Chapter 4: The Mark that Burns

Seraphine’s POV

I quickly shut the door behind me and leaned against it. The witch’s cottage was quiet except for my unsteady breath. 

I could still hear that howl. It lived under my ribs now, repeating over and over. 

My trapped wolf, she’s hurting and calling out to me.

I pressed my back harder against the wood and slid down until I sat on the floor. 

My legs could no longer hold me so I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them to keep them from spreading out. 

Whenever I closed my eyes I saw the Rhydian who was so much in love with me, not the one that drove a dagger into my body. 

I saw the Rhydian who…who used to lift me off the ground when he was happy to see me. I saw the one who kissed my forehead every morning. 

The one who promised forever while his teeth sank into my skin and the mate mark bloomed hot and perfect. 

Dear Moon Goddess…what was my offence?

I slowly moved my hand under the edge of my dress and found the scar along my ribs. My skin was hot and pain shot through me. 

I gasped and jerked my hand away, but it was too late. It was as if the mark woke up angry because the pain raced across my side, it was so sharp and cruel.  

I curled forward with a low sound tearing out of my throat.

Stop… Please stop. I beg you. 

I tried to breathe through it like I used to breathe through shifting pain, but this was different. This was punishment and every heartbeat made it worse, every memory of him made it worser.

I saw him laughing under the snow. The way he held me after my mother died. I saw him on his knees in front of the pack swearing I would be Luna. 

I saw the moment he marked me, how his silver eyes glowed, his mouth on my skin, and the bond snapped into place like the world finally made sense to me. 

The mark burned hotter and tears ran down my face. I rocked back and forth, biting my lip until I had blister on my lip.

I hate you…I love you. I…I…I just hate that I love you.

The pain climbed higher, spreading across my chest, and down my arm. My fingers went numb. I clawed at the fabric, trying to rip it away from the scar, but the burn lived under my skin. 

I forced my eyes open and stared at the wall. I purposely didn’t scream, I need to learn to control it instead of giving it that power over me.  

My body wouldn’t listen, before I knew it I was soaked in sweat and my teeth chattered even though I was burning all over. 

I dragged myself across the floor until I reached the bed and pulled myself onto it. I lay on my side, shaking, my hand pressed over the mark hoping it would stop.

The heat pulsed, once, twice as if it was breathing right next to me. 

I froze. It wasn’t random, it had rhythm and pulsed the way Rhydian’s heartbeat pulsed. 

I was familiar with his heartbeat because I slept on his chest for years. I had felt it speed up when I kissed his neck. I had felt it slow when he fell asleep with his arms around me. 

Wait. Was the mark answering to him? He was feeling me too? Was my wolf driving him mad the same way his memories drove me? 

Was he somewhere right now pressing his hand to his chest wondering why it hurt so much?

The thought of him feeling that way was supposed to make me happy, atleast he wouldn’t have peace but guess what? It didn’t. 

It made the pain worsen because that meant the bond was still alive. Since it was alive then it’s obviously twisted, broken and reversed like the mark on me. 

I curled tighter, my knees were almost to my chin. The tears wouldn’t stop, I was tired of crying in this body and so tired of feeling everything twice as hard. 

I tried to push him out of my head, so I counted my breaths and named every herb on the shelves. I even recited the pack laws, still nothing worked. 

The second I let my guard down he was there again in my thoughts. 

His hands in my hair, his mouth on my mark the night he claimed me and the way he looked at me when he thought I was sleeping. 

The mark flared so bright I cried out. Violet light came out between my fingers, and lit up the dark room. 

My skin felt like it was splitting open.

I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. My chest heaved, and the heartbeat under mine sped up too. 

Whenever he moved, it sped up faster and closer to my ears. 

The thought hit me. The pain wasn’t just memory anymore, it was distance closing in. 

Every step he took toward this cottage, the mark punished me….rewarded me. I could not tell which.

I sat up slowly. My hand stayed pressed to my side and the glow pulsed steady now.

How close was he?

I slid off the bed and walked to the window. My legs shook but they held as I walked. 

I pulled the curtain aside with one finger and looked out. I didn’t see anything but snow and trees. The forest was white and airy. 

But I felt him. Maybe North, two miles or less coming towards the forest faster. 

Wolf or man I didn’t know, but I felt something coming.

The mark burned hotter, and brighter, until the violet light filled the room. Pain, pull and promise all mixed together.

I closed the curtain and leaned my forehead against a broken mirror. My breath fogged it up.

I should run….maybe I should hide, but I wasn’t ready. 

My magic was wild, my heart was broken and my wolf was trapped inside him. How do I run?

I tried leaving the window but instead my feet moved towards the door. 

Despite what I was going through now, even after everything, a part of me still wanted to run to him. Maybe that’s why the mark burned hotter. 

The mark knew it that’s why it glowed fiercely and steadily, lighting up every dark corner of the room.

Rhydian is close.