MARK OF THE FORSAKEN

The forest looks endlessly before them, the tall trees allowing long shadows as the sun displays lower in the sky. Liana walked a few steps behind Ryker, her boots moving softly on the forest floor. She tried to focus on their surroundings, but her thoughts kept moving back to him.

There was something disturbing about the way her chest felt tight whenever she looked at him. It wasn't fear exactly, more like a pull, a connection she didn't understand and didn't want to accept. She looked around and mostly at him to ascertain where the energy for the pull was coming from.

Ryker, for his part, remained silent. He moved with the grace and focus of a predator, his eyes kept checking the environment for any signs of danger. His silence was deliberate, but Liana could feel the tension showing off him.

And then there were the emotions—waves of anger, sorrow, and longing that seemed to wash over her without warning. They weren't hers. At first, she thought it was just her confusion disturbing her thoughts, but the feelings were too sharp and different.

"What is this?" she uttered under her breath, clenching her fists as loads of sadness hit her. It wasn't her sadness, and she knew it.

Ryker felt her eyes on him but didn't turn around. He knew Liana was starting to sense the bond between them, but he wasn't ready to explain it. Not yet.

The mate bond was sacred, powerful, and irreversible. But in their case, it was also complicated. Liana didn't trust him, and he couldn't blame her. He hadn't told her everything—about the curse, about the prophecy, about her true place in the pack's future.

But most of all, he hadn't told her that she was his mate.

He tightened his jaw, his thoughts boiling. The bond was growing stronger, and it was only a matter of time before Liana realized what it meant. She deserved to know the truth, but Ryker couldn't bring himself to disturb her with it. Not when she was already carrying the weight of her exile and her mysterious mark.

They came upon a clearing where the forest floor was littered with pieces of stone and twisted roots of the trees. In the center stood an ancient symbol—a weathered obelisk covered in faintly shining runes.

Liana stopped in her tracks, her mark burning faintly on her arm. She pressed a hand to it, her breath became unstable as a strange energy moved through her.

"What is that?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Ryker turned, his gaze moving to the obelisk. "An old marker. My pack's ancestors used them to divide territories and direct power. Most of them were destroyed during the war."

Liana took a reluctant step closer, her mark vibrating with every beat of her heart. "It's reacting to me," she whispered, more to herself than to Ryker.

He frowned, stepping between her and the relic. "Don't touch it."

Liana looked at him. "Why not?"

"Because we don't know what it will do," Ryker said firmly.

She hesitated, then pulled back. But the strange pull she felt toward the obelisk continued, like a wound she couldn't scratch.

They continued walking without talking to each other, but the bad feelings between them was visible. Liana couldn't forget the feeling that Ryker was hiding something, and her frustration increased with every step she took.

"Are you ever going to tell me the whole truth?" she asked with a firm voice.

Ryker kept pacing his steps. "I've told you what you need to know for your good."

"That's not good enough and you know it," Liana shouted back. "You expect me to trust you, to follow you into your cursed pack, but you won't even be honest with me."

Ryker stopped suddenly, turning to face her. His eyes were filled with power. "You think this is easy for me? Bringing an outsider into my pack, asking for help? I've given you more information than have given anybody else."

From nowhere in the forest, rogue wolves jumped out—four of them, their eyes shining with anger. Their fur was patchy, and their movements were inconsistent, as though they were barely holding themselves together.

Ryker stepped in front of Liana, his body tense. "Stay behind me," he ordered.

Liana, still fuming, ignored him. "I can handle myself."

"This isn't the time to argue," Ryker growled, his voice low.

The rogues jumped, and chaos started. Ryker shifted mid-air, his massive wolf form colliding with the nearest attacker. Liana grabbed a branch from the ground, holding it like a weapon as one of the rogues came for her.

The fight was brutal and chaotic. Ryker tore through two of the rogues, his movements fast and lethal. But the remaining two were relentless, their attacks went off.

One of them jumped at Liana, and she swung the branch with all her strength, but it wasn't enough. The rogue knocked her to the ground, its teeth snapping dangerously close to her face.

As Liana struggled, her mark glittered all of a sudden, burning heat. She cried out, holding her arm as a burst of energy discharged from her.

The rogue cried out and jumped back as if burned. The other wolves froze, their eyes wide open with fear. Even Ryker paused, his gaze snapping to Liana.

"What was that?" he uttered, his wolf form shifting back to his human one.

Liana didn't answer. She was too shocked by the power moving through her, too afraid of what it meant.

The remaining rogues fled, their howls echoing through the forest.

Liana staggered to her feet, her vision circling. Her mark vibrated with energy, the pain fading into a strange numbness in her body.

"Liana, are you okay?" Ryker asked, his voice filled with genuine concern.

But she didn't answer. Her knees became stiff, and the whole forest kept rotating around her. She went off but with a memory of Ryker's face being frightened and something she couldn't understand.

As she went into unconsciousness, one thought echoed in her mind: What am I becoming?