Chapter 3 The Forbidden Mark

ZANE

"Who is she?"

Dante continued to growl restlessly within me, MATE, Mate?. This was so different from how I had thought the evening would turn out, right here outside the the great hall.

The girl trembled before me, her head bowed, her silver-white hair catching the torchlight, I had never seen such magnificent white hair, but it was all tangled as if she hadn't brushed them in ages. Her scent hit me, she smelled strange, something wrong. It wasn't wolf, It wasn't human either, it was something else. I could smell her fear , raw and pathetic, she could never be my fated one.

My wolf, Dante, lunged within me again, Mate. The single word thundered through my head. I felt the bond snap into place between us, cutting through my reason, through my control.

No. It couldn't be, this?

I was Zane, Supreme Alpha of Howlgroove, the most powerful of all ten clans, bound by blood to the Moon Throne itself. I couldn't have this......a trembling, ragged creature, kneeling on the marble like a beaten dog......as my mate.

"Get up," I ordered again, my tone sharp and harsh. She didn't move. Her hands shook against the floor.

"I said get up."

The command came out colder this time, authority erupting from me like heat from the sun. My guards shifted uneasily. Even Beta Mark's posture tightened beside me; he had heard it too-that dangerous vibration in my voice that meant my wolf was barely restrained.

The girl flinched, her body trembling as she pushed herself to her knees. I saw the bruises then dark marks along her arms, her collarbone, the side of her neck. Her clothes were rags, torn at the hem. She wouldn't even look at me.

Dante snarled inside my chest. She's ours.

"She's nothing," I muttered under my breath. "You're mistaken."

But Dante wasn't listening. His energy surged, hot and wild, pressing against the surface of my control. I felt the bond hum again, a pulse beneath my skin, like an itch.

"Alpha?" Mark's voice broke through the haze.

"Do you want me to remove her?"

I nodded stiffly. "Take her to the Great Hall. With the others."

Mark hesitated. "The council......."

"Now," I snapped.

He bowed his head and gestured for the guards. They hauled her to her feet. She didn't resist, only whimpered softly, her eyes still downcast. For some reason, that sound cut through me more deeply than I cared to admit.

As they dragged her away, Dante growled, low and furious. You let them touch her.

"She's filth," I hissed back under my breath. "A half-blood? I can smell her impurity, she's forbidden, she can never be Luna supreme."

She's ours, ours, mate!

I ignored him, but my jaw clenched hard enough to ache. I turned and strode toward the Great Hall, where the gathered clans were still feasting under the crystal chandeliers. Music swelled, laughter echoing off golden walls. The scent of roasted meat and wine mingled with the faint metallic tang of dominance-the kind that came whenever powerful Alphas gathered in one place.

At the high table, the leaders of the ten clans rose as I entered. My presence silenced the room; conversation fell away to total silence. Every eye turned to me, the Supreme Alpha, heir of the Howlers, ruler of all. But my thoughts weren't on them. They were on the girl.

Raina.

I had heard her name whispered as she had been dragged inside. The half-blood of Moonshire Pack. The cursed daughter of Alpha Silver and a human woman. I remembered the whispers from years ago: the scandal that had shaken the southern territories, the child born of forbidden union, the one the Moon Goddess herself had supposedly cursed. And now she was here, in my hall, wearing my mark.

Dante howled with triumph, I flinched , I wanted to strangle him.

Beta Mark stepped forward beside me, clearing his throat. "My Lord, The ten clans of the moon await your word."

I forced my face into neutrality "Proceed."

Luna Fran of Moonshire bowed low, her jewels glittering in the candlelight. "My lord," she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness, "we are honored to stand before you. My daughter, Trish, is humbled to be considered for your grace's choosing."

I didn't look at the daughter. I was too aware of the figure standing behind them, Raina. Her head lowered, hands folded and trembling , trying to make herself invisible. Her smell hit me once again. That strange, clean scent that burned through every other aroma in the room.

Dante pushed forward. Call her to us.

"No," I muttered under my breath.

Mark glanced sideways at me. "My lord?"

"Nothing," I said tightly.

Luna Fran was still talking, boasting about her daughter's beauty, their pack's loyalty, their history. I barely heard her. My eyes kept drifting back to the half-blood. She looked exhausted, thin, pale, a ghost among wolves. Every instinct in me screamed to pull her closer, to shield her from the eyes that sneered, from the whispers that slithered through the air.

But I couldn't, not here, not before the council.

