All Chapters of Marked by fate: Chapter 281 - Chapter 290

Zahra's POVWe run through the dark trees away from the castle. I feel the thrill in my body at leaving that place, but Zanthe is keeping me focused and grounded as she leads her new pack, and all the others, away from the danger. And I know we can't relax until we're safe. Freedom still feels fragile enough to shatter.Periodically I see trees with claw marks slashed into them, and I know we're going the right direction. If I focus, I can also catch the scent of Samuels here and there too, clearly he's been along here repeatedly, which may cause us a problem if any of the guards know what he smells like.The others behind me are quiet as we run at a steady, fast pace. We can't all-out sprint because many of these girls won't keep up, and we've all been locked in a dungeon, chained into uncomfortable positions for months. Running feels almost as alien as the fresh air does, and the moonlight on Zanthe's fur feels. Like my body can't quite believe it's being allowed to do this.'You're

Cole's POVAbout ten minutes pass before another howl goes up, then another, this time from the south-west.I’m already moving before the second one fully fades.Ceraon surges with me as I take off at a run, throwing back a howl of my own for any warriors in the vicinity to follow. I shift as I round the front of the castle, claws tearing into the earth as I hit the lawn at speed—then skid to a halt so hard the grass rips beneath my paws.Bodies.There are bodies sprawled across the grass. Warriors. My warriors.For one sharp, sickening second, I think they’re dead, every one of them cut down where they stood, but then I catch it—heartbeats. Slow and heavy. Not dead, then. Unconscious? I don’t have time to stop check on them.I howl again, louder this time, and a few warriors come running from the castle doors.In their human form.I stare at them for half a second, thrown, but there’s no time to question it yet. I turn and drive forward into the woods, expecting to hear the crack of

Samuels's POVWe run, Onyx just on Zahra’s wolf’s tail, with Levi a few metres behind us. His small brown wolf is going to struggle to keep pace if we have to drive this hard for long, but we don’t have a choice right now. We’ve dispatched the patrols, but someone will have heard their howls, and we’re still too close.Then I hear it, Onyx’s ears picking up a loud howl.Fuck.We put on a burst of speed, Zahra’s wolf and Onyx lengthening their strides the way hours of endurance runs have taught them to do without conscious thought. But the small brown wolf behind us increases his pace instead, scrambling to compensate, and I can already hear his breathing sawing in and out as he starts to fall further back.Fuck.‘We’ll have to leave him. Zahra and the girls are our mission.’Onyx is right, and I know it, but I still feel a flicker of guilt after all Levi’s help. The truth of it is simple. I used him to get them out, but I’m not sacrificing Zahra for him.Another howl goes up, this one

Zarha's POVSamuels keeps slipping precariously from Zanthe’s shoulders as she runs. So far he’s managed to right himself, but I can hear his laboured breathing and the pained wheezing whenever Zanthe’s movement jolts him too hard. My ears strain for the beat of his heart while Zanthe’s swivel to pick up anything and everything around us.My mind wanders to what just happened. The fight between the Beta and Samuels, and Levi... it was all so sudden.He’s dead.Although losing anyone is never ideal, I can’t really bring myself to be sad about it. Yeah, he may have helped Samuels get us out, but I was only in there because of him. He was a dick, and way too clingy and intense. I’m fairly sure he’d convinced himself we were meant to be, or some bullshit. Frankly, I don’t have the time or the capacity to mourn someone who was working for the rogues. I’ve got fifty she-wolves with enough mental trauma to carry without adding him to the list.I feel my pack getting closer, and I know we’re

Samuels's POVI sway back and forth, the movement rhythmic, and although it should be relaxing, something about it is jarring. The world is too unsteady beneath me. It should be soothing, but it isn’t. My stomach twists, and nausea rolls through me as my consciousness returns, the urgency thrumming through me yanking me out of the fog. It feels like I’m dragging myself through rolling waves, which only makes the nausea worse.Water slaps against wood somewhere nearby.As I heave, I roll, the movement and the spasming in my stomach sending knives of pain slicing through my abdomen.Fuck.‘Steady... you’re okay, you’re okay.’That’s Onyx.Relief hits first, sharp and immediate, followed by confusion so abrupt it almost stops me. He’s back. I know he is. But I can’t remember him being gone. Not properly. Just the certainty that something had been missing, and now it isn’t.I empty my stomach again and again into the water below me.Water?‘What’s going on?’ I ask Onyx, but my mind feels