All Chapters of Marked by the Lycan Prince: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

DARIANIt’s been weeks since that conversation with my father.Weeks since he stood in my room and reminded me, again, that my life isn’t mine.Since then, I’ve done what was expected of me.I smiled in public. Took Adira to the autumn gala. Held her hand through the pack walk last weekend. She wore red, of course. The color of power. Of union. Of bloodlines.She kissed me on the cheek in front of the pack members, and I let her.The moment was captured, posted, shared across our territories. My father showed it to me the next morning over breakfast with the smug satisfaction of a man who believes his plan is unfolding perfectly.“You’re making me proud, son,” he said.I didn’t respond.I haven’t responded to much lately.The weight of pretending is a quiet kind of violence. One that doesn’t leave bruises, but eats at you slowly from the inside. And the worst part is that no one sees it.I haven’t stepped foot in Iris’s room since that night.I thought if I kept my distance, if I star

DARIANThe moment I step into the Haven, something feels off.It’s in the air. Heavy. Like tension pressed into the walls, waiting. I ignore it at first. Could be me, maybe I’m still carrying the scent of her on my skin, the feel of her in my hands, the ache of her voice still soft in my head.But then I turn the corner into the main living room and stop.My father is seated at the center, his posture regal and sharp, dressed in his usual black. To his left, Adrian. To his right, Zeus. And Kelvin on the couch, looking unusually alert for this early in the morning.All three of them look at me when I walk in. And I know that this isn’t nothing. This isn’t coincidence. This is… planned. What’s wrong?I don’t let my face shift. Don’t blink. I straighten up and keep walking.“Good morning,” I say, voice even.My father’s eyes stay fixed on me as he replies, “Where have you been?”I freeze. Just for a second. He’s never cared before. Not where I go, not what I do. Why now?I glance at Ad

ZEUSThe whiskey burns as it goes down, but I welcome it. It’s the only kind of warmth I trust. Everything else; people, promises, bonds, is fickle. A distraction. A liability.I sink deeper into the armchair, swirling the amber liquid in my glass, watching the light fracture through it. The silence in my room is thick, like smoke after a war. The kind that settles after something destructive has already been set in motion.And it has.My plan.Finally.Falling into place.It started weeks ago. The night I passed by Adrian’s room, and overheard him and Darian whispering like schoolboys trying to keep secrets from the headmaster. I was going to walk by, pretend I heard nothing, until I heard the name.Iris.The girl he marked.My brother. The future Lycan king. Reduced to a mess over a college girl.At first, I stood there, confused. Why would Darian, of all people, throw away everything he was trained for? Everything we were raised for? But then it hit me. This… this was the crack in

DARIANI storm out of the dining room barely seconds after Zeus slips away with Father. The weight of everything I just endured settles deep into my bones, and I need to get away from the suffocating silence that trails behind their departure. Adrian is right behind me, but I don’t care. I’m not in the mood for company, not his smirks or his twisted kind of support.The hallway stretches before me, dim and long, the shadows crawling along the walls like dark fingers trying to pull me under. My fists clench tightly at my sides, knuckles turning white with the force. Anger simmers low inside me, a steady fire I can’t extinguish. The words from the dining room replay over and over in my head; Zeus’s betrayal, Father’s coldness towards me. How could he do that? How could he let it happen?Without thinking, I slam my fist hard into the wall. The plaster cracks loudly beneath my knuckles, the sharp sting radiating up my arm but barely registering. I punch again, harder this time, needing

IRISI storm out of the building, barely remembering to shut the study room door behind me. My heart is hammering in my chest, my thoughts spinning. Zeus. Darian. Me.Of all the people who could have told Zeus about the mark… only one name sticks.Daisy.She’s the only other person who knew. The only one I ever trusted with something that fragile. And now? Now, everything is unraveling. Darian’s being cornered, Zeus is playing a game I don’t understand, and I feel like a pawn someone’s moving without my permission.I don’t hesitate. I don’t text. I don’t call. I head straight for the art building, my boots thudding across the campus walkway as the sky darkens with early evening clouds. Daisy usually stays in the studio after classes, finishing commissions or painting for fun.And she’s there. I can already smell the paint through the crack in the door.But when I push it open, my feet freeze on the spot.They don’t see me at first.Daisy is in Zeus’s arms, their bodies pressed tightly