Bloodmarked

Lena dreamed of teeth.

They sank into her neck again and again, dragging her down into fire. The pain was sharp, unbearable, but then it twisted into something else—heat spiraling through her body, curling in her belly until she writhed in the sheets, helpless. Shadows pressed close, golden eyes watching, a deep voice whispering mine, mine, mine.

She woke with a gasp, clawing at her throat.

Her skin was smooth beneath her fingers. No blood. No torn flesh. Just the phantom ache of his bite and a heat that burned beneath her skin as though her veins carried embers instead of blood.

The cabin was dark now. The hearth’s flames had died to ash, and the storm outside rattled the shutters. But Lena barely noticed. She pressed her hand harder to her throat, willing the throb to stop. It didn’t. It pulsed with her heartbeat, every beat whispering the same damn word.

Mine.

“No,” she muttered under her breath, swinging her legs out of the bed. Her boots were gone. Her bag, her camera—smashed to pieces on the forest floor—gone. Even her jacket had vanished. Someone had stripped her down to a thin undershirt and leggings, wrapping her in furs that still carried his scent. Pine. Smoke. Wild earth. It clung to her lungs, dizzying, invasive.

Her bare feet hit the wood floor. She stood, ignoring the way her legs trembled, and reached for the door.

The growl stopped her cold.

Not from inside. Outside. Low and resonant, like the earth itself rumbling. Then another, deeper. Then a chorus of them, circling the cabin.

Her chest tightened. Wolves.

She inched toward the window, peeled back the curtain. The night outside shimmered with golden eyes. Dozens. A ring of wolves crouched in the snow, fur bristling, teeth flashing in the moonlight. Their growls blended into a single sound—fury.

Her breath fogged the glass.

The door creaked behind her. She spun, heart crashing against her ribs.

Kade filled the doorway. Bare chest, blood still bandaging his shoulder, eyes burning gold in the half-light. He didn’t look at her. He looked past her, through the curtain, to the pack outside. His jaw flexed once, twice.

“They came,” he muttered, as though he’d expected this. Then his gaze finally slid to her.

“You should’ve stayed in bed.”

Her throat went dry. “Your wolves are out there.”

“They’re not mine,” he said flatly, stepping closer. “Not yet.”

The words didn’t make sense until the howling rose, sharp and accusing. Lena stumbled back, her pulse spiking. “They know about me.”

“They scent the mark.” His voice was a growl of its own. “And they want blood for it.”

Her hand flew to her neck. “You said—”

“I said you’re mine.” He stalked forward, the shadows bending around him like even the dark knew better than to resist. “But the pack doesn’t take human mates. Not without bloodshed.”

Lena’s stomach twisted. “So what, they’ll kill me for something you did?”

His eyes locked on hers, unflinching, merciless. “They’ll try.”

The floor seemed to fall beneath her. Wolves outside. A monster inside. No way out.

Kade reached her before she could move, his hand clamping around her wrist. Heat jolted through her arm, racing to the throb at her neck. She gasped, trying to pull back, but his grip only tightened.

“You feel it,” he rasped, voice low, dangerous. His nose brushed her temple, down to her throat. “The bond burns already. Your scent’s changed. Every wolf for miles will smell it.”

She shoved at his chest, furious at the way her body betrayed her—heat flooding her veins, knees threatening to give. “Get off me!”

His lips curved into something dark, almost cruel. “If I did, you’d fall.”

The growls outside escalated. A heavy thud hit the cabin wall—claws raking wood. Kade’s head snapped toward the sound, a snarl tearing from his throat in answer. The wolves went silent, as if the air itself held its breath.

Then, softer, more intimate, his eyes slid back to her. “You step outside, they’ll tear you apart. You stay in here, they’ll still want blood. The only way you live is if they fear me more than they hate you.”

Her voice cracked. “And how do you plan to do that?”

His teeth flashed in the dim light. Not a smile. A warning. “Show them you already belong to me.”

Lena’s heart plummeted.

“No.”

“Yes.” His hand slid from her wrist to her jaw, tilting her head back, exposing the smooth skin of her throat. “They’ll scent hesitation. They’ll scent weakness. I won’t let them.”

Her whole body shook, but her voice was steel. “I’d rather die than play your mate.”

“You’ll do both if you step outside without me.” His grip eased—not softer, but sure. “Decide, Lena. Now.”

The silence after his words was suffocating. Wolves shifted outside, claws scratching ice, waiting. Her chest rose and fell in ragged bursts, but the pull in her veins dragged her gaze to his mouth, his teeth, the memory of the bite that had burned her alive.

She wanted to spit in his face. She wanted to claw him bloody. But deep down, traitorously, she wanted him closer.

