All Chapters of Marked for Ruin: The Alphas’ Rejected Mate: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

COMBATThis was Ella’s first tournament. She had heard tales about how the events went and the champions that emerged at the end, but she had never actively participated until tonight.She wouldn’t be participating if Lyla hadn’t been so convincing, and every minute since she saw the Blackthorn twins, she wanted to run out of this place and head straight home.But then, she had made a declaration that she was going to have the time of her life, and she might as well get around to it.“Fake it till you make it,” she muttered as the queue moved slowly.She had decided to register for the tournament, which would begin in an hour or two. What she wasn’t sure of was if being part of this was a good idea. She had never been in combat all her life.One thing she knew was how to avoid confrontation, and even then, it always came knocking in the form of Lucian and Kade Blackthorn. Tonight was different—or at least, she hoped it would be.This was the moment she had to prove to herself that tra

ELLAI realized that this was the first time I was changing into my wolf form in a long time, and I wasn’t expecting the changes I noticed. I felt stronger, and I could tell that I had grown a lot bigger than the last time I turned.Turns out, training and being intentional about what I wanted to do with my body regarding muscle building was paying off quite well.I turned my gaze to the twins once more and inwardly chuckled at their expressions when I realized this was the first time they had seen me shift.Surely, they expected to see some feeble wolf, waiting to back into a corner and hide away from the world. At some point, they needed to realize I was an entirely different person from the Ella they thought they knew. If this was a way to send that message, I intended to make sure they never forgot it.The whistle went off, and the fight began. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I waited for her to launch the first attack before retaliating and giving the fight all I had.The goal w

ELLAI opened my eyes, narrowed them for a bit, let out a short chuckle, then closed them again.It took all the self-control I could muster not to unleash a string of curses or lash out at him.I kept reminding myself that I was conserving energy and he wasn’t worth the effort. If I could will myself to fall asleep right now, I would—without a care in the world.He could stand there and talk to himself until dawn if it made him feel better about what he’d done.All I truly wanted was to be left alone. My thoughts were enough company, and I’d rather have them than Lucian’s words.“Beginner’s luck,” I murmured, shaking my head. “Such an asinine thing to say,” I added, a little louder than intended, but I didn’t care what he thought.If he had anything to say about my remark, it didn’t matter anymore. He had already done his worst, and I was determined to start teaching myself how to see past whatever nonsense he threw my way.That was the best option I had now. If I kept letting their

ELLAI had spent the weekend recuperating—being home and in my own bed did wonders. I was finally in a space no one could barge into and make me feel uncomfortable, except, of course, for the occasional doorbell that went off at specific times of the day.It had started the same morning Quincy dropped me off. That afternoon, I heard the bell and slowly dragged myself to the door, only to find no one there. Instead, a basket filled with food items sat on the porch, with a get well soon note attached.At first, it was strange to receive something without knowing who it came from. But when another basket arrived later that evening, I decided it was a welcome development.Whoever was sending it had saved me the trouble of cooking or spending more money to order food—and for that, I was grateful. I would’ve liked to know who was behind the kind gesture, but if they preferred to stay anonymous, that was fine by me. Sooner or later, I’d find out. Right now, I just needed to get my strength b

ELLAWhoever decided that the weekend only consisted of two days was a really terrible person, and they were lucky I couldn’t go back in time to shake some sense into them.It was Monday already, and I hated that I had to drag my barely healed body to this place and force myself to sit through classes.I would’ve stayed home, but that would ruin my perfect attendance, and I had a test coming up after lunch. I wasn’t going to let an aching body take away the chance of increasing my credits.If I started to feel faint, I’d simply go to the infirmary and spend some time with the nurse. I didn’t need to take any medication—if anything, the really sore parts of my body were healed, and the rest would be over before the end of the day. I just needed to rest.I thought about the note I had read earlier. Since I got it, I had been trying to make sense of the text written on it, but to no avail. I couldn’t pinpoint why, but it felt oddly familiar.I couldn’t understand what was written or why