Chapter 3: The Marking

I opened my eyes the next morning with the sunlight streaming to the bedroom through the huge glass doors that led to the balcony. I tried to sit up and my body protested in pain, leaving me immobile and huffing on the bed.

Last night’s events ran through my head and tears immediately welled up in the corner of my eyes. It was unfair how much leverage werewolves had over humans just because they could affect us with their pheromones.

With a shaky hand, I dabbed at the swollen skin behind my ear with my fingertips. I felt normal, but when he bit me there last night, I couldn’t possibly have only imagined the strange sensation I had then. Did the pain only wake me up? That was likely. But it was just so odd that I couldn’t help but overthink that perhaps something else happened at that moment.

Suddenly, the door flew open, and I flicked my head to find a fuming Dylan Hayes storming into the room with nothing but a robe on. His golden eyes glowed with anger, making me shiver under the blankets. I wanted to run away and hide, but the excruciating pain throughout my body and the fearsome sight of a furious alpha left me frozen on the spot.

“You!” he exclaimed, climbing onto the bed and on top of me to strangle my neck with a hand.

I gasped and choked as I felt my air cut off. Apart from the fact that I couldn't breathe, the fabric of the collar also chafed painfully against my neck. My strength was yet to recover, and he was a lot stronger than I was, so I couldn’t push him away. Tears streamed down my face.

But I, a mere human slave, had mated with a werewolf last night. If I was Dylan, I would’ve killed myself, too.

“I’m…s-sorry”, I croaked out, relaxing my muscles to wait for the cruel punishment that I probably deserved. My body shook violently, but I forced myself to close my eyes.

I felt his grip on my neck get tighter until he sighed and let go. I was too confused and weak to react immediately as I felt him scramble to get off of me. Opening an eye, I looked to my left to find him sitting on the side of the bed, his face buried into the palms of his hands.

“Why?” My voice was raspy and barely a whisper, but through the stillness of the room, he heard me just fine. He then sat straight up and bent over to lean in towards me, his forearm resting on the side of my head and his nose grazing slightly against mine. Despite my vision fading in and out, I managed to catch the hint of guilt and gentleness in his eyes. I was probably still drunk on his pheromones—I wanted to kiss him right then and there.

Thank god, I was too weak to move.

“Isabella,” he said slowly, as if he was trying to talk sensibly to a child. “Last night…”

I was waiting for something along the lines of don’t tell anyone about it or let’s pretend it never happened. But I definitely expected nothing near what came out of his lips next.

“Last night, I… I marked you, Isabella.”

Marking?

My eyes went wide and my mouth fell agape in shock. With a trembling hand, I caressed the skin behind my ear once more. Gears went into action in my brain—that sudden surge of strength that I felt last night when he bit me was because he had marked me.

Dylan pushed himself off the bed and stood up, his back facing me. “Go get dressed.”

“Y-Yes, master,” I said.

He left the room, shutting the door closed behind him to give me some privacy, much to my surprise. Once my shock had slowly subsided, it didn’t take long for my fear to settle in. I didn’t know that a werewolf marking a human was possible. But on the other hand, I don’t think anybody did as werewolves only saw us as mere cattle that they could prey on.

But what everybody did know is that marking a mate has a lifetime effect. It’s not something that one can just undo if he changes his mind. And once marked, it would unite their souls as one.

However, I didn’t feel any differently than I did yesterday. Dylan did look a little gentler towards me, but I reckon that was only because he was troubled by the fact that he was the one who brought this upon us. Of course, I wouldn’t say that I don’t share a part of the blame either. I agreed to do it when he asked, after all.

I groaned as I forced myself to stand up. My legs wobbled as I wrapped the blanket around my naked body. The servant’s quarters were on the opposite wing of the manor, and even just thought of walking all the way there in my current state immediately exhausted me. I bent down to pick up my tattered t-shirt and underwear from the floor. The shirt looked like it was beyond saving, but as I only had two of these, I had no choice but to try.

I rolled my garments into a ball and tucked it into my arms since my hands were too occupied trying to keep the blanket from falling to the floor. When I stepped out of the room, I jumped in surprise upon seeing Dylan casually leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Isabella,” he looked at me through the curtain of dark hair that fell over his eyes. “Where are you going?”

“To get dressed, master?” Since I was confused, my answer sounded more like a question.

He didn’t reply and stepped towards me before grabbing the ball of fabric from my arms. I shrieked in both surprise and protest and flung my hands in an attempt to get my belongings back. Naturally, as I let go of the blanket, it fell into a heap on the floor, exposing my nakedness underneath.

I gasped and blood crept up to my cheeks. In a panic, I bent down to pick up the blanket and hide myself, but Dylan was quicker. He wrapped a muscular arm around my waist and picked me up easily, as if I were a sack of potatoes. I could feel the warmth emanating from his bare chest on my stomach as he pressed me against him.

“M-Master!”

“Come,” he said, throwing my ball of tattered fabric onto the trash bin that was conveniently placed by his bedroom door. “You’ve no need to go back to your room.”

I figured that struggling was useless, so I let myself be carried. Not long after, I found myself in his ensuite bathroom. He stopped by the tub before bending down, just enough to let my feet touch the cold tiled floor, but didn’t retract his arm as he reached out his other hand to turn on the faucet.

My hands shook a little as my rapidly increasing pulse pounded in my temples, ringing my ears and drowning the sounds of water flowing into the tub. It felt like I was going to fall, so I hesitantly placed my hands on his shoulders for support.

“Master?” I asked, trying to make sense of the situation, but couldn’t find the right words to properly do so.

Dylan didn’t speak and made me sit down on the ledge of the tub. He then stood up straight and stripped himself of the silky robe he was wearing right in front of me, with no hint of shame in his eyes. I turned my head to the side, not really knowing where to look. We already saw each other’s everything last night, but I couldn’t help but blush at his demeanor.

“Why are you embarrassed?” he asked me, placing a finger on my chin to make me look at him.

“I’m just…” I started to say as I locked my gaze with his. I thought that maintaining eye contact would be the best way to fight the urge to look at his body, but it seemed like I was mistaken. So I lowered my gaze to stare at the floor instead. “I feel uncomfortable, master.”

It didn’t take long for the tub to be filled, so after turning off the tap, Dylan dropped a bath bomb in it. I watched in curiosity and amazement as the ball of soap exploded into different colors in the water. I often prepare his bath so I wasn’t as mesmerized by it as I was a couple of months ago, but it was still fascinating to observe.

Once again, he carried me—bridal style this time—and positioned me in between his legs in the tub. The warm water immediately woke me up and refreshed my aching muscles and stiff bones. I found myself relaxing, leaning my back against his sturdy chest.

Awareness came a few seconds after and I perked up, straightening my spine. “I-I’m sorry, master. I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay,” he cut me off as he placed his hands on my hips and pulled, pressing me against him. “My memory is a little hazy, but I must’ve worn you out last night.”

I felt a throbbing sensation, and I tightly pressed my thighs together. Last night admittedly started out great, but when he penetrated me without consideration, that’s when things went downhill for me. But, of course, I wasn’t even supposed to be doing such things with an alpha, so I couldn’t bring myself to complain about it now.

“Yeah,” I said instead, hugging my knees in a somewhat protective stance.

“I have a doctor at the company,” he said. I could feel his finger gently tracing the swollen teeth marks behind my ear. Moments later, his finger slid down until he was touching the chafed skin showing through my collar. “He’s been researching the ways a marking can be undone. Maybe he has made some progress.”

“Oh,” I mumbled as I let my thoughts wander.

There is one certain way to sever a bond made through marking, though.

Death.