The Mark of an Alpha
Chapter 25

Her deranged eyes pierce through mine as she trembles in her skin.

Anger washes through my mind making me physically sick. My head grows hot as I stare at this girl that is meant to mean nothing to Marcus. He chose her above me.

Hunter is still holding onto me while Marcus is in front of us being as possessive as ever. Hunter does not allow him to get near me.

“Let her go if you want to leave here with both your arms,” Marcus' face reddens in anger as Hunter makes no motion of letting me go.

He is the reason that I am upright at the moment, I am thankful that he did not release me.

“You have no right to tell me anything, mutt. You’re not worthy of calling her your mate so I suggest you back off.”

Marcus trembles in front of us and Hunter pulls me behind him protectively.

I open my mouth to say something but the air rushing through me stops me.

The auburn-haired girl rushes past Hunter and Andrew. They both are preoccupied with the other wolves to pay too much attention to a crazed girlfriend. Her body collides with mine and we hit the ground hard.

She is protecting what is hers and that is Marcus.

Let me sink my teeth into her. My wolf wants to cause someone some pain and at the moment she is an easy target.

Marcus shifts before Hunter but Hunter is quicker than him as he has his paws hitting the ground at the same time as Marcus.

I get off the ground quickly followed by the girl. “What the hell is your problem?” I seethe at her.

“He’s mine!” She snaps her teeth at me.

“You can have him,” my wolf and I say in unison.

In this, we both agree on. He wanted to be with someone else that she can have him. If he moved on so easily from his mate he is not worth a fight.

“Bitch, you better back off.” She swings carelessly aiming at my face I block her with my forearm and my fist shoots straight at her face. She takes a step back and looks at me as a slow flow of blood comes down her nose.

“I’m not fighting over someone who isn’t worth my time.” I snap at her but she seems to be seeing red. She runs at me once again, I am as agile as ever.

It is as if seeing him with her has opened my eyes and my mind.

I turn to the side and as she runs past me I crouch down and sweep my leg under her sending the girl flying. Her face crashes hard against the ground.

I turn to look at Hunter as he snaps at Marcus. Hunter is gaining ground, making Marcus retreat with his pack. I notice that Marcus is limping from his hind leg and that Hunter is bleeding from his shoulder.

“I want you off my land at once.” The harshness of my voice pulls the attention of the other males to me.

Andrew has my back with the girl. He is watching her like a hawk. If she tries to come near me she has him to handle before she gets to me.

The girl gets up and dusts herself off and walks cautiously back to her pack members. Marcus is there still in wolf form. Hunter is by my side as well a low rumble leaving his chest. Hunter’s fur brushes my side and Marcus’ eyes catch the small gesture and they narrow on me.

“Go to the packhouse. The pack is ready to come out and destroy them,” Andrew says.

The commotion here must have gotten the attention of the rest of the pack. I need to stop them before they all come barreling down here and rip into these wolves.

"I should have them come here because you trespassed but I know better than that. This is not their fight," I sigh, "it is yours and mine." I stare straight at the man that was supposed to be here for me.

I turn to run back but Hunter growls stopping me. He lowers to the ground.

He wants you to ride him back to the packhouse.

On any other day, my wolf would have cracked a joke about that but at the moment she is very numb.

I look at Andrew and he shrugs. I climb over him and Hunter takes off. Running through the forest Hunter runs fast as if the hounds of hell were after him. My fingers grip his fur tightly and if it hurts him he does not complain.

Hunter skids to a stop in front of the packhouse. I jump off and the entire pack is out, every single one of them. The men are ready to run into the forest.

“Stop! We already handled the situation.” I yell to them trying to make everyone hear me at the same time.

“We heard that your mate was among them. We thought it was going to be a war,” a muscular young male says.

A growl rumbles in my chest at the mention of my mate. “At the moment the situation is handled, but if they come here seeking a fight that’s what they are going to get with or without my mate. He is dead to me.”

The silence hits me like a train.

He is dead to me. The words echo in my mind and my wolf does not argue.

The young male before me brings his hands up and start clapping, more people follow until there is a round of applause throughout the pack.

Andrew pounces on me from behind. I did not see him follow us back.

“You might be a broken alpha but you get business done.” The young wolf voices the thoughts of many. There is a tug in the corner of my lip.

Broken alpha, but an alpha nonetheless.