The High Council would never permit it. The Supreme Alpha could not take a half-blood mate. It would break centuries of law, shatter alliances, and invite rebellion from every corner of the realm.

This was politics, power, legacy, and she was a threat to all of it. My jaw tightened with rage. The room felt too hot, too loud and too small.

Dante's growl rolled through my mind. You deny what's ours.

"I protect what's mine," I snapped inwardly.

I rose abruptly from my seat. "Enough," I said aloud, my voice echoing off the large hall. "The dinner is over."

A ripple of confusion spread through the hall. The music stopped. Luna Fran's smile faltered.

"B-but my lord......"

"I said enough." I growled and she whimpered in fear.

Mark nodded to the guards, who began ushering guests out. I turned on my heel and walked toward the exit, every step measured, deliberate. The air outside the Great Hall was cooler, but it did nothing to ease the fire crawling under my skin.

I needed distance, space. Anything to quiet Dante's roaring.

You can't hide from the bond.

"She's a mistake," I whispered, pacing the corridor outside the council chamber. "A cursed one."

She's the Moon's choice.

"No," I growled aloud. "The Moon doesn't make mistakes like this." Mark appeared in the doorway, his brow furrowed.

"My lord, shall I summon the Moonshire Alpha? The council expects your decision on the matter of alliances."

"Yes," I said, too quickly. "Bring him. And... bring her too."

Mark hesitated. "The girl?"

"Yes."

He nodded and left.

I turned toward the window, watching the moon hang low over Howlgroove. Its pale light painted the city in silver, the towers gleaming like frost. For a moment, I let myself imagine a different world, one where rank and law meant nothing, where I could follow the pull of my wolf without consequence. But that world didn't exist.

When the door opened again, I turned sharply. Alpha Dirke entered first, his bow too deep to be sincere. His eyes glimmered with greed. Behind him came Raina, flanked by guards. She kept her gaze on the floor, her posture small, submissive.

I hated how my pulse jumped.

"Supreme Alpha," Dirke said smoothly, "I must apologize if my servant has caused any offense. She is... defective. Her presence alone is often enough to sour an evening."

Dante's snarl was instant and vicious. He insults our mate.

I clenched my fists behind my back. "Servant?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, my lord," Dirke said. "A half-blood wretch we've kept out of charity. The late Alpha Silver's mistake. She carries human blood.......unclean, weak. We keep her for labor, nothing more."

My gaze shifted to her. She didn't speak, didn't move. Only the faint tremor in her fingers betrayed that she had heard every word.

Something inside me cracked.

I stepped closer, my voice dropping to a growl. "And yet you parade her in front of me dressed in rags. You bring her into my presence without permission."

Dirke blinked, confused. "I-"

"Do you understand the risk you've taken?" I said, my tone slicing through the air. "What if the Supreme Alpha mistook this girl for something more? What if your insolence cost you your pack?"

Dirke paled. "Forgive me, my lord. It won't happen again."

"No," I said. "It won't."

I turned to Mark. "See to it she's housed in the lower quarters. Away from the others. And make sure she's... cleaned up."

Mark hesitated. "Yes, my lord."

Raina lifted her head slightly then, and our eyes met for the second time in that bright light. She had ocean- blue eyes, wide and innocent.

The bond between us pulsed again, electric and undeniable. Dante pressed against my chest, whispering in my mind, She's ours.

I looked away before I did something reckless. "Dismissed," I said.

They turned to leave. But as she walked past me, her limp pronounced and painful to watch, Dante roared.

She's hurt. She's starving. You let them treat her like this?

"She's not my concern," I hissed inwardly.

She's your mate.

"Enough!" I said aloud before I could stop myself. Everyone froze. Dirke stared at me in alarm; Mark's eyes widened. I forced myself to breathe, to smooth my tone. "Leave us."

They bowed and exited quickly, the door closing behind them. Silence filled the chamber, thick and suffocating.

I turned to the window again, gripping the sill until my knuckles whitened.

"This can't happen," I whispered. "The law forbids it. The council will......"

The council doesn't own us, Dante growled. The Moon does.

I shut my eyes, the pull between reason and instinct tearing me apart.

"She's half-blood," I said. "Unworthy and Weak."

She's fate.

I could feel her heartbeat somewhere in the castle, could sense her scent lingering even after she'd gone. And for the first time in my life, I wasn't sure if being Supreme Alpha meant anything at all. Because what kind of ruler was I... if I couldn't command my own soul?