All Chapters of Marked and forsaken : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The ache holds me so tightly I do not hear Dolly shut her windows. I jerk upright. The shutters across the way are already closed. She is gone. I rush out, chasing through the lanes, eyes searching, every turn feeding and then swallowing hope. My steps drag me through winding paths until — there. On an unimportant road, I see her. My gaze narrows. A tavern? Why is Dolly going to a tavern this early? She must be hiding something. I tail her, slipping between shutters and carts, keeping to shadows. Inside, she sits at a low table, surrounded by alcohol-struck she-wolves and two male. My chest tightens. So these are the lunatics she sent after my son. I pivot to check my back. When I look again, Dolly is gone. A blade presses cold to my neck. “Why are you following me?” I exhale sharp. She knows who it is. Her only curiosity is why. I press myself against the knife, shift so the edge glances off my shoulder as I rise. Dolly’s face hardens, then dims — a mask sliding into place

I slowly pulled away from my mother’s presence—and collided with a female guard. “I’m sorry, my lady,” she blurted, urgent but not afraid. “What is it?” I asked. “I need to see the Luna. The Alpha King is here.” My stomach twisted. My hands jerked, useless and shaking. “Listen to me,” I said sharply. “Do not let him in.” She met my eyes—but didn’t move. “Let him in,” my mother’s voice cut in behind me. The guard moved at once. My mother stepped close, her hand settling on my shoulder. “You will confront him,” she whispered. My heart went cold. I had never imagined facing him like this. Unplanned. Unprepared. “Go, Sereyna,” she added. I moved—before I could even stop myself. Before I could even see his face. “What are you doing here?” I demanded. Then my eyes found him. Varyn stood in full kingly attire, power clinging to him like a living thing. My breath hitched. “I’ve come my true mate to take you and my son,” he said, his voice cutting straight into my anger. “Ho

” How do you mean my love? You can’t be so sure the outcast will never dare to betray me , he say ”Yeah I know ,I wish I had better explanation but I have a strong feeling about it.” “That morning, as I left, a shadow passed me in the woods. At my mother’s land, I saw a wolf in outcast attire. And again …” I pause, “…how did Varyn’s mate know I had your mark burning on my left chest? She reached for it… accurately.” Rauth’s eyes darken instantly, his jaw tightening. The shadow of danger slides over him, sharp and silent. “It could be anyone,” I murmur. “One of the outcast we trust… feeding information, plotting against us.” He takes a slow, deliberate breath, fangs glinting . His eyes scan the room, sharp and calculating, every corner seeming to hold a threat. “The pack cannot know… not yet,” he says. “If the betrayer senses we’re aware, we lose everything.” Even in his calm, I can feel the storm coiling beneath the surface—the wolf ready to strike at anyone daring to betray us.

New days are marked by the pale strip of light through the high window; night swallows me when it fades. My cell door groans open, then slams shut. The faint light from above struggles to catch the face of the figure moving closer, shadow clinging tight around her. A hand strikes swift, clamping my throat, pinning me against the stone. With my hands bound behind me, breath burns in my chest. I throw a desperate kick, and my heel drives her into the shaft of light. My eyes widen. “Otsana.” “Yes, my lady.” Her glare cuts like a claw before she sweeps my legs out from under me. I crash to the floor, betrayal heavier than the fall. “So it was you,” I rasp. “Why? Why betray the pack that sheltered you—gave you a home when you had nowhere?” Her slap lands like judgment. “Rejected mate . All this is your fault. My spirit stirs in disbelief. Me? “Yes—you. You came from nowhere and ruined everything.” My memories scatters . Rage and confusion twist inside me. What did I ever do Otsana

“We run another stretch, lungs burning, until the trees break. An open field yawns before the west castle. I freeze. My chest locks, heart hammering. Rauth stands tall, head high, outnumbered by the West packs, a clutch of his Sentinels at his side. Then—Varyn’s voice cuts from the high walls of the castle. “I know you knew Serenya had been with me—yet you kept her at your side, and even dared to mark her. Rule-breaker!” Rauth eyes locked on Varyn. A chuckle escapes him. “Yes, brother. I did. Isn’t that what outlaws do?” “The sight of their clash knocks the ground from under me. My legs falter, balance gone, as dread of what might come grips me.” But the nerve of you, to come here with that attitude,” Varyn taunts, circling Rauth. His smile is a blade. “I don’t see why you’re pained. You took advantage of her, and when you were done you discarded her behind some mark’s defense. Now you stand here—an Alpha without honor—lecturing me about rule-breaking?” “Watch your mouth, Rauth