All Chapters of Marked by the Ruthless Alpha: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Alpha KaiThe silence presses in on me from all sides.She stands by the desk, arms folded loosely across her stomach, her expression unreadable. Not angry. Not soft. Just guarded. Shielded. Like she is bracing for whatever I’m about to say, because experience has taught her nothing good comes from me.And gods, knowing I put that look on her face knowing I earned it burns.I run a hand through my hair, exhaling slowly. My palms are sweating, my chest tight, and for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like an Alpha.I feel like a man who has broken something fragile without knowing how to mend it.“Aliya” Her name tastes rough in my mouth, thick with guilt. “I”But the words get stuck in my mouth. I have given orders my whole life. Threats. Commands. Warnings. Those come easily. But this? Apologizing? Admitting fault? Showing a crack in the armor?It twists something inside me.Still, I force myself to try again. “I owe you an apology.”Her head lifts slightly at that, but he

JacksonI shouldn’t have come. I knew that with every breath, every step I took closer to the house. I could already feel the pull sweet, dangerous, undeniable tightening around my ribs like a snare. But I still found myself standing on her porch in the dark, heart beating too fast for a grown man let alone a wolf who’d been trained his entire life to master control.The moonlight spilled pale across the wood, and I raised my hand to knock even though I knew I shouldn’t. Even though my mom’s voice was still ringing in my skull.Stay away from her, Jackson. She is not just human, she is Kai’s wife. You go near her again and everything we have been working for will burn.But I knocked anyway. Soft. Shameful.The door creaked open and there she was Aliya. Wearing a loose sweater with sleeves pulled down to her wrists. Her hair tied up messily like she didn’t care how she looked. Eyes still swollen from crying earlier. And she still managed to look like something the moon itself carved o

AliyaI spent the rest of the day pacing around my room like a nervous teenager waiting for exam results. I told myself I wasn’t nervous, that I wasn’t waiting for Kai, that I wasn’t wondering if he’d changed his mind about the trip. But I kept glancing at the doorway like he might appear at any second, and every time a floorboard creaked in the hallway, my breath caught.It was pathetic, really, this little flicker of hope that kept nudging the edges of my chest.Hope that maybe, just maybe, this could be the start of something better. Something real. Something like love.My whole life, I had been starved of tenderness. Starved of someone choosing me for more than what I could do or what I could offer. And even though Kai had been nothing but storms since the day I stepped foot into this pack, today he defended me. And earlier, he apologized. His voice had cracked. His eyes had softened. For the first time, I saw something in him that didn’t hurt.It was foolish to cling to it. I kne

Aliya The Morning light spills across my bed in thin, warm stripes, but it does nothing to soothe the chaos inside my chest. I have been awake long before the sun even bothered to rise. Sleep barely touched me, flickering in and out like a dying flame, my mind looping around the same three things over and over again: Kai’s apology.Kai’s suggestion we go away together. Jackson’s reaction.Every time I think about any of them, it’s like a different part of my body tightens. My throat. My stomach. My fists. But I force myself to move.If I lie here too long, I will drown in all the questions I’m not ready to answer.So I climb out of bed, stretch the stiffness from my limbs, and begin packing.The trip is supposed to be a “honeymoon,” though I can’t bring myself to call it that. People who call something a honeymoon are usually married for love. Or at least affection.I married because it was what was expected of me. Because it was what Kai wanted. Because it was what everyone said was

AliyaThe airport was loud. Too loud.Voices echoed, rolling over each other announcements blaring, luggage wheels scraping the tile floors, children whining, alpha wolves pacing in protective tension. The air smelled like coffee, perfume, jet fuel, and anticipation.And I was just floating in the middle of it all.Not part of Kai’s world. Not part of Jackson’s world. Not part of any world, really.Just existing. We walked through the private terminal, the three of us but it still felt like me and them. Kai and Jackson moved with the ease of experience, shoulders squared, posture relaxed but alert. Meanwhile, I clutched my small travel bag like it was a lifeline.Kai didn’t look back to check if I was keeping up. Jackson didn’t slow down either.I followed anyway.The private jet waited for us outside sleek, silver, large enough to fit twenty people even though it was just the three of us. The breeze carried the scent of sea air and hot pavement, whipping my hair into my face. I tuc