All Chapters of Marked by The Alpha Mated to His Brother : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

92 Chapters

Borrowed Time. pt.2

Winter's POVDerrick shook his head, though the smile lingering on his face hadn't quite disappeared."I've survived worse than paperwork.""I'm not entirely convinced.""You wound me.""I've seen that stack.""It has certainly tried."Another laugh escaped me, softer this time, and I found myself returning to the reports in my hands. Most were sealed with different insignias—the border patrol, treasury, western settlements, and several from allied territories requesting audiences.Without really thinking about it, I began arranging them into separate piles.Military.Political.Economic.Internal affairs.Derrick looked up after signing the first page."...You've done this before."I glanced at him."My mother always sorted Father's correspondence before meetings. She said if people insisted on overwhelming him, the least she could do was make sure he drowned in an organized fashion."A quiet chuckle escaped him."I think I would have liked your mother.""You would.""And I think she

The Weight of A Scent.

Winter's POVNight settled over the palace with a quiet grace that almost made the world seem ordinary.Almost.The corridors glowed beneath enchanted lanterns, their warm golden light stretching across polished stone floors as servants carried the last of the dinner trays toward the kitchens. Somewhere deeper within the palace, music drifted faintly from a group of younger wolves celebrating a successful patrol. Laughter echoed briefly before disappearing around a corner.Life continued.As though nothing had changed.As though my world hadn't quietly split into pieces.I lingered outside Derrick's room after dinner, the conversation we'd shared refusing to leave my thoughts.His words replayed themselves over and over."It nearly cost me Sabrina."Every time I remembered the calm way he'd said it, something twisted painfully inside my chest.Sabrina laughed through almost everything.She argued with healers.She terrified recruits.She somehow made everyone around her feel safer sim

The consequences of my actions.

Winter's POV I smiled sheepishly as I stepped into the room, balancing the tray carefully in my hands. "I've been promoted from Alpha?" Sabrina didn't answer. I look over her shoulder. She had been rearranging the bandages on her shoulder without looking at me, clearly assuming whoever had entered was someone she knew. But now she had gone completely still. Slowly, almost mechanically, she turned toward me. Her expression remained blank. Then I noticed it. Her nose twitched. Once. Then again. A tiny movement. So small I might have missed it if I hadn't been watching her. I would've probably missed it if I'd blinked. The silence stretched between us as I waited for her to laugh. Or at the very least, smile. She didn't. Sabrina does none of those things. Instead, the color seemed to drain from her face. "...Winter?" I frowned. "Last time I checked." Her eyes narrowed, not in suspicion but in concentration. She inhaled again, longer this time, and w

The cost of a split heart.

Winter's POV Neither of us spoke for a while. The tray of food sat untouched between us, its warmth slowly giving way to the cool night air drifting through the open window. Somewhere outside, crickets sang beneath the moonlight, their steady chorus filling the silence neither of us seemed eager to break. Sabrina was the first to move. She reached for the bowl of soup, took a careful spoonful, then frowned. "It needs more salt." I blinked, momentarily thrown off by the mundane complaint. "That's your conclusion?" She looked at me over the rim of the bowl, her sharp gaze cutting through the dim lamplight. "My conclusion is that if I'm going to contemplate the possible collapse of diplomatic relations between two kingdoms, I'd rather not do it over bland soup." Despite everything, a genuine laugh escaped me, cracking the icy wall of anxiety that had been building in my chest all evening. "There she is," I murmured. "There who is?" "Sabrina." She smiled faintly,

Teaside Talks

Winter's POV I pause as a sudden realization chills me. "Did he—" She nods, her expression turning somber. "Keon told me about your second attack. He knew I needed to understand the full scope of the danger we're dealing with if I'm going to help get it out." She takes another bite from the dish tray, chewing thoughtfully before continuing. "As I was saying. The first thing Derrick asked when we arrived was about you. Not the treaty, not the perimeter security, not the casualty report. You. Wonder why?" I tilt my head in confusion, my brows furrowing. I think about what she'd just said earlier, trying to piece the puzzle together, but the logic feels just out of reach. "I don't get it. Why would a scent marker make him drop his guard?" She sighs. "Sometimes I forget you're not a werewolf. In our world Winter, you don't live in a world governed by instincts you can't see, smell or feel. Wolves rule, live by, and establish dominance by their senses, one of which is the sense of

