MARKED FOR PRETEND - Chapter 23: Chapter 23
You are reading MARKED FOR PRETEND, Chapter 23: Chapter 23. Read more chapters of MARKED FOR PRETEND.
She didn’t sleep, not after what had happened in the dungeon, not after the way the guards had stared at her — not with curiosity, but with caution.
Not after she saw him.
Kael.
She sat on the edge of her bed, palms trembling, her thoughts louder than the silence pressing through the walls. The air was too thick. Her skin too tight. Every part of her felt like it was trying to come undone.
Kael had spoken to her.
Not Kaden — not the cold, unreadable Alpha, but the part of him no one ever spoke of, the part that should’ve hated her.
Instead, he claimed her- not with a touch, but with a vow she could still feel ringing in her bones.
⸻
She hadn’t seen Mira since.
Not in the halls.
Not in the east wing.
Nowhere .
And no one would speak her name.
Chelsea knew what she saw. She had heard it with her own ears; Mira trembling in chains, while admitting she had given something that belonged to her — a part of her — to someone else.
I didn’t mean to harm her.
They just wanted to know if she was compatible.
Chelsea swallowed the memory, sharp and bitter. She didn’t want to believe it. She still didn’t.
The Mira she knew had braided her hair, snuck her warm bread from the kitchens, sat with her when her nightmares wouldn’t leave.
So she left her room for the first time in days, slipped past the guards, past the curious stares.
She needed an explanation, a reason .
Why her?
⸻
But Mira was gone.
When she asked the kitchen staff, they froze.
When she asked a passing maid, the girl averted her gaze and hurried away.
It was Delta Dax who finally spoke — not out of kindness, but because the silence had grown too thick to breathe in.
“You shouldn’t ask about her,” the woman said quietly, folding her arms.
“The Alpha’s wolf nearly tore a guard in half because of what she did.”
Chelsea’s heart clenched. But still… she asked.
“Where is she?”
“Locked away until the council decides what to do with her.”
Dax paused, eyes narrowing. “But make no mistake — she betrayed you. She gave what she had no right to give.”
⸻
Chelsea left without another word.
Her legs felt like water as she climbed the stairs.
Her body didn’t ache — but her heart did.
Was any of it real?
Did Mira ever mean any of it? The smiles, the small kindnesses, the friendship?
Or had it all been an act?
The sky outside had darkened. Thunder gathered quietly in the clouds. The wind pulled against the windows as she returned to her room.
And that was when the burn returned.
⸻
It started as a tingle at first — the familiar crescent mark on her arm flaring faintly under her skin.
But then it spread.
Not across her body, but deeper.
Like something had been sleeping inside her bones — and it had begun to stir.
Chelsea grabbed the edge of her desk. Her breath came short and sharp. She looked down and saw the mark glowing.
Not flickering.
Pulsing.
The kind of pulse that didn’t come from light.
It came from power.
⸻
She stumbled to the mirror.
Her reflection looked back at her, eyes wide with something that wasn’t quite fear. Her skin felt too hot. Her heartbeat didn’t sound like her own.
“What are you?” she whispered to herself.
“What am I?”
And in the reflection, for a second — just one flicker — she saw something behind her eyes.
A different light.
A deeper shadow.
A whisper of something old. Something claimed.
⸻
She didn’t know what this mark meant.
She didn’t know what this power wanted.
But for the first time in years, it was no longer quiet.
And neither was she.
Not after she saw him.
Kael.
She sat on the edge of her bed, palms trembling, her thoughts louder than the silence pressing through the walls. The air was too thick. Her skin too tight. Every part of her felt like it was trying to come undone.
Kael had spoken to her.
Not Kaden — not the cold, unreadable Alpha, but the part of him no one ever spoke of, the part that should’ve hated her.
Instead, he claimed her- not with a touch, but with a vow she could still feel ringing in her bones.
⸻
She hadn’t seen Mira since.
Not in the halls.
Not in the east wing.
Nowhere .
And no one would speak her name.
Chelsea knew what she saw. She had heard it with her own ears; Mira trembling in chains, while admitting she had given something that belonged to her — a part of her — to someone else.
I didn’t mean to harm her.
They just wanted to know if she was compatible.
Chelsea swallowed the memory, sharp and bitter. She didn’t want to believe it. She still didn’t.
The Mira she knew had braided her hair, snuck her warm bread from the kitchens, sat with her when her nightmares wouldn’t leave.
So she left her room for the first time in days, slipped past the guards, past the curious stares.
She needed an explanation, a reason .
Why her?
⸻
But Mira was gone.
When she asked the kitchen staff, they froze.
When she asked a passing maid, the girl averted her gaze and hurried away.
It was Delta Dax who finally spoke — not out of kindness, but because the silence had grown too thick to breathe in.
“You shouldn’t ask about her,” the woman said quietly, folding her arms.
“The Alpha’s wolf nearly tore a guard in half because of what she did.”
Chelsea’s heart clenched. But still… she asked.
“Where is she?”
“Locked away until the council decides what to do with her.”
Dax paused, eyes narrowing. “But make no mistake — she betrayed you. She gave what she had no right to give.”
⸻
Chelsea left without another word.
Her legs felt like water as she climbed the stairs.
Her body didn’t ache — but her heart did.
Was any of it real?
Did Mira ever mean any of it? The smiles, the small kindnesses, the friendship?
Or had it all been an act?
The sky outside had darkened. Thunder gathered quietly in the clouds. The wind pulled against the windows as she returned to her room.
And that was when the burn returned.
⸻
It started as a tingle at first — the familiar crescent mark on her arm flaring faintly under her skin.
But then it spread.
Not across her body, but deeper.
Like something had been sleeping inside her bones — and it had begun to stir.
Chelsea grabbed the edge of her desk. Her breath came short and sharp. She looked down and saw the mark glowing.
Not flickering.
Pulsing.
The kind of pulse that didn’t come from light.
It came from power.
⸻
She stumbled to the mirror.
Her reflection looked back at her, eyes wide with something that wasn’t quite fear. Her skin felt too hot. Her heartbeat didn’t sound like her own.
“What are you?” she whispered to herself.
“What am I?”
And in the reflection, for a second — just one flicker — she saw something behind her eyes.
A different light.
A deeper shadow.
A whisper of something old. Something claimed.
⸻
She didn’t know what this mark meant.
She didn’t know what this power wanted.
But for the first time in years, it was no longer quiet.
And neither was she.
End of MARKED FOR PRETEND Chapter 23. Continue reading Chapter 24 or return to MARKED FOR PRETEND book page.