Provoked

LAKE

“So, put this medicine in and around the wound after rinsing it with salt water for three weeks.”

The pack doctor packs up her medical supplies and hands me a bag full of ointment and gauze. “You’ll heal in no time.”

She stands to leave, but I stop her, still confused. “Doctor, what does this mean?”

Her lips purse. She doesn’t want to say. “Please,” I add.

Finally, she sits back down but can’t bring herself to look me in the eyes.

“When a mating bond is refused by one of the bonded wolves, the rejected one is left with the Betrayal Mark.”

I make a sign of impatience with my hand. I know all that. “But how do I get rid of it?”

“It’ll heal in no time,” she repeats, still not meeting my gaze.

I glare at her. “You know what I mean.”

She looks at me and finally heaves a heavy sigh. “A wolf who has been marked by the Betrayal Mark will lose their connection to the pack. Their wolf will wither and grow weak. Some choose to live out their lives as rogues, unable to be a part of their packs.”

I feel my insides vanish. I’m left with a hollow feeling that’s somehow worse than the most painful torture.

My words come out hollow. “What can I do?”

“You have to find a new mate. It’s the only way.”

***

I walk through the doors of school, with Riley and Landon on either side of me. All eyes of our pack members are glued on me.

I keep mulling over the doctor’s words in my head.

She said I have to find a mate to get rid of the mark. But the mark is the very reason nobody will meet my eye, much less be my mate.

I wince as the door slightly hits my shoulder before we get into the cafeteria. Whispers from everyone seem to bounce off the walls.

“Poor girl…”

“She might as well kill herself now…”

“It’s only a matter of time until she loses it.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. The bell rings shortly after we grab breakfast. Riley and Landon wave to each other as us girls enter our first class.

“How are you feeling?” Riley asks as we take our seats.

I shrug slightly. “I’m as good as I’m gonna get right now. I just wish people would mind their own business.”

As the class ends, I grab my bag of medication and let Riley know I need to clean my mark. She meets Landon outside the door, and they walk to their next class.

The bathroom is thankfully empty as I take the gauze away from my shoulder. The swelling has gone down slightly, but the mark is still raw.

“Oh, wow.” A giggle comes from behind me. “I had no idea those things got so big.”

In the mirror, I see Delilah standing behind me. I simply roll my eyes and continue dressing my mark.

“Poor Lake Mavris,” Delilah closes the gap between us. “Never meant to find happiness.”

I can feel Lynne scratching at her barriers. She’s just about fed up with this female.

“That looks painful…” Delilah dramatically gasps. “Tell me. What did it feel like?”

I freeze as my eyes plant themselves on the reflection of the female behind me. Her smile only grows wider at my reaction.

“Do you blame him for what he did?” Delilah moves her hair to the other side of her neck to expose Lucas’s mark.

The mark that was supposed to be for me.

“A weak little ‘warrior’ mutt like you never had what it took to lead this pack. My mate and I are a match made in heaven.”

“How about I show you just how ~weak~ I am?” I say casually, staring at her through the mirror.

Lynne growls with excitement, just begging to be let loose.

I try to suppress my wolf’s bloodlust. I don’t really want to clobber Delilah. That’s more trouble than it’s worth.

But she’s pushing it…

Delilah grins and puts her hands on her hips. She senses my bluff.

“Oh, you poor thing,” she coos. “Sure, if it makes you feel better, take a whack at it! Anything to help a poor member of my pack.”

I narrow my eyes at her.

“You aren’t my luna,” I say.

“Not yet.” She puts a thoughtful finger on her chin. “But I get the feeling that even after I am, you won’t like it very much.”

The Betrayal Mark throbs on my shoulder.

“How perceptive of you,” I spit.

“I have an idea that’ll help!” she says sweetly. “One that will make our pack better.”

“You’re going to crawl into a hole and die?”

She rolls her eyes at me.

“You’re going to leave,” she says with a sickly sweet smile.

My blood goes cold.

“What?”

“Think about it.” She paces behind me, prowling like she’s on the hunt.

“That ugly mark on your shoulder will be with you your whole life. People will treat you differently. They won’t trust you. And that mark will make others hate the people around you too.”

Delilah runs a finger over her own mark, and I can almost feel a trail of fire run across my own.

“Sure, your family and friends are supportive now…but for how long? Your problems will only pile up on them. Piling and piling until you’re nothing but a burden.”

A pit of dread opens up in my stomach.

I don’t want to let Delilah get to me, but her words worm themselves into my mind.

“Poor Lake Mavris,” she coos. “Shunned and loveless.”

Delilah walks up right behind me, her lips close to my ear.

“You’d be better off as a rogue,” she whispers.

Lynne thrashes against her barriers, her pride unwilling to let that insult go unanswered.

And I agree.

I spin around and glare at Delilah eye to eye.

Her smile is quickly replaced with a terrified jaw that hits the floor.

My fingers begin to elongate into claws, and my eyes go feral.

“Well, future luna,” I growl. “How about that whack now?”

The look of fear on Delilah’s face is priceless, until…

“Lake Marvis!” Principal Stewart’s voice echoes off the walls of the bathroom as he stands in the doorway, hands on his hips.

Delilah’s look of fear turns into a smirk.

***

I fume for hours in my bed. I can’t believe I let Delilah get to me like that. And I can’t believe the Principal just happened to see me as I started to turn. In a school with humans attending, that is against every rule in the book.

I roll over and punch my pillow to make it more comfortable. Slowly, my mind drifts to the things Delilah said to me in the bathroom.

Maybe she’s right. Maybe my mom, dad, and Landon would all be better off if I left and went to go live in the woods as a rogue.

I just wish… I wish my mate still wanted me.

My mind is suddenly filled with daydreams about my mate. But instead of being disgusted by me, his eyes fill with joy when he sees me.

Our noses nuzzle together as he bends down to nip at my neck and mark me. His grey wolf eyes sparkle as he gazes into mine.

Wait. My mate doesn’t have grey eyes. His eyes are green.

I yawn and sink further into my bed and go back to the daydream. It’s such a nice one.

But now, the wolf standing over me isn’t the green eyed, grey-furred wolf of my mate, it’s a wolf I’ve never seen before.

He has glittering grey eyes. And a shiny black coat.

I feel the swooping sensation of the mating call, one hundred times stronger than I did when I felt it in real life with my old mate. His new mark glistens on my neck.

And for one brief moment, I know it’s possible. I know this wolf is out there.

I just have to find him.