Her
1464 Words
Marcus POV
To say his night had been bad would have been an understatement.
It had been exhausting, painful, and confusing. The same pattern would repeat throughout the night. Marcus would finally doze off after one of the ‘attacks’, falling into a restless sleep, only to be woken up by the next bout of pinches and stabs.
Every time his unit had wanted to call the doctor, the pain would subside and disappear, as if it had all been in his head. But it wasn’t. One time he swore he could even feel hands wrapping around his throat.
Then finally, during the early morning hours, the pain had vanished completely and Marcus had finally been able to get some actual sleep.
“How are you feeling this morning?” Benjamin asked when Marcus sat up in bed and scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Exhausted,” Marcus groaned, which was bad news, considering there would be another challenge today. The strength trial they’d had to put off when Alpha Adair had collapsed. He, for obvious reasons, would not be participating in the trials but would be going back to what was left of his pack after he’d healed up. Word had it he was still in the Royal pack hospital.
“s**t, you have that trial today,” Benjamin sighed. If he lost, that would mean he’d be losing his pack and doing some jail time.
Marcus nodded and looked around the room to find Alexander already up. He’d stayed the night to help Marcus the best he could, but Marcus guessed he was probably with Alexandra by now.
He found Noah sitting behind his laptop with a look on his face he couldn’t decipher.
“What are you looking at? He asked.
“O…Um…nothing,” Noah mumbled, looking like a dear caught in headlights while he tried to close his laptop quickly.
“Show me,” Marcus spoke hoarsely. He had a feeling he wouldn’t like what he was about to see.
Noah hesitantly turned the laptop to face him and what he saw there made his stomach drop.
It was a live feed of Sarah and King Rowan Adler, the bird King, walking through the Royal garden. They were both smiling and talking as if they were having the time of their lives.
Marcus watched as Rowan leaned into her, seemingly whispering something in her ear. Sarah pulled back and laughed, slapping his arm playfully. After a few more minutes of the same, Marcus couldn’t take it anymore.
“Well, it seems she’s moved on,” He rasped out. Seems like his chance had been missed. He wasn’t mad at her. He was mad at himself for allowing this to get so out of hand. He should have told her about Alexander immediately. She would have told him he wasn’t her mate and that would have been that.
But now, things had turned to s**t and Sarah had already forgotten about him.
“You don’t know that, man. Maybe if you explain then you co—” Noah began, but was interrupted by Marcus.
“No,” He snapped, shutting the laptop harshly. “It’s over. I’m going to get to the semi-finals and then we’re going home.” Marcus sighed inwardly while his wolf whined inside of his mind.
“So that’s it, huh?” Benjamin fixed him with a hard stare, “The mighty Marcus Harper is just going to give up?”
Marcus’ jaw tensed. He knew what his Gamma was doing, but he wasn’t going to take the bait.
“I guess so,” He shrugged.
“So you would be fine with some other Alpha marrying Sarah?” Benjamin casually asked.
“Yep,” Marcus replied sharply.
“Another Alpha being her mate. Another Alpha touching her, kissing her….and at night—” Benjamin was suddenly pushed up against a wall. Marcus’ wolf, Maverick was on the surface.
“Woah, calm down there, Maverick,” Noah intervened, standing next to the two men, trying to talk down the pissed-off Alpha wolf.
“It’s okay, Maverick. Benjamin didn’t mean any harm.” Maverick’s yellow eyes moved away from Maverick to look at Noah.
“Mine,” the wolf spoke gravely before receding and giving back control to Marcus.
“Well, that was…weird,” Marcus spoke. Why the hell would his wolf get all defensive and most importantly, why would he utter the word mine?
“Marcus,” Benjamin spoke, rubbing his throat where Marcus’ forearm had just been pinning him against the wall, “Could it be possible that Sarah is your mate?”
“That would explain so much. I mean, I’ve never seen you fight for a woman before. But why haven’t you scented her out yet?” Noah wondered out loud, rubbing his chin.
Marcus and Benjamin shared a look. He knew Benjamin was trying to get him to come clean.
But when Marcus opened his mouth to spill the beans, Noah came up with a pretty good question.
“Wait.. what does she smell like to you?” He asked Marcus and Benjamin, looking at them excitedly. Marcus really thought about that one. What did she smell like?
“Um…” Benjamin uttered.
“Marcus?” Noah asked, smiling.
“The only thing I remember is her smelling sweet, but that was…. You know,” He explained sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Benjamin and Noah chuckled, understanding immediately that Marcus was referring to the scent of her arousal.
“She doesn’t have a scent!” Noah exclaimed, throwing up his hands excitedly.
“You’re right,” Marcus nodded, “she doesn’t have one. How did I not notice it before?”
“She must be spelled to be scentless!”
“But…” Noah’s brows bunched together, “you should have scented her when you smelled her arousal. Hmm,” He hummed, “so much for my theory of you being her mate.”
“Well, actually….Marcus has something to say.” Benjamin said, looking at Marcus, who let out a loud sigh.
“I—I had Gabriella put a spell on me a few months ago to make sure I never find my mate. Even if she was my mate… I wouldn’t be able to scent her out and she wouldn’t be able to scent me either,”
“What?! Why would you do that? And why does Benjamin know?” Noah asked, looking hurt.
“That’s what I would like to know?” Alexander asked, stepping inside the room with Alexandra in his wake.
“You know what my sisters went through with their mates. I just didn’t want to go through the same. It made me believe the mate bond was as curse rather than a gift. It wasn’t something that I wanted…well, not until…” He trailed off.
“Not until Sarah?” Alexandra asked. Marcus nodded in reply.
“Well, lets go win her back then. Though I’m not sure I’ll be much help. She seems to be pissed at me for some reason.” Alexandra said.
“Yeah, that might have something to do with me,” Alexander sheepishly spoke.
“Start from the beginning,” Alexandra fixed him with a stern gaze.
“So… you were hoping Sarah was your mate?” Alexandra asked with a crooked brow after Alex was finished with his story. He had let Marcus fill in some of the gaps.
“No…I mean… Yes… No! I just wanted to find my mate. But somehow, I must have gotten your scents mixed up or something,” Alex spluttered.
“Sarah doesn’t have a scent right now. It’s been masked for the trials…. s**t, I’m not sure I should have told you that,” She muttered under her breath.
“But I do sometimes lend her some of my clothes.” Alexandra chuckled before her face turned angry. “You guys are idiots, by the way,” She rolled her eyes, “I can’t believe you have her believing I would sleep with Marcus,”
Alexander let out a low growl.
“Stop it,” Alexandra scolded, but Marcus could see the corner of her mouth tugging up in a little smile. It was nice to see Alexander looking at her like a love-sick puppy every time she spoke. It was something Marcus was now sure he wanted himself.
“I’m going to talk to Sarah, to sort out this mess. I suggest you help your Alpha get ready for his trial,” She spoke to the men, before leaving the room.
Marcus hoped he could resolve his problems with Sarah. He was such and i***t. Even if she wasn’t his mate, he knew what he wanted.
Her.
- Writer
