Marking Books Novels & Stories

I clicked buy. We spent the next hour buying picture books, fact books, art supplies, and who knows what else. The cart looked full but not crazy. It looked like thought. It looked like care. Mark let out a breath. “This is good.” I nodded. “Thank you.” He shrugged, still smiling. “I’m excited for you. This is… big.” “It is,” I said. The word felt small for what sat in my chest. He glanced at the closed folder on the table. “Do you want the rest of the updates on Zenith now or later?”

I say. “It sounds like a beautiful mark, Miranda, I’m just not sure what it means,” she says. “Here are a couple books I have on marks; I use them occasionally when I talk to new couples and want to understand the meaning or explain the meaning to them. There will also be additional books in the Pack library as well. It’s located on the third floor,” Lily shares with me. Nodding I thank her and promise I will see her and Jared at supper. As I take the books with me, I think about the marks both Rick and have. They are beautiful and are symbolic to me of our love for one another. But what else could they mean?

Jace says it’s been quiet, but quiet never lasts long in rogue territory. I like the rhythm of it. Scanning trees for broken branches, sniffing for foreign scents, marking our own posts with quick scratches. It’s simple. Physical. No room for overthinking. Until there is. Jace stops abruptly near a cluster of pines. He crouches, fingers brushing the bark. “Fresh,” he mutters. I move closer. There it is: a deliberate claw mark, three parallel lines, shallow but precise. Not deep enough to scar the tree forever, just enough to say *we were here*.

Colin comes in, a wave of surprise hits me, but before I can say anything, Shawn follows him in. “You're here already, Eva.” Colin said, acknowledging me, a wide smile on his lips. “Not too long ago.” I replied, returning the smile. I sneak a glance at Shawn. He watched me like a hawk. Like he knew what I'd been doing. My eyes slowly stray to the big book, just to be sure I had actually closed it. The golden back rested heavily on the rest of the book, “The Codex Luporum” deeply engraved on it, you could pour water in it, and it'll sit comfortably.

I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. “Tonight, the forest will feast,” Marek went on. “You will run. You will fight. Some of you may even survive. The rest…” His grin widened, sharp as a blade. “The rest will decorate our trees.” The Hollowfangs roared their approval. Janie’s hand found mine, her grip trembling so bad it almost hurt. I squeezed back. Then Marek lifted a curved blade, dipped it in a bowl of fresh blood, and raised it toward the rising sun. “Blood for the Hollowfang! Teeth for the Hollowfang! Run, prey — run until your lungs burst.”

"The human." Maya's stomach dropped. "I'm not—" "You are." Wilder cut her off flat. "Marked." He said it like a fact. Like weather. Like something he already owned and didn't need her to confirm. Marlowe laughed. One short, sharp sound with no humor in it. "Marked by you," he said. "Not kept by you. Yet." Then he turned the full weight of his attention on Maya, and his voice changed. Smoother. Almost kind. That was somehow worse.

I remember how amazed she looked as she stared out the window of my office, admiring the view. Mark's office was the complete polar opposite of mine. It was located centrally in the building, meaning that there were no city views. Not only that, but his walls were void of any emotion, not that my office had any either. But his were worse. He had floor-to-ceiling whiteboards used to keep track of all the marketing projects on the go. His office was also quite noisy since it was in the middle of the hub of the marketing department. It was like trying to work in the middle of an airport as opposed to in a secluded office space. I knew she had to be lying when she said she liked working there mo

"I marked her." The admission hit like a physical blow even though I'd already known. "You lied to me." "I omitted." His jaw was tight. "There's a difference." "No, there isn't!" My voice cracked. "You looked me in the eye and said she wasn't your mate. That the bond didn't exist. That she just left. But you marked her, Kade. You claimed her. That's not something wolves do casually." "You're right." He stopped a few feet away. "It's not something we do casually. Which is exactly why I had to do it."

, she asked, standing from her chair and stretching. My eyes traveled the length of her body. "To find the book I need", I explained, drinking her up. "What are you looking for?", she inquired, as she followed me. "I read about false markings before and how to undo them. I just need to find it", I explained.

Meanwhile, the library had become the setting for an entirely different lesson. Oliver was helping Ava stamp newly donated books while Lily carefully entered their titles into the catalogue. Emily wandered between them carrying a stack of bookmarks she had colored that morning. “I made extras.” Oliver looked at the colorful collection. “There are flowers on every one.” Emily nodded proudly. “Books deserve flowers.” Lily laughed softly. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that before.” Emily shrugged. “It seemed obvious.” Ava accepted one of the bookmarks, admiring the carefully drawn sunflowers decorating its corners.