All Chapters of Marked by the wrong mate. : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I was cold.My wrists ached where the iron shackles bit into my skin. The silver in them burned, not enough to kill me, but enough to remind me that I wasn’t welcome. My feet dragged across the stone floor, slick with dampness and the weight of a thousand footsteps before mine.The two guards who flanked me didn’t speak. I could recognise them. They were the same ones who carried me from the forest. Their silence screamed louder than words. As we entered the high-ceilinged chamber, I lifted my eyes and saw them— the twelve elders, seated in a crescent of black stone chairs that curved like a predator's jaw around the center of the room. They were each of the most feared people in each clan. Why was I here? I was thrown into that center.The floor was carved with the Silverclaw sigil—an open wolf's mouth and a rising moon. Blood had stained the cracks between the stone. My knees hit hard. I stayed there, head bowed."This is the one?" a female elder sneered."The rogue," another spat.

The council room was cold, its stone walls pressing in on me. The air was thick, heavy with the weight of too many eyes. Judging eyes. Everyone was waiting for something to happen. Waiting for Kael’s decision.I stood at the center of the room, my body trembling. Kael was already there. He stood tall and proud at the head of the room, a figure of power and authority. His looked toward me once but quickly looked away, as if he could barely look at me without feeling disgust. He didn’t even speak to me. I felt small. Weak. I didn’t belong in this room. I never had.Toran, the Beta, stepped forward. His sharp gaze swept over the council members seated around the table, and then he addressed Kael. His voice was calm, calculating. "Alpha Kael, you’ve been summoned to decide the fate of the rogue Maya, your... marked mate."The room was quiet as everyone waited for Kael’s response. I held my breath, unsure if I wanted to hear it. I should’ve known better.Kael turned his attention to the

"Rowan!"The voice that shattered the silence was deep and wild, echoing through the trees like a beast had spoken. My body tensed in Rowan's arms. Even in my weakened state, I knew who it was.Kael.Rowan’s muscles stiffened. His steps slowed but didn’t stop. Blood soaked his shirt where the wolves had gotten to him. His breathing was rough, but his grip on me didn’t loosen.I turned my head slightly, my cheek brushing his chest. “Is that... him?” I asked despite knowing the answer. “Yes.”His answer was tight. Cold.Behind us, the forest groaned and growled with approaching footsteps. The hunt wasn’t over. But Rowan kept going, even as the tension in his body trembled with rage.He was afraid. Not of Kael. But what would happen if Kael reached me.---We made it to a clearing where the moonlight poured like silver over the trees. Rowan slowed and carefully set me down on a large stone, gently like I was made of glass.“You’re burning up,” he said, brushing hair away from my face. H

The forest was burning.I stood there, barefoot on the cold earth, the scent of blood and smoke choking the air around me. Shadows danced across the trees, twisting into faces I almost recognized—until they vanished. I tried to move, to run, but my legs felt heavy, rooted like I was part of the forest.That’s when I saw her.Andrea.Her golden hair was tangled, wild, her eyes once warm now glowing red like an ember refusing to die. She stood with her arms outstretched, mouth open in a scream I couldn’t hear. And behind her—“No,” I whispered.Rowan.He stepped from the shadows slowly, his sword glinting with silver in the firelight. Pain flashed across his face. “I’m sorry,” he said.Andrea didn’t flinch. She smiled.Then Rowan struck.A scream tore through my throat before I could stop it, and the dream shattered—I woke up.Gasping. Sweating. My heart pounding so hard it felt like it would break through my ribs.The mark on my neck was burning—glowing. I clawed at it, trying to make

It had been nearly a week since that night—the night that changed everything and yet seemed to change nothing at all. Since then, Kael hasn't come to see me. Not once. Not even to check if I was still breathing.At first, I told myself I didn’t care. That I was relieved. That it was a good thing he’d disappeared after saying it was a mistake. But as the days stretched on in endless silence, I started to feel a shift in myself—something subtle but undeniably real. I was stronger. Not just emotionally, but physically. I could feel it in the way my muscles moved, the way my senses sharpened. My skin buzzed with awareness like it was humming with the energy of something old and powerful.And still, Kael didn’t come.I paced the length of my room, staring at the window he had sealed with wards, the one where the voice had first whispered my name. The mark on my neck remained faintly warm, as if it remembered the fire of that night more clearly than I did. Shame curled in my gut like a seco