And that terrified her most of all.

Kade’s head cocked, as though he could taste her conflict. His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “Good girl.”

Then the door slammed open.

Cold air blasted in. Wolves surged forward, snow spraying beneath their paws. Kade shoved Lena behind him, his body a wall of heat and muscle. His growl shook the beams of the cabin, feral and furious.

The wolves stopped. Not retreating—waiting. Eyes fixed on him, then flicking to Lena, hunger and hatred burning.

Kade’s chest rose, fell. His voice, when it came, was command. “She’s bloodmarked. She’s mine. Challenge it, and I’ll tear out your throats one by one.”

The pack howled in answer, rage splitting the night.

The howls reverberated through Lena’s bones, a wall of fury that made her ears ring. Snow swirled in through the open doorway, cold and sharp, but the heat radiating off Kade at her front was a furnace. His muscles coiled, his shoulders rising with every breath.

One wolf padded forward. Huge. White as snow, with scars striping its muzzle. Its teeth bared, ears flat. The growl it loosed was deep enough to rattle the beams overhead.

Kade didn’t move. He crouched low, eyes blazing gold, answering with a snarl that made Lena’s knees weaken. His body blurred—bones shifting, fur rippling over skin—until the Alpha wasn’t a man anymore.

He was a wolf.

Black fur swallowed the torchlight. Muscles rippled beneath the pelt, larger, thicker than any wolf she’d ever seen. Twice the size of the others. His hackles rose, teeth flashing.

The white wolf lunged.

Lena screamed, stumbling back against the wall. But Kade met it mid-leap, slamming it to the ground with bone-cracking force. Teeth tore fur. Blood sprayed. The pack roared around them, snapping, snarling, circling—but none dared interfere.

Kade ripped into the white wolf’s shoulder, pinning it with the weight of his body. His jaws closed around its throat. The sound that followed was wet, final. The wolf went limp beneath him.

Silence fell.

One by one, the golden eyes lowered. Wolves bowed their heads, tails tucked. Submission.

Kade released the body, chest heaving. His head turned, those molten eyes finding Lena in the shadows. Even in wolf form, she felt the weight of that gaze. Felt the fire in her blood respond to it, traitorous and hot.

Her hand pressed to her throat, where the phantom bite still burned. The pull in her veins whispered one word again, relentless. Mine.

She shook her head, as if that could silence it.

Kade shifted. Bones cracked, fur melted into skin, and then he was a man again, naked in the snow. Blood streaked his chest and arms, his breath misting white. The pack kept their heads lowered, not daring to look.

Lena’s face burned, not just from the cold. From him. The sheer power of him, the lethal beauty of the monster who had claimed her.

He stepped over the corpse, unbothered, his eyes never leaving hers. “Now they know.”

Her voice broke on the words. “Know what?”

His lips curled, more predator than man. “That you’re mine.”

The pack erupted in howls, some furious, some mournful, some… triumphant. The sound made Lena’s stomach twist.

“I didn’t ask for this,” she hissed, hugging herself tight against the cold. “I don’t want it.”

“You don’t have a choice.” He stood in the doorway, body painted in blood and snow, utterly unashamed. “The bond’s already in you. You feel it. Deny it all you want—it won’t change what you are now.”

“What I am?” She spat the words, her voice trembling. “What exactly did you turn me into?”

For the first time, his expression shifted. Not smug. Not cruel. Something darker.

“Marked. Hunted. Desired. And if you walk away, dead.”

Her breath caught.

He stepped closer, voice dropping to a growl that sank into her bones. “A rival Alpha will smell the bloodmark by dawn. He’ll want you destroyed before the bond seals. You think you hate me now? Wait until you meet the wolves who’d rather carve you open than see you stand at my side.”

The cabin swayed around her. Rival Alpha. Hunted. Dead.

She whispered, “Why me?”

His eyes softened just enough to terrify her more than his rage ever could. “Because the bond chose. And once it chooses, there’s no undoing it.”

Lena backed away, shaking her head. “No. I’ll find a way. I’ll—”

His hand snapped out, caging her chin, forcing her to look at him. His grip wasn’t bruising this time, but iron all the same.

“You’ll do nothing but stay alive.” His thumb brushed her jaw, his breath hot on her skin. “And the only way you’ll do that is by staying here. With me.”

Her chest heaved. Every part of her screamed to resist. But the pull at her throat throbbed in time with his touch, a tether she couldn’t shake.

Kade’s lips brushed her ear, a whisper of heat. “You’re mine until death, Lena Carter. Pray it comes slowly.”

The pack howled again outside.

And Lena knew—whether she liked it or not—her life had just ended. And something far more dangerous had begun.