Marked By Novels & Stories

Lillianna cried out unable to help herself. He just imprinted his initials onto her body… He pressed it so hard holding her arm hard so she could not go anywhere. He kept it pressed for a few minutes before he pulled it off her. She was in tears. AJ assessed the result before he turned her around roughly and showed the mark to Tristan. “What does that say?” He asked. “It says AJ… AJ… She is now marked. I have branded her as my own. Is that enough for you to understand that she belongs to me!”

I had been able to see the labels above people's heads ever since I was little. When I was three, my grandpa held a family dinner at his house. Dad showed up with his secretary, Vivian Clarke. The moment she walked through the door, she went straight to Mom's seat. She rubbed her lower back and smiled sweetly. "Mrs. Lincoln, I hope you don't mind. Mr. Lincoln and I have been working on a project all day, and we're exhausted." I looked around the room. Above Eric's head was a glaring label. "Cheater." Above Mom's head was a dull gray label. "Loser." And above Vivian's head was a brightly shining label. "Ultimate gold digger." I immediately tugged on Eric's sleeve and asked loudly, "Dad, what

I would throw every last bit of power I had into it. I hunched over, barely noticing the throbbing in my gums as my teeth lengthened, and for a moment my mouth hovered hesitantly over the nape of my mate’s neck. Then I bit down, breaking skin, and the coppery-iron taste of his blood came spilling into my mouth as I Marked him. This is going to scar, I mused cynically to myself, wincing, but the observation lasted for barely a moment before I was plunged into a world of vibrant colors and emotions so overpowering I almost lost my footing at the joy of discovering that something remained of Hector.

she wiggled her brows suggestively. “Shit, we are late.” I stepped out of the car just as she did the same. We both held hands as we hurried to class together after realising we spent a long time chattering away. Macy pulled the door open and we both stepped in. My world tilted the moment I walked in. The chatters of the students faded into a dull hum as the recognition hit me like a physical blow.

My heart was beating faster with every breath I was inhaling. Then, he turned around and walked away. I exhaled a breath, I didn't realise I was holding. But the moment he disappeared into the forest, the mark started burning, it was not the usual itching, it felt like someone was burning my skin from the inside. I held it with my other hand and closed my eyes. I opened my eyes when the pain was gone, but stared at my mark in horror. My mark was bright red.

they said, “we have updates.” Rin huffed. Of course, they opened with that. “First: the mark you sent from the first outpost matches one we found painted on the back wall of a meeting shed in the south quarter. No fire there—just the symbol. Same distortions. Same hand, or same training.” Jax swore under his breath.

“Louder this time. The walls listen.” I swallowed. “Our bodies are vessels,” I recited, voice obedient, familiar words scraping my throat. “Our blood is borrowed. Our breaths are offerings. We are the chosen keepers of the Mark, the last gate between this world and the hunger beneath it.” “And the Mark?” she prompted. The skin on my left shoulder prickled as if it heard her. “The Mark is not a curse,” I said. “The Mark is the seal.” Mother Elara’s gaze softened, but not with affection. With reverence. With fear.

Another memory claws up from where I tried to bury it. My wedding night. The room was dark, shadows everywhere. Agora took his time, stripping me down like I was something to carve, not love. His hands, his mouth, all cold. No warmth. No kindness. Then his teeth. He marked me fast. His canines were tearing in while he whispered against my skin, blood running hot. “Now you’ll never escape me.” My wolf shrieked, fighting, but his mark slammed the door on her, quieted her down to nothing.

LILA'S POV “What happened to your mark?” Theo's eyes moved over my face, and for a second he looked like he didn't understand what I was talking about. Then his gaze dropped to where I was staring. “My mark?” “The infinity mark.” I pointed towards his chest. “It was there before.” Theo looked down at his shirt, then he reached for the collar and pulled it aside, exposing the skin beneath it. I leaned closer. There was there My eyes moved over his chest again, at the dark infinity symbol he had showed me that day.

She is allowed to rest. I stand. I bow to her, formally, the way my father taught me to bow at the Memorial Drifts. I turn to leave the chamber. And on the floor of the chamber, beneath where her body had been lying, I see a glyph carved into the stone. Three concentric circles. A black mark in the inner circle. A silver mark in the second. And in the third — the outermost — a red mark. The red mark is glowing. Faintly. Like an ember through ash.