Novel & Cerita Scarred: A Never After Novel

But even as the horizon stretched, I couldn’t shake the cold certainty. Some shadows... never die. Aftermath The ocean lay still, calm and endless, as the first light of dawn broke across the silent horizon. Fortress Nox was gone. Natalia Cross was dead. But even in victory, peace felt fragile... borrowed. Scarred but Alive The wind stirred softly, carrying the scent of salt and distant waves as Damien stood quietly on the cliff’s edge, dark eyes fixed on the ocean below. His scarred hands rested loosely at his sides, strong but worn, steady yet haunted.

“I can’t afford that. Not now.” Amanda slipped her arms around her, resting her chin on Scarlet’s shoulder. “You don’t have to forgive him. Don’t confuse guilt for love. He hurt you, Scar. He cheated—with your sister. Took everything that was yours. Let him cry, sure. But don’t let him wash the blood off that easy.” Scarlet’s eyes glistened, but she didn’t cry. She nodded once, swallowed hard. Then her phone buzzed on the counter. The sound broke the quiet like a glass crack.

Rafael made to tear his head from his body but Scarlett stepped forward. “Allow me…” She said, not caring she was only in her bra or that she was drenched in blood, her own and Liam’s. Even then she was healed but the few bodies that lay around her were a stark reminder of men who would never return to their families. Men she knew and some who were the enemy… Cade looked up at her, fear in his eyes as he looked at the burning anger in Scarlett’s steely silver eyes. “He has my mate…” He whispered as if it would right the wrongs he had just committed. Scarlett shook her head.

They didn’t make it inside.The rain was cold and his mouth was hot and somewhere between the terrace and the doorway they stopped caring about the difference. His hands found the hem of her shirt his shirt, the one she’d stolen from the laundry because it smelled like cedar and pulled it over her head, and the rain hit her bare skin and she gasped against his mouth and he swallowed the sound like it was something he’d been starving for.She pulled his wet shirt open. Buttons scattered across the stone floor like tiny gunshots. His chest was scarred beneath not just the jaw, but everywhere, a map of violence written across his skin in raised white lines and old burns and the particular pattern

he commanded, turning slightly, his broad frame silhouetted against the moonlit peaks. The heavy door creaked open, and Jada guided Scarlett inside, her silver hair loose and cascading over the sheer silk gown, its transparency barely concealing the bandages on her claw-torn shoulder, side, and the bruises on her hand, her eyes glinting with defiance despite the pain. Jada bowed and retreated, the door thudding shut, sealing Scarlett in the Lycan’s domain. The air thickened, firelight dancing on her blood-stained bandages, as Winter’s gaze locked onto her.

The nightmares proved that. It had been days since I woke fully. The deep slash from Jade’s knife had closed, skin knitting together in a raised, angry line that shimmered faintly silver under light, catching the eye like a brand. My body carried scars now… permanent ones I’d never had before. Faint lines crisscrossed my arms, shoulders, thighs from the brands, the cuts, the burns Jade had inflicted with such calculated cruelty. They didn’t fade like old wounds but stayed, etched deep, a visible map of what I’d endured, reminders that my blood, my power, had been turned against me in the worst ways.

Tears began to drop from my eyes, trying to kick was fruitless He suddenly got lifted from me and I began hearing grunts and groaning like someone being punched. I moved back whimpering as I saw Jack deal with him, Harry tried to fight back but he was no match for Jack. Harry's face was soon covered with blood and he was breathing heavily while coughing. Jack took off his jacket and wore it on me covering my exposed chest and boobs, he hugged me to himself, I buried my head in his chest bursting into tears. Jack lifted me in bridal style and carried me out of the science lab which was now messy.

I passed out naked, bloody, and alone but free; after ten years, I was free. I had just done the unthinkable. I completed the rejection ritual marking myself as a mate rejecter, a pariah in my community. I not only rejected my mate but my old pack. My whole identity to that point – was gone. I was now scarred, no longer marked. Now, I carry the black scar created by the silver blade, and I reject the mate made just for me by the goddess. The cursed life of a "Scarred One" is what I must look forward to now. The sense of loss was foreboding. Was what I lost the only cost for my freedom from my mate bond?

Lauren gazed into the mirror as she peeled off her clothes, not wanting to miss a single sight of it. The once white bandages that had been wrapped on her back now had a hue of red. She sighed and even when she knew it would earn her scolding from Malcolm, she slowly peeled the bandage off her back closing her eyes at the gory sight that greeted her. Her eyes teared. She didn’t believe it was this bad. And Bryan had seen it too? It made her sob more. She didn’t want him to end up having trauma because of her. She was used to it after all.

The pain in Alruin’s heart that day was like a fresh wound in my heart. Then the bloody mess that was supposed to be Alruin’s face on that dreadful night at the pack’s borders. I could never forget watching Alruin’s blood drip from a cut in his forehead, out of the numerous ones, into his swollen eyes. It made my heart quiver each time, I writhed in the ashes of regret for years. And to add the cherry on the bloody, gruesome cake, I had found his birthday gift in the forest, the most valuable treasure I held dear now.