MARKED FOR PRETEND - Chapter 34: Chapter 34

The first thing she felt was warmth.
Not hers.
His.
It wrapped around her like silk caught in fire gentle, but burning. The bed beneath her still smelled like him. Storms and cedar. A scent she’d learned by instinct. One she now craved without permission.
Chelsea didn’t open her eyes right away. She didn’t have to.
She could feel him behind her. One arm across her waist. One leg tangled with hers. The steady thump of his heart against her back like a drum that refused to stop playing.
Last night hadn’t been a dream.
She was his, marked, claimed. And he was still here.
Still here.
The realization unraveled her like thread pulled too fast. No one had ever stayed. Not after wanting her. Not after touching her. Not after seeing her truth.
But he had.
And worse he was still touching her like he needed it to breathe.
Chelsea’s fingers curled into the sheets. Her skin felt different. Alive in ways she couldn’t name. The bond wasn’t a whisper anymore. It was a song—and her body was the instrument.
She turned her head slightly.
Kaden was watching her.
No armor. No mask. Just a man with wildfire in his eyes and a possessiveness that didn’t need to be spoken.
“I thought you’d be gone by now,” she murmured.
His answer was immediate, voice low and frayed. “Never again.”
That was all he said before he curled his arm tighter around her waist.
The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable anymore. It was charged. A language made of glances and skin and breath.
Kaden's pov
He hadn’t intended to storm into the council chamber.
But when Dax told him they’d called an emergency session to “discuss” Chelsea’s sudden elevation to Luna… he saw red.
They’d practically dragged him by the throat to choose a mate just months ago.
And now?
Now they questioned her worth?
The door slammed open with a growl that silenced the room. Kaden entered like a storm unapologetic, commanding. Behind him, Dax and Beta callen flanked his sides, their expressions unreadable.
“She’s not even proven—” Elder Halstrom began.
“She carries a power we don’t understand,” said another. “What if she turns on us?”
Kaden’s voice was low, lethal. “She turned down power. Repeatedly. And still chose us.”
Silence.
She cannot be Luna,” one of them snapped. “She’s unvetted, unshifted until now, unproven—”
“She’s marked,” Kaden said, voice like a blade. “By me.”
Another Elder leaned forward, voice low. “This bond—this girl—it is sudden. Reckless. You expect us to support a Luna we’ve never prepared? We have traditions.”
“Then burn them,” Kaden said sharply.
Silence.
He stepped forward, his voice cutting through the tension like thunder. “I delayed this. I did. I watched. I waited. I doubted.”
She was chosen,” Beta callen spoke, his voice smooth but stern. “The bond is sealed. The mark has appeared. That is no longer up for debate.”
“But it wasn’t earned through the right channels,” Elder Rowan cut in. “There was no ceremony. No council approval—”
Kaden stepped forward, eyes flashing. “You want ceremony?” His voice darkened. “Where was your ceremony when you pressed me for months to find a Luna? To bond? To lead with someone beside me?”
“That was before we knew who she was.”
“Before you knew?” Kaden snarled. “You mean before she survived more than half of this pack would’ve? Before she bled for this place? Before her power made your bones itch?”
The room crackled with energy.
Some Elders looked down, ashamed. Others looked angry. But a few… a few met his gaze with subtle nods. There were splits forming now. Fault lines.
“Be honest,” Dax said coolly. “You’re not afraid of her being Luna. You’re afraid of what she might awaken in the rest of us.”
“She’s dangerous,” someone muttered.
She’s a weapon!” a young elder snapped.
No, she's necessary,” Kaden snapped. “And she’s mine.”
His wolf stirred. Kael pushed forward with a rumble that made the walls tremble faintly. Not enough to shift. But enough to warn.
Silence crashed like thunder.
“I delayed claiming her,” Kaden continued, voice low and shaking with fury, “because I didn’t trust myself. Or Kael. Or the bond. I wanted to be sure.”
But now I am sure,” he said. “I won’t wait another day.”
Elder Varin, oldest of them all, leaned forward. “You truly think the bond will protect her when the war comes? When the old enemies rise again?”
“She doesn’t need protection,” Dax said, stepping in. “You saw what she did to the sky.”
“And that’s the point,” muttered another.
“She is the war.”
A heavy pause. Then Kaden spoke, quiet and deadly.
“There was a traitor once,” he said. “Among you. One of your own betrayed Lysaria, gave her up without a second glance.”
All eyes turned. Gasps echoed.
“Don’t look so surprised,” Kaden snarled. “You thought we didn’t know?”
Elder Myron stiffened. Elder Varin’s fingers curled.
“I’ll tell you this now,” Kaden said, his voice dropping to a snarl. “If any of you even think of touching her—if you leak a whisper, a location, a breath of her scent to the outside world—I will not hunt you with Kael. I will end you myself.”
Varin sat straighter. “You dare accuse one of us—”
“I don’t accuse,” Kaden said. “I know.”
A growl rippled from his chest. Kael stirred beneath his skin.
“And for the rest of you who do support this,” Kaden continued, “I expect your loyalty. Not your fear. Not your hesitation.”
He turned fully now, raising his voice so it reached the upper gallery.
“Tonight, we begin preparations. Tomorrow, I crown her Luna.”
A wave of murmurs. Shock. Some pleased. Some not.
“She doesn’t yet understand the full extent of her power,” Kaden said, “but I do. And before this bond grows stronger, before she learns what she truly is, I’ll anchor her here. With us. Where no one can take her.”
You won’t delay the Luna coronation,” Kaden continued. “Not again. Not for fear. Not for secrets. Not for guilt.”
“And what if she refuses?” Goran asked coldly.
Kaden smiled—a slow, terrifying thing.
“She won’t.”
The Council doors swung open. Kaden stepped out, shoulders still tense from the clash inside. She stood at the corridor’s edge, waiting.
He didn’t speak—just looked at her.
She could feel it in the air now: his anger. His pain. His resolve.
“They think I’m going to destroy everything,” she said softly.
“They think you’re more powerful than I am,” he answered.
She blinked. “Am I?”
He stepped closer, gaze darkening. “You’re everything they’re afraid of. And everything I didn’t know I wanted.”
Her pulse jumped.
“And if they come for you again,” Kaden added, voice low, “I’ll tear this pack apart to protect you. Elders or not.”
Chelsea’s hand brushed his chest, just above his heart. “You don’t have to protect me alone.”
Kaden leaned in. “Let me do this. Let me name you. Let them all see who you are.”
“And if they still resist?”
His eyes gleamed gold. Kael surged inside him.
“Then I stop asking.”
Meanwhile… Deep in the Shadows of Duskveil
A cloaked figure knelt by a candlelit scroll. The wax seal still bore the sigil of Lysaria—the betrayed queen. The figure’s hands shook, not with fear, but with anticipation.
“They’ve named her,” he whispered to no one.
“The white wolf walks among them again. The bond will awaken fully now.”
He pressed his fingers to the flame. The scroll burned without smoke.
“Before the coronation ends… so will the Alpha’s reign.”