All Chapters of Marked For Ruin: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Kara sat in her nest, her resolve solidifying. Before the storm broke, she needed to secure this one last piece of her future. She got to her feet, intending to call for Milo, and opened the suite door.She stopped dead. Lucian was standing right there in the hallway, a silent, immovable sentinel. He hadn't been pacing; he'd just been... standing guard. The sheer protective power of the gesture stole her breath.He looked at her, his expression calm. "Is something wrong?"She found her voice, though it was small and hesitant. "I... I needed to speak with Milo. I have a medical question for him."Lucian simply nodded, not moving from his spot. He spoke quietly into his comms. "Milo, Kara needs you in the west wing." He then met her gaze again, his presence filling the doorway. He was not leaving. He was going to overhear.When Milo arrived moments later, Kara invited him just inside, hyper-aware of the king still listening from the threshold. She to

Pain.Fire.A storm raged inside her, a tempest of need and agony that had no beginning and no end. Her mind was gone, washed away in the fever. All that existed was this endless, churning sea of sensation, a body that was no longer her own.But there was an anchor.Something solid and cool clutched in her hand. A wrist. She clung to it with all her strength, the one real thing in her dissolving world. From it, a scent radiated, a lifeline in the chaos. Pine and ozone and the deep, unshakable strength of a mountain. It didn't stop the pain, but it kept her from being swept away entirely. It was safety. It was Alpha.The combination of the four Alpha scents created a symphony of safety that resonated deep in her soul. Her instincts, so long a source of fear and shame, finally felt... right. They told her she was protected. She was home.The fire in her belly pulsed again, a wave of need that demanded more comfort, more of the groundi

The world was fire and pressure and the devastating taste of him. Lucian's kiss was not a gentle exploration; it was a claiming. Raw, hungry, and possessive, it was a brand on her soul that seared away the last remnants of her fear. His hand tangled in her hair, tilting her head to deepen the angle, while his other arm held her flush against his solid body. She met his ferocity with her own, a needy whimper escaping her as she surrendered completely to the storm. This was what her Omega instincts had craved: a power that didn't seek to break her, but to possess her, to shelter her.And then, he was gone.He pulled back, leaving her lips feeling cold and bruised, her body screaming in protest at the loss of contact. A disoriented, heartbroken cry left her throat as the haze of pure bliss began to recede, the ache in her core returning with a vengeance.(Lucian's POV)Lucian pulled back, his own breath ragged, the taste of her still a fire

The comfort Milo offered was a gentle tide that had soothed the shore of her pain. But the storm of her heat was far from over. A new wave was building, a different kind of wave. The need for gentle quiet was gone, replaced by a deep, primal craving for unshakeable strength.Kara pulled away from Milo, leaving the scent of chamomile behind. He let her go, his eyes wide with surprise as he watched her. She got to her feet, not with the awkwardness of her injury, but with a fluid, predatory grace she hadn't known she possessed. The fire of her heat burned away the pain, leaving only purpose.The world narrowed to a single point of focus. Zaide. He stood across the room, a pillar of coiled muscle and disciplined energy. Her instincts didn't see the suspicious guard; they saw a fortress. A wall. And her Omega nature needed to know if that wall would hold.She stopped directly in front of him, so close she could feel the heat radiating from his body. He didn't move. He was a stone wall, wa

The storm had passed, for now.The violent, all-consuming waves of the heat had receded, leaving behind a warm, languid tide that lapped gently at the shores of her consciousness. She was floating in a peaceful sea of sensation, adrift but not lost. The nest, her nest, was a soft, warm sanctuary, a world of its own. The air was thick with the scents of her new pack, a complex and comforting perfume that told her she was safe. Milo’s gentle chamomile scent was woven into the quilt beneath her head, a promise of healing. Zaide’s scent of leather and steel radiated from the weighted blanket that covered her legs, a promise of steadfast protection. Even Lucian’s powerful aroma of pine and ozone lingered from his brief, intense time in the nest, a promise of ultimate authority and safety.She was boneless, drowsy, her body humming with a low, sated energy. The frantic need had been answered, first by the healer’s kindness, then by the warrior’s strength. For the first time, she felt a sens