For Our Anniversary, I Returned His Mark

I hadn’t even shifted lately, I also haven’t had my period —so why did it hurt this bad all of a sudden?

It wasn’t just physical. It was as if something deep inside me—my wolf—was clawing at my insides, howling in anguish, furious and frightened at once.

I gripped the bathroom sink, my knuckles turning white, breathing through the cramp that twisted through my abdomen like a curse.

No blood.

No heat cycle. No mating bond snapping.

But I could feel it—something was wrong.

I pushed off the sink, stumbling toward the door. I needed fresh air, a moment to clear my head. Maybe even to escape this place. But as I reached for the knob and twisted, it didn’t move.

Click.

It was locked. From the outside.

“Hello?” I called out, my voice sharp and urgent as worry started to creep inside me.

Then came her voice. The last one I wanted to hear.

Lexie.

“Bitch,” she drawled from the other side, her tone smug. “How’s that hand-me-down love treating you?”

My heart clenched.

“Alpha Darius’s always loved me, from the very beginning. Now that I’m back, you should step aside. You really have the nerve to show up tonight? Trying to steal my spotlight?” she snarled, her voice rising.

I doubled over, my stomach folding with a wave of pain so sharp I nearly fell to my knees. Cold sweat beaded on my forehead. My wolf whimpered inside me, recoiling—something was off. Wrong. Tainted.

Whatever she did… it wasn’t just petty jealousy. Something unnatural was coursing through my system. Poison? A spell?

Gritting my teeth, I leaned against the door. “Lexie, if you want him—take him,” I rasped. “I’m done.”

A beat of silence.

Then, she laughed. Cold. Cruel.

“Funny. Do you think I’d believe that? You stole my mom and my Alpha father back then—now you want to steal my mate too? Who do you think you are?”

Mate…

That word pierced me harder than any insult. Because Alpha Darius… Darius Nightbane had been my fated mate.

Or so I thought.

“You’re staying in here tonight,” she hissed. “No one’s coming to save you.”

I heard the scrape of metal outside. She dragged something heavy in front of the door, then the sharp snap of a sign being placed—Restricted Area. Do Not Enter.

Of course. This wing of the auction house was off-limits, the area where rare magical items were kept. Phones had been surrendered before entering. Cameras disabled.

No one would come looking. No one would even think to.

Especially not Darius, he wouldn’t even notice I am gone, not with Lexie beside him.

I slid to the floor, my body shaking uncontrollably. The pain in my stomach had dulled to a slow, dragging ache—but my heart? My heart was wide open and bleeding.

I lifted my trembling hand and pounded on the door.

“Help… Someone, please…”

My voice cracked, hoarse and dry. I screamed again, raw and wild—but all that met me was silence. The sign outside was a ward in itself. People would see it and turn away.

Time blurred. Minutes. Hours. Maybe more. I cried until there were no tears left. I screamed until my voice was gone.

Eventually… the darkness claimed me.

--

The Next Morning

I woke to the clatter of keys, and the creak of a door swinging open.

A woman’s gasp.

“Oh, the moon above—Miss? Miss, can you hear me?”

My eyes fluttered open. The world swam in a gray haze. I was cold. Freezing. My dress clung to my skin, soaked through. My limbs refused to move at first.

Then I saw her—the cleaner.

I tried to speak, but my throat burned. I forced myself to sit up, pressing my palms to the cold floor.

“No…” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “No need… I’ll be fine.”

That was a lie.

Everything inside me felt broken. My wolf was curled tight in my chest, silent. She hadn’t spoken since the pain started.

The cleaner helped me stand, her brow creased with worry. I gave her a weak smile and staggered out on my own, leaning on the wall, one step at a time.

Just like I guessed, Alpha Darius hadn’t come.

Not once.

The realization settled like a stone in my chest.

I remembered, when Lexie went missing for ten minutes at a pack ball, Darius had nearly shifted out of worry and stormed the place down looking for her.

But me?

A whole night. Not even a call.

Not even a thought.

Then I realized, that love was a bond forged between two souls. But indifference, indifference was a blade, and last night, it sliced me open.

When I retrieved my phone at the entrance, I didn’t even bother checking for his name—I already knew what I would find. Nothing. No missed calls. No messages. Not a single word from the mate who was supposed to protect me, love me, fight for me.

Except one.

Riven Ashton.

The only one who still saw me—not as what I had become, but as the woman I once was, before betrayal carved me hollow.

[Avelyn, I can’t wait a whole month. One week. I’m coming to get you in a week.]

Tears blurred my vision, but they didn’t fall from sadness. They came from something deeper, sharper—resolve.

What I had felt last night wasn’t just the sting of betrayal or the ache of a shattered heart. It was something far more wild. Something had awakened within me—something ancient and powerful. I could feel her now… my wolf, long dormant, stirring in the shadows of my soul. She was stretching, sharpening, and changing.

Whatever Lexie had tried to do to me—whatever cruel games she played—she thought it would break me.

But it had done the opposite.

It had awakened the bloodline buried in my bones. The one born of moonlight and fire. The one who remembers war, survival, and vengeance.

They had left me to die. Starved me. Stripped me of my title, my pride…

They locked me away like I was nothing.

But I am not anything.

I am Avelyn Moonveil.

And they are about to learn that a wounded wolf doesn’t disappear.

She evolves.

And when she comes back, she never misses her mark.