All Chapters of Marked in the Middle: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

The first light after the Blood Moon bled slowly over Viremont, washing away the crimson haze that had clung to the city like a curse. The streets were quiet now—too quiet. The fires had burned themselves out, leaving behind the stench of smoke, blood, and something else… grief.I stood on the balcony of the half-ruined council hall, overlooking what was left of the western district. The once-bustling roads were cracked and empty. The Silver Ash banners hung in tatters. Bodies—some human, some wolf—were being gathered by survivors in silence.It didn’t feel like victory.Behind me, footsteps approached—steady, familiar. I didn’t turn.“I thought you’d still be sleeping,” I said quietly.Roman’s voice was rough, still weak from his wounds. “And let you face this alone?”I turned to see him leaning against the doorway, shirt torn and arm bandaged, but his eyes were sharp again. The wildness from the Blood Moon was gone, replaced by something heavier. Something human.“You shouldn’t be u

The city slept under a sheet of cold rain, and Viremont’s neon lights looked like dying stars bleeding into puddles. Nora stood by the cracked window of Kael’s apartment, watching the droplets race each other down the glass. Her reflection looked hollow — dark eyes, tired mouth, the faint line of a scar just below her jaw. The mark of survival. The mark of everything she’d lost and everything she wasn’t sure she wanted to keep.Behind her, the clock ticked quietly. Kael was asleep on the couch, one arm thrown over his face, gun still within reach. His chest rose and fell in the rhythm of exhaustion, but Nora could tell his sleep was shallow. None of them truly rested anymore.The pendant — that cursed silver thing that had caused blood to spill and lives to crumble — lay on the table between them, glinting faintly under the low light. Its once-bright glow had dimmed, replaced by something heavy and pulsing, like a dying heart refusing to quit.Nora turned

The air outside the tunnel still smelled of smoke and burnt ozone. Every breath scraped Nora’s lungs, but she kept walking. The forest was silent again — unnaturally so — the kind of silence that followed after something ancient had been awakened.Kael limped behind her, muttering curses every few steps. “Next time,” he grumbled, “we’re finding a fight that doesn’t end with me half-dead and you glowing like a damn sun.”Roman ignored him, his attention fixed on Nora. “You sure you’re alright?”“Define alright,” she said hoarsely, clutching her arm. Her sleeve was soaked in blood where the blade had grazed her, but that wasn’t what hurt the most. It was the pendant — or what was left of it. The cracked silver rested against her collarbone, its once-steady pulse now flickering like a dying heartbeat.Roman’s gaze dropped to it. “That thing… it reacted like it was alive.”“It was alive,” she said quietly. “Or maybe it still is.”He

The dawn came sharp and silver, slicing through the clouds like a blade.Viremont was still asleep when Nora stood on the rooftop of the old Council ruins, the wind tangling her hair as she stared out over the battered skyline. Smoke curled from distant chimneys. The city was rebuilding — slower than she’d hoped, faster than she deserved.Below her, Janie barked orders at a group of newly aligned rogues — the ones who’d once fought for the Silver Ash Pack but had since chosen to stay. Their faces were wary, uncertain. Change always looked like a threat before it looked like hope.Roman leaned against the railing behind her, a cigarette between his fingers, unlit. He’d been watching her in silence for almost an hour.“You’ve been up here since before sunrise,” he said finally. “Are you planning to brood yourself into leadership?”Nora smiled faintly. “Brooding worked for you.”He snorted. “That’s because I do it with charm.”T

The night air was thick with the scent of rain and blood. Viremont always smelled like both after a fight — a reminder that peace in this city was nothing but a myth people whispered about to survive.I leaned against the brick wall of the safehouse, blood crusting along my knuckles, my breath shallow. My reflection in the cracked window looked like someone else’s — wild eyes, tangled hair, and that haunted edge that said I’d seen too much.Kael stood across from me, his jacket torn, a shallow cut bleeding down his jaw. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he muttered.I didn’t answer immediately. My body still hummed from the adrenaline. “You mean saving your ass?”He exhaled, a humorless chuckle slipping out. “You call that saving? You nearly got yourself killed, Nora.”I pushed off the wall, limping closer until I could see the flecks of silver still shimmering faintly in his irises — the remnants of the Alpha energy he’d drawn on during th