MARKED FOR PRETEND - Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Chelsea's pov
She blinked into the morning haze, expecting the soft creak of her door, the gentle hum of Mira's voice, and the scent of brewed chamomile drifting toward her bed.
None came.
The silence was unnatural.
“Mira?” she called softly. Nothing.
The sun filtering through the curtains cast sharp lines across the stone floor, and for the first time in weeks, Chelsea felt a chill. She pulled her robe tight and stepped out of bed, pacing slowly to the door.
Still nothing.
Instead of Mira, a stranger entered an hour later, a stiff, distant woman in gray. Her hair was tightly coiled, her eyes were downcast, and she spoke in clipped sentences.
“Your bath is ready. Your tray will be brought in ten minutes.”
Chelsea frowned. “Where’s Mira?” She asked
The woman didn’t answer.
She tried again. “Where is Mira?”
The woman only offered a shallow bow and left the room, locking the door behind her with a soft click.
⸻
By midday, the whispers started.
Too low to catch entirely, too fast to trace, she pressed her ear to the wall, to the floor, to the air itself.
But the only thing louder than the whispers was her heartbeat.
Something was wrong.
⸻
It was at dusk she heard footsteps—heavy ones and the sound of voices near the east wing hallway. The halls were louder than usual.
Not in noise, but in movement.
Quick footsteps. Clipped conversations. Shadows crossing faster than they should. She stepped quietly into the corridor and watched three guards move past in haste. Their expressions were tight, their hands on their blades.
She followed from a distance.
No one noticed her. Or maybe they didn’t dare stop her.
They were heading toward the dungeons.
The realization hit her slowly. The dungeons were the coldest part of the palace. No one went there unless something had gone terribly wrong.
She looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Mira to whisper her confusion, ask what was happening. But Mira wasn’t there.She was nowhere to be found .
She hadn’t seen her since the night before.
Her stomach tightened.
Then, down the curve of the staircase, she heard it.
A growl.
Not loud,but deep. So deep it didn’t echo it commanded. It rolled through the walls like thunder from beneath the stone. Something about it made the hairs on her arms rise.
It radiated power.
Aura.
It belonged to Kaden — but it wasn’t him.
It felt more ancient,more primal like whatever lived inside him had decided to stop sleeping.
Not his voice.
Its presence.
It moved like a second heartbeat in the world.
The guards flinched, even the Beta and Dax the delta, seemed taut with caution.
For the first time in years, Kaden’s wolf had shown itself.
One of the guards murmured, “I thought the wolf was… gone.”
Another whispered back, “He hasn’t shifted in years. Not since… her.”
The thing before them, the creature was majestic in a way that hurt to look at. Not monstrous, not snarling. Just… undeniably dominant.
Kaden's wolf.
Kael stood in the dim hallway ahead, eyes glowing silver, fur darker than night. He didn’t growl again, he didn’t need to.
And behind him, bound in chains was Mira
⸻
Chelsea’s breath hitched. Chelsea gasped, moving closer to the railing above. The air thickened. The silence deepened. She gripped the edge tightly, disbelief rushing through her chest.
Mira?"
Her voice didn’t carry. The dungeon was too far.
Then Kael's voice came — cold and low. “Repeat your claim.”
A guard stepped forward, clearly nervous. “As I said before, Alpha… I saw her. She met someone by the east gate. I stayed hidden. She passed them something. It looked like… hair. A strand. Long and brown.”
Mira was on her knees. Wrists bound. Face tear-streaked.
“No,” Chelsea whispered, voice cracking. “No, she wouldn’t…”
She leaned in, listening to every word.
Kael's voice echoed, cold and clear. “She handed over a strand of hair to someone in the shadows. One of the gate guards saw her. Do you deny it?”
“I didn’t know!” Myra sobbed. “They said it wouldn’t harm her. They—They said they just needed to know if she was compatible with him. They had my family!”
Compatible" chelsea whispered
The word was acid in her throat.
Her heart pounded. She wanted to shout, to fight her way to the front. But her feet wouldn’t move. Her body went still.
Everything between her and Mira… the laughter, the soft secrets, the quiet kindness — was it all just fake?
Kael stepped forward, and Mira flinched hard, pressing herself to the floor.
“I was scared,” she whimpered. “I didn’t think it would hurt her. I didn’t know she’d be—”
“You let them touch what was mine.” Kael's voice came from somewhere inside the shadows. Quiet. Lethal. Final.
Chelsea stumbled back.
Mine.
Then Kael turned, and his eyes locked on her.
Chelsea froze.
It was not Kaden who looked at her now.
It was something older. Wilder. And for a second, just one the wolf stepped closer to her lowered his head… and breathed her in.
Warmth.
Breath swept across her neck not rough, but reverent. A claim without touch.
Then she heard it.
Not aloud, but within. A voice pressed into her bones. Velvet laced with growl.
“They won’t take a single strand from you again.”
“You’re mine. Let them try—”
“And I’ll burn this world to remind them.”
Something primal ignited in her chest. Not fear.
Not even safety.
But certainty.
A strange comfort poured off him in waves. Not desire,not danger but recognition
She knew it deep in her bones, that this creature would kill for her.
And she also knew — Kaden could feel it.
They were both pretending not to.
⸻
She returned to her chambers in silence. Alone. The new maid brought her dinner without words and left just as quickly. The tray remained untouched.
The mark on her arm began to glow again.
Not burning.
But whispering.
She didn’t know what it meant, or what it wanted. But for the first time, she felt it stir not just in her skin but in her soul.
And somewhere beneath the palace stone, Kael raised his head to the moonlight with a low, guttural breath.