M A R K E D

Sheila's point of view

The thunderous rumble of raised voices echoed through the ornately carved oak doors of the throne room.

My prying legs had to move faster than my hesitant mind could control. I couldn't help but hide behind the huge oak door to peep.

Like a thief in the night, I tiptoed down the cold stone corridor, the chill seeping through my simple woolen dress.

Just as I reached the massive oak door, a wave of the most intoxicating scent I’d ever encountered slammed into my nostrils so hard that it almost tampered with my reasoning, momentarily stealing my breath and muddling my thoughts. It was wide and utterly captivating.

What was that?

Ignoring the pounding in my chest, I inched closer, the scent growing stronger with each step.

Believe me when I say I never intended to barge in on my father having a meeting with the most ruthless alpha in all of the North.

As soon as I entered, the scent became even more intoxicating than ever as my eyes rested on the bearer of the scent. I gasped.

No. No. My whole world came crumbling as the words left my lips even before I could stop myself.

"Mate?" It was more of a question than an affirmation.

A cruel amusement flickered across my mate's features as he took slow, deliberate steps toward me. He couldn’t hide the scorn in his eyes.

"Is this some cruel joke from the Moon Goddess?" My mate scoffed at me, his deep amber eyes still holding coldness.

Just when I thought I’d finally escape the cold walls of my father’s cruel pack.

My eyes searched his desperately for any sign of warmth, “What… What do you mean?” I finally found my voice as tears welled up in my eyes.

With one final disgusted look, he turned around and went back to face my father.

I felt my heart rate increase rapidly when the cold, unfeeling eyes of my mate rested on me with a condescending look.

My father had an indifferent look on his face, but it was more of a look of relief. It seemed as if he was so happy sending me off with an enemy, Almost as if he'd just unloaded an unwanted burden.

Everyone else in the room looked at me with an unreadable expression... But I felt mocked. I felt worthless... Just as I've always felt all my life.

*

My shaken legs could no longer withstand the tension charged in the room. My entire life had changed the second the words "mate" left my lips.

I gripped onto the white pillar in the courtroom for support, the knife-edged tension within the court growing brutal by the second.

My father, Lucius, got in a heated conversation with Alpha Killian about me.

Our pack warriors were behind their Alpha, Lucius Callaso, no doubt prepared to attack, just in case a fight managed to break out with the warriors from the Crescent North Pack.

It was funny as hell how the confrontation a second ago about my father sending rogues to the Crescent North Pack soon changed into an intense conversation between my father, Alpha of the Silver Mist Pack, and Alpha Killian of the Crescent North Pack, my mate.

Every pack in the North Central was aware of the rooted hatred between both packs. They both had the largest packs in all of the North, and my father didn't like it one bit. He was a tyrant Alpha and a beast who preyed on packs, annihilating them and stealing their lands. That was the type of Alpha my father was. And Killian was rumored to be no different.

"As you wish, Alpha Lucius, I will take her away," Killian spoke with ease, but there was something about the way he counted those words that made me cringe. It was cold and threatening.

I was forced to shake off my thoughts when Alpha Lucius was up on his feet. He smiled darkly after one last gruesome stare at me. That smile of his has haunted my every awakening.

"She is yours after all. You may take her!" He glanced at me. He never treated me like his daughter.

My years growing up within the walls of the Packhouse have been the literal definition of the term "hell!'. In that hellish state, the only thing that kept me going was finding my mate. I always heard stories from the servants about the mate bond and its undying love. I always prayed for a mate, even though deep down I knew my chances were nil. Unlike most wolves that were blessed with their wolf counterpart at sixteen, mine never came. So, it was unbelievable that I would be given a mate. My legs finally gave up, collapsing against the pillar which could no doubt feel my plight.

It still feels like a dream to me how my entire life changed for the worse within a minute.

It was as if the universe hated me, and the moon goddess despised me.

Killian's demeanor was cold, dominating, and even intimidating. His eyes gauged me, regarding me. I felt uncomfortable under his cold stare. The cold mask he had worn did not allow me an inkling of his true thoughts.

"Tell her to be prepared. I'll send someone to take her before dusk." Killian's gruesome eyes fell on me. Even just by staring at me, one could see the cold glacial that were aimed at my throat. How could I possibly be mated to him?