I shove Andrew off of me and he wraps his arm around my shoulder pulling me into a hug

“Thanks.” I sigh into his shoulder.

“The older man said they didn’t come here seeking trouble just food and the funny thing is I believe him,” Andrew says as he pulls away giving some space to breathe.

“I do as well.” I look at Andrew and he smiles at me.

“I’m happy you’re moving on and I’m sorry for being an ass. I liked Marcus but after today I won’t hesitate to attack him if and when I see him.”

“Moved on?”

Andrew turns to look at Hunter and then looks back at me nodding.

“If I was Marcus I would have reacted the same way seeing as you smell of Alpha Hunter.” Andrew gives me a playful shove.

I can feel my cheeks heat up and he wiggles his eyebrows trying to lighten the situation.

“Plus you didn’t see his face when you climb on him,” his head nudges towards Hunter, “that was one of pain. It even hurt me.”

The pack starts going their separate ways. Andrew starts up a conversation with a girl. From the sound of it, they are making plans to go into town together.

Andrew needs some normality in his life and I am happy that he is making new friends.

I walk over to Hunter who is still in wolf form.

“Hunter,” his wolf stares at me as my eyes go to his shoulder. His fur is matted with blood and dirt. My hand slowly makes its way to it and brushes the fur out of the way. He whimpers slightly but stands completely still. “I wanted to say thank you for being there for me even though we are still strangers, in a way, and I would be glad to help you with your rogue problem.”

His wolf lowers his head and gentle nudges my side. “You can shift it’s not like we haven’t seen each other naked already.”

The branch behind me snapping makes me jump back into Hunter. Marcus is making his way towards us. He has some jeans on and that is all.

Holy hell, dude, get a hint.

“We need to talk!” He says through tight lips.

The nerve of him. Who does he think he is talking to?

“What the hell do you want? What happens to I don’t want you to miss me,” my voice full of venom as he feels my wolf lash out inside of me. “I made it clear that I wanted you and your pack off of my land, now!”

“I’m also part of this pack or did you banish me?” He smirks at me and takes a deep breath.

Of course, I mentally sigh, I did not banish him. Apart of me wanted him to come back and I prayed for this day but he marked another female and now he must go to her.

“I want to talk to you!” His eyes flicker to Hunter and then come back to me, ”alone!”

The laugh that escapes me surprises me as well as Hunter as he stands behind me and mimics my every move.

“You’re no one to tell me what to do and you know that I didn’t banish you. I’m not an awful person if your pack is having trouble with food I will talk to the older male and work out something but you, I want nothing to do with you,” there is a war between my aching heart and my wolf. My wolf is fighting to break the mate connection we have.

There is only one known wolf that was able to break the mate connection but he went off on his own and we do not know what happened to him afterward, to be honest, we do not know why he broke it in the first place.

“Melany, I am not asking for your help,” he takes a step closer.

“Good because I am not offering you my help,” I seethe at him and turn away from him.

“I didn’t mark her. She was marked by her mate that was killed by hunters. I was there for her and she fell for me and...” I turn on my heels and stare at him as he runs his fingers through his hair.

“You were there for her?” I cannot stop the anger rising within me as I yell at him, “you were there for her while your mate, your mate,” I stride to him and press my finger on his chest, “was dead on the inside. Stayed locked up in her god damn room that now looks like a fucken insane asylum while you were out consoling that girl.”

“Melany, I was hurting as well,” he states and the sadness in his eyes does not faze me.

“You broke me, Marcus! You have no right to walk back into my life just when I am barely learning to breathe again, learning to finally be a leader to my pack, and I am finally enjoying my life without you. You have no right!”

I cannot stop the tears from flowing and a sob escapes me. Marcus lifts his hand to console me but I turn away from him and cover my face with my hands as the tears keep flowing. I feel his fur brush against the back of my hands and I look up to see that Hunter is before me and I press my face into his chest releasing a sob. A menacing growl rumbles in his chest.

“Melany, I’ll meet you at our spot at midnight so we can talk. I hope you can make it.” I can hear him walking away and a small part of me wants to run after him but a bigger part of me is unsure of what to do.

Hunter rests his head on top of mine as I let the last of my tears flow and I wipe them away with the back of my hand. Hunter consoles me as my sobs get louder.

God, why is this so hard?

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