All Chapters of Marked In the Dark,Married In Disguise : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I wore my best underwear under my coat that night, and that was the first stupid thing I did.It was a plain black set. I bought it with money I saved from three months of washing dishes in the pack kitchen. I kept thinking about it as I climbed the stairs of the Ashfall guest house, because thinking about it was easier than thinking about my heart. It was pounding so hard I was sure the whole pack could hear it.Tonight was Blood Moon Night. Every wolf over nineteen in Hollowmere and Ashfall had waited all year for it. When the moon turned red, wolves could smell their fated mates from across a field. Everyone said it was the most beautiful night of your life.I did not expect a fated mate. My name is Mira Hale. I am nineteen years old, the daughter of our pack Gamma, and I have no wolf.When I turned thirteen, my friends started hearing voices in their heads. They shifted for the first time and ran through the trees on four legs, laughing together in their minds. I sat on the porch

"Mother!" Selene's voice rang through the whole house. "Mother, come quickly! You have to see this!"I tried to cover my neck again, but she grabbed both my wrists. Her nails dug into my skin. Downstairs the music stopped. Heavy steps came up the back stairs, and a moment later my stepmother Vivienne filled the doorway in her green silk dress, a glass of wine still in her hand."What is all this noise? Our guests can hear you.""Look at her neck," Selene sang. "The wolfless freak has been busy."Vivienne's eyes dropped to my neck. The glass slipped from her fingers and broke on the tiles. She did not even look at it.For three seconds nobody spoke. Then she crossed the room, took my chin in her cold hand, and turned my head toward the light."Close the door, Selene.""But Father should know.""Close it."Selene obeyed, pouting. Vivienne kept staring at the mark. She did not look angry, and that scared me more. She looked like a woman doing sums."Who did this to you?" she asked, very

"Not you," Vivienne said again, softer this time, like she was talking to a child.Then her fingers closed on my arm.She did not pull hard. She did not have to. Vivienne had a way of holding you that made you feel like a dog on a short rope. She walked me out of my room and down the back stairs, the narrow ones the servants used. Her heels clicked on every step. Click. Click. Click. My bare feet made no sound at all."Where are we going?" I whispered."Somewhere you will be safe.""You mean somewhere he won't find me."She did not answer. That was answer enough.We passed the big kitchen. It was empty, which never happened at this time of the morning. The pots were still on the fire. A knife lay on the cutting board next to half an onion. Everyone had run out to see the Blackfang cars. Through the back door I could hear the noise of the whole pack gathering in the square. Voices. Running feet. A baby crying.My mother was not there. I looked for her in every corner, but she was gone.

*Kael took one more step toward the house.I dropped down from the barrel so fast that my knees hit the stone floor. Pain shot up my legs, but I did not make a sound. I pressed my back against the cold wall under the grate and held my bleeding hand against my chest.*He heard me. He heard me. Goddess help me, he heard me.*Outside, Dorian was still screaming. It was a broken sound now, more like crying. People were shouting. Someone yelled for a healer. But under all that noise I could hear something else.Footsteps. Heavy, slow footsteps, crossing the square toward the house."Alpha?" That was Rowan's voice. "Alpha, what is it?"Kael didn't answer him. The footsteps kept coming.Then I heard heels. Fast heels, clicking on the stones, almost running."Alpha Kael!" Vivienne's voice was high and bright, the voice she used for important guests. "Alpha, please. Is something wrong? Can I help you?""Something is in that house.""In my house?" She laughed a little. It sounded wrong, too ti

My father stood in the kitchen doorway with the letter in his hand, looking at me like I was a sack of gold he had just found in the road."Another daughter of my house," he said slowly. "Well, well."I was still on the floor where he had knocked me down. My cheek was throbbing. My mother was kneeling beside me with her hands on my shoulders."Father," I whispered. "What does it mean?""It means," he said, "that for once in your useless life, you will be good for something."Behind him, Vivienne came into the doorway. Her face had gone pale when she heard the letter. I saw it. For one second, she looked afraid. Then I watched her think. I watched the fear go out of her eyes and something cold and clever come into them.And then she smiled."Garrick, darling," she said, putting her hand on his arm. "This is wonderful news.""It is?" My father looked surprised. Even he could see that she should be angry. Her own daughter had been passed over as the bride."Of course it is. Selene is his