

Only a single lamp illuminated the suite, but werewolves possessed flawless night vision; he could see every inch of me clearly.

The wine made me bolder.

Slowly, hesitantly, I unzipped the side of my dress, letting the torn fabric slide down my hips and pool at my ankles, leaving me in just my lace undergarments.

I turned my back to Mason and picked up his shirt. But before I could pull it over my shoulders, two strong, warm arms wrapped around my waist from behind.

I stiffened, my breath hitching in my throat.

Mason slowly turned me around to face him. I kept my gaze lowered, but he slid his thumb beneath my chin, gently lifting my face to his.

He tilted his head and pressed his warm lips against mine.

My heart stuttered.

I knew I barely knew this man, and yet something deep inside me reacted to him as though we’d met long before tonight.

The kiss was slow and intoxicating; he gently sucked my bottom lip, nipping it with his fangs before pulling back just enough to look at me with hooded eyes.

“Do you want this…?” he whispered against my mouth.

For one fleeting moment, I hesitated. This was reckless. Mason was practically a stranger, and I had just been betrayed by the man I thought I would spend my life with

I didn’t know if it was the wine or the intense electric current snapping between us, but before he could even finish his sentence, I crushed my lips back against his.

I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, pulling him closer.

I didn’t want to think about Drake anymore. Not tonight. Tonight, I wanted to forget the humiliation, the heartbreak, and the ache that had been consuming me.

Mason’s hands slid down to my waist, lifting me into his arms as he laid me down onto the soft mattress.

────୨♡୧────

I woke up the next morning with every muscle in my body feeling blissfully sore. The passion of the night had been incredible, wild, and consuming—an overwhelming storm that had completely erased the pain of Drake’s betrayal from my mind.

I reached out to the other side of the bed, but the sheets were cold. Mason was gone.

As I sat up naked, a strange, burning prickle throbbed at the crook of my neck, right where my shoulder met my collarbone.

The sensation was unlike anything I had ever felt before. It wasn’t exactly pain. It was warmer, deeper—almost as if something beneath my skin had awakened.

I slid out of bed and walked over to the tall floor mirror. My pale skin was covered in soft pink marks and dark bruises from his lips. But as I tilted my head to inspect the throbbing sensation on my neck, my heart stopped.

My fingers trembled as I reached toward it, barely daring to touch the sensitive skin surrounding the mark.

Right over my main artery was a fresh, dark bite mark—a deep, permanent Luna crescent seal pressed into my flesh.

Mason hadn’t just spent the night with me.

He had marked me.