บททั้งหมดของ Marked and forsaken : บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

“💔🖤My legs carry me forward, each step heavy with the weight of how much more my heart will have to bear if the rift between Rauth and me stretches any further.” “How do I survive knowing I am losing the very man I have always known loved me? I trained my heart for years to love him, to stand by his side. Now it feels impossible even to ask my heart to draw a single breath without him.” The memories come, unbidden. Sweet at first—our childhood, our secret world, the bond we thought unbreakable. But sweetness twists to ache, off: “…those same memories remind me of all we stand to lose. Sharp as a knife, even as I cling to them.” I was glad, only days ago, to learn Rauth was Vaelor. Joy so fierce it almost remade me. Now guilt swallows it whole. He knew me at first sight. He carried that truth in silence while I stayed beside him for years, saying nothing. Not once did I whisper the words burning in me: thank you for coming back. . “Then came the first crack in our bond—m

“And Serenya,” he says softly, “we could go to the cliff together anytime you want.” I bathe my eyelids in comfort at his words, warmth blooming in my chest. He means I can always come to him, always speak. “Yes, my Alpha. Please take care of yourself.” “Shouldn’t I be telling you that?” he teases. “Then I will take care of myself, my Alpha,” I answer, smiling. The air fills with our easy laughter—until a voice cuts through. “My lady,” a sentinel calls from behind. “The Alpha requests you.” My gaze flickers in total shock. The last thing I expected to hear. “Greetings, great Alpha,” the sentinel bows to him. He nods calmly, his eyes shifting back to me. “Go and see Rauth.” “Yes, my Alpha.” I bow, my heart stuttering as I turn to leave. My heart leaps, almost painfully. A call from Rauth—at last. After so long waiting, even a single word from him feels like it might hold me together. “Where is he?” I ask. “My lady, he should be at the outer edge of the hall. I

At night, he clings to me as if I’m the last thing keeping him from the dark. His hands tighten around mine in sleep, his breath slow and warm. But in the daylight he drifts—his eyes far away, his heartbeat cold and distant even when we stand shoulder to shoulder. When we come face to face it’s worse. I can feel him looking through me, like I’m invisible. I’ve never seen love shouted into silence before. Yet here it is, a perfect example: a man who wants nothing of me awake, but sleeps soundly at my side, fingers locked in mine as though I were air he couldn’t breathe without. Ironically, he’s the one mourning. I’m the one who can’t close my eyes. Get off me, I think, before gently pulling my hand free. He mumbles something in his sleep—“Queen! —but doesn’t wake. Inside the den, the air feels heavy, unbreathable. I slip outside into the night. The moon and stars wait above, cold and bright. I walk toward the silver disc as though drawn by a tide, but the more I move, the further i

The sun has begun its slow descent when I return home — that quiet hour when the day exhales and the shadows start to breathe. The air feels heavy, stretched thin between gold and dusk. Something in it warns me. My thoughts freeze at the sight of Rauth dismissing Lucan at our chamber door. His tone low, final. Lucan bows once. Rauth slips inside and shuts the door behind him. I stay hidden in the archway until the echo fades, then step forward. Lucan straightens the instant he sees me. “My lady.” “Lucan,” I say, voice level but firm, “is there something I should know?” He shifts, uncertain. “My lady… there’s something, yes. But he should be the one to tell you.” “Lucan.” My tone cuts sharper now. “If I had to come ask you, doesn’t that tell you I can’t ask Rauth?” He bows lower, voice dropping to a murmur. “Forgive me, my lady. The thing is—” he glances toward the door, “—we sent an eye to the west. But he didn’t return. So he sent another one today.” I hold his gaze.

🥀 I can do it My return in the morning from the camp sets me on edge — every step feels heavy with what my next move might cost the ones I love. I turn back — Rauth’s sentinels. Two of them. The first and second eyes he sent to the west days ago. They look as though their last strength barely carried them here — one collapses instantly, the other staggers, clutching him upright. I rush to them. The one still standing bows, breath ragged. “My lady.” The other barely manages a murmur, but I catch it. We drag them inside. Others gather quickly, the air tightening with alarm — and then Rauth steps out of his room. His voice cuts through the noise, sharp, tense. “What happened?” The standing sentinel speaks first, gasping. “There’s been an ongoing battle in the West — between the Alpha clan and the Luna tribe.” At the word Luna, his gaze flickers toward me. The question lodges in my throat — What? He continues. “I found him—” he gestures to the fallen one, “—b