MARKED FOR PRETEND - Chapter 36: Chapter 36

The morning light spilled through the windows like it had been holding its breath all night waiting to touch them.
Chelsea stirred slowly beneath the covers. Her body felt different, It was not being sore from what happened last night, she was just… marked. Every inch of her carried the memory of his hands, his mouth, his breath whispering against her skin like it had always belonged there.
Kaden was still there.
He sat at the edge of the bed, shirtless, elbows on his knees, hands knotted together like he was trying not to break the moment by breathing too loud.
“You’re awake,” he said without turning.
She sat up, the blanket sliding over her bare chest. “You were watching me sleep.”
“I always watch you sleep.”
Chelsea blinked. “What?”
He turned then, slowly, and the look in his eyes stopped her breath. It wasn’t lust, it wasn’t even love, it was something deeper, It was reverence.
“You don’t know what you did to me,” he murmured. “Last night wasn’t just a bond. It was a binding. I feel you in my blood now. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let you go.”
“I feel…” She paused, trying to find the word.
“Different?” he offered.
She nodded. “Yes. Like my blood knows yours now too”
A smirk tugged at his lips. “Because it does.”
He turned to face her fully, trailing his fingers along the length of her spine. “You’re mine now, officially. My Luna. My mate. And I don’t care who thinks it’s too soon. It’s already too late.”
Kaden kissed her forehead softly. “I have to meet with the patrol units. Routine check-in after last night’s coronation. I won’t be long.”
Chelsea frowned faintly, tugging the sheets higher. “You’re still Alpha even after I’ve worn you out?”
He smirked. “Especially after you’ve worn me out.”
She giggled, then caught his hand before he could leave. “Kaden?”
He turned.
“You’ll come back to me?”
His eyes softened. “Always.”
Then, as if something in him couldn’t help it, he cupped her face and kissed her again. “You’re Luna now. You don’t need permission to breathe the air beyond this room.”
“I just… haven’t walked around the entire pack since I arrived.”
“Then do it,” he said. “See the place you now rule.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay.”
And so he left her, heart light. His Beta, Dax, was already waiting outside the council chamber when Kaden arrived.
But the mood shifted quickly.
“Alpha,” Dax said, brows drawn. “There’s something strange on the south end of the border. Patrols are saying the wind feels… off.”
“Off?” Kaden echoed. “Define off.”
“Not scentless. Masked. It’s almost like something’s deliberately pulling us there.”
Kaden’s spine went rigid. “Get the Deltas. Take no risks. I’ll handle the council.”
But as they left to investigate, the council meeting was cut short.
A warrior burst through the doors. “We’re under attack!”
Steel flashed. Men shifted.
But Kaden’s instincts screamed something else.
Too clean. Too coordinated. Too quiet.
He looked at Dax. “This isn’t an attack.”
Dax’s eyes widened. “It’s a distraction.”
Then came the dread.
Chelsea.
Kaden ran.
Through the stone halls. Past stunned guards and broken torches.
He slammed open her bedroom door.
Empty.
The bedsheets were still warm.
She was just here.
Just here.
He turned. Searched the windows. The bathroom. The balcony.
Nothing.
Then he saw it—on the pillow.
A note.
Written in elegant, foreign hand. Not Chelsea’s.
Thank you for nurturing her until now.
I’ll take it from here.
Kaden’s hands crushed the note.
Dax appeared behind him, out of breath. “The attack stopped. The intruders vanished. It was all fake. They wanted us out of the house—”
“I KNOW,” Kaden roared. His wolf surged forward, rage boiling so violently it crackled in the air around him.
Kael’s voice rang through their bond.
They took our mate.
Kaden growled, his voice thunderous.
“No one takes what’s mine and lives.”