Chapter 5 Dreams of the Marked

Sleep didn't come easy.

When it did, it came in flashes - shadows in the trees, golden eyes in the dark, and a voice whispering, mine.

I jolted awake, drenched in sweat, heart pounding. My window was shut. My door locked. But I didn't feel alone.

The mark on my wrist burned.

There hadn't been a mark before. But now, faint and glowing under the moonlight, a small symbol pulsed against my skin - like a claw, or a crescent moon.

I covered it quickly.

No one could see.

No one could know.

A mating mark from a rogue wasn't just taboo - it was dangerous. Illegal.

I slipped out of bed and walked to the mirror.

My reflection stared back, but I barely recognized the girl in it. Wild-eyed. Pale. Changed.

My wolf stirred beneath my skin.

"You felt him too," I whispered.

She didn't answer - not with words. Just a wave of heat that rushed through me like wildfire.

My fingers brushed the mark again.

I should've been afraid.

But I wasn't.

I was curious. Drawn. Obsessed.

And somewhere out there, I knew he felt it too.

The bond was real.

And it was only getting stronger.