Episode 5

Zaran

I leaned my shoulder against the door and just stood there and staring at the grain like it might make me feel a lot better..

Inside the room was the girl who had almost died in my arms less than a day ago.

But bless the Moon Goddess, she was awake now.

My wolf was pacing restlessly inside me to go in, check on her and make sure she was okay.

I let out a breath before i pressed my palm flatter against the door. She had been staring out the window for over an hour according to the maid who went in last to check on her.

I pushed the door open.

Her shoulders jerked the second she heard my footsteps. She turned around so fast and she was already halfway to her feet before I could speak.

“You do not have to stand,” I said, keeping my voice low.

She stopped as she slowly folded her arms around her middle like she was trying to hold herself together, and then she fell back down on the bed. Her eyes flicked once toward me and then she look away again, and facing the window like it was safer than looking at me.

I really have know idea of what to say to her.

I swallowed. “Maria said you are out of danger,” I finally managed. “The black veins are gone so you are going to be fine.”

She glanced at me from the corner of her eye and let out a tiny, and almost invisible nod. “Thank you.”

My wolf was growling softly in the back of my mind, unhappy with how fragile she still looked.

I took one step closer. “Your past dreams… have they alway been invaded like this one?”

Her head shook once. “No. But every time I wake up from one… I do not remember anything. And there is usually a new mark on my body.”

I raised an eyebrow. New mark after every dream? That is weird.

“Can I see the mark?”

She turned her head fully toward me this time and I could see her eyes widened just for a second.

I quickly added, “You don’t have to show me if you do not want to.”

For a second I thought she would refuse. But then she slowly pushed the sleeve of the robe up her left forearm.

I almost stopped breathing seeing it.

There was a binding mark on her. The kind only dark mage used when they wanted to lock something away inside a person’s mind.

Maria was actually right. Someone had bound her memories. But why? What do they not want her to remember?

I swallowed hard. “Is that the only one?”

Her eyes slid back to the window. “No. There are more.”

“Can I see them?”

She shook her head. “I can not show you the rest.”

If this had been anything smaller, I might have let it go. But binding marks did not appear for no reason. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to keep her from remembering whatever was inside those dreams.

I forced the next words out carefully. “You know I can still see them if I want… now that you are my mate.”

Her head snapped around so fast I almost took a step back.

I could see the alarm flooded her face.

“You… bought me to be your mate?”

I licked my lips.

“I would not exactly call it bought,” I said, the words stumbling out. “You are not a commodity.”

She let out a soft, humorless breath. “You do not have to use a nicer word just to make me feel better.”

Before I could answer, her fingers moved to the belt of the robe. She tugged them and the thin fabric slid off her shoulders and pooled around her hips.

Underneath she was wearing only a short white singlet that barely covered her chest and a plain black pair of panties.

Fuck.

My wolf slammed against my ribs so hard I had to lock my jaw to keep myself from making a sound.

Heat flooded my veins and I had to forced my eyes to stay on her face, but they dropped down anyway.

She immediately wrapped her arms around her middle with her shoulders curling in, like she was trying to hide what the singlet could not.

A rush of heat suddenly flooded my body at the sight of her almost naked body, and I hated myself for it.

This was a pressing matter not the time for stupid fantasies.

I shook my head once, trying to clear it, and then shifted my gaze from her arm to her back.

And everything inside me went cold.

Dozens of binding marks in different shapes, and different sizes. They were layered across her skin from her shoulder blades down to the small of her back like someone had been writing on her for years.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” My voice came out rougher than I wanted.

She kept her eyes on the window. “There was no one to tell. And it does not matter. They said it was the Moon Goddess punishing me… for killing my parents.”

I scoffed before I could stop myself. “I do not believe a five-year-old could kill two full-grown werewolves.”

She was quiet.

Then she slowly turned her head and looked straight at me. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“Do you… really not believe I killed them?”