Flashbacks

Winter's POV I lowered my eyes, watching the moonlight ripple faintly across the surface of the nearly finished tea in Sabrina’s cup. The pale liquid caught the silver light, trembling slightly with every heavy breath I took. I had never narrated this to anyone other than Mother, and now that it was finally out in the open, the space between us felt entirely rearranged. "I don't think I told you everything," I murmured, my voice barely carrying over the crackle of the hearth. Sabrina had just taken another bite of the berry dessert. She paused mid-chew, her sharp gaze locking onto mine as she slowly swallowed. She set her spoon down with deliberate care, the soft clink against the ceramic sounding remarkably loud in the quiet room. "Considering we've spent the last hour discussing what might become the greatest diplomatic headache of the century," she said, her dry tone laced with a sudden, underlying tension, "that's a rather concerning sentence. What didn't you tell me?" I dr

A shoulder to lean on.

Winter's POV: Neither of us spoke for several minutes. The fire had burned lower in the hearth, leaving the room bathed in soft amber and silver where the moonlight slipped through the curtains. Somewhere outside, rain tapped gently against the stone balcony, a rhythmic, soothing backdrop to the storm that had just settled between us. Sabrina broke the silence first. "...Can I see it?" I looked up, momentarily taken aback by the request. "The mark," she clarified, speaking carefully this time, as if handling something incredibly fragile. "The soulmate mark." For a heartbeat, I simply stared at her. The secret had been hidden under layers of fabric and concealment charms for so long that revealing it felt like exposing a raw nerve. Then, without a word, I nodded. I stood from the chair, suddenly very aware of my own body again. Derrick's oversized shirt hung loosely around my frame, the soft fabric brushing against my thighs as I turned around, turning my back to her. "It isn'

Flashbacks from a haunted night.

Keon's POV:Sleep had become a courtesy I occasionally extended to my body. Nothing more.The dawn hadn't yet broken, but the palace was already beginning to stir beneath my window. Guards changed shifts below in practiced, rhythmic silence, their armor clinking softly in the heavy air. Life continued. It always did, entirely indifferent to the wreckage left in its wake.I rested both hands against the cold stone railing of the balcony, leaning my weight forward and letting the rain-soaked wind strike my face. The icy droplets bit into my skin, but it still wasn't enough to drown out her scent.Gods. Even after washing. Even after changing clothes twice. Even after forcing myself to stay on the absolute opposite side of the palace, away from her wing of the castle, she lingered. Not on my skin, where the physical trace could be scrubbed away, but somewhere deep beneath it. The bond pulsed quietly beneath my ribs, simply existing.I closed my eyes, a heavy sigh escaping into the dark

South Bound.

Keon's POV: The torch fell back into place with a heavy, metallic thud as the massive oak doors slammed shut behind us. This room, its history ran deep into the very bedrock of our territory. It was a space built on ancient foundations, a chamber designed for a past that our ancestors had tried to bury. Four Clans. One table. Some clans had stood the test of time, adapting and surviving the turning of the ages, while others had vanished completely into ash and memory. Yet, through the rise and fall of regimes, one thing had remained completely constant. The table remained. Carved from a single, gargantuan slab of black granite, its polished surface formed an enormous, intricate compass. North. East. West. South. Time and centuries of heavy use had weathered the edges smooth, but not even the turning of the world had managed to shift its direction. Legend claimed that before the Great Wolf-Witch War, the stone compass had turned freely, spinning on a mystical axis to refl

The Man Behind the Shadows.

Keon's POV: The chamber had become so quiet that the steady, low hiss of the burning torches seemed to echo off the vaulted ceiling. Not a single chair scraped against the stone floor. Not a single person shifted their weight. Even the oldest, most battle-hardened wolves in the room knew better than to interrupt Derrick once he reached this point. He stood over the old Delta without crowding him. He didn’t need to. The sheer difference in height and presence alone was enough to pin the man in place. "...Let's start again," Derrick’s voice remained cool, almost conversational, cutting through the heavy air. "Where were you yesterday?" The old Delta swallowed hard, his eyes darting briefly toward the ancient black granite table before locking back onto the prince. "I... I already submitted my official report, Prince Derrick—" "You did," Derrick agreed with a slow nod, his expression entirely unreadable. "And it was false." A sharp muscle jumped beneath the old wolf's jaw, th

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