After My Fiancé Rejected Me, I Became His Uncle's Fated Mate novel · Chapter 19 of 24
Chapter 19: The Mark
Four wolves dragged Cade out of the ring by his arms.
His mother went after him, and nobody stopped her.
Lachlan shifted back on his knees in the dirt, and Pearl dropped her shawl over his bare back.
The cuts along his ribs were swollen and green at the edges.
I put my palm over them, and the bond ran hot under my hand.
The green began to fade.
"Ninety minutes," he said. His voice was a rasp.
"I heard."
"The law doesn't care what Cade did. If I'm not marked by moonrise, I lose my wolf."
"I know."
"June." He caught my hand. "If I bite you now, it's the clock."
"Then I'll go first," I said.
His eyes came up.
I stood, and I helped him to his feet, and I turned to face the pack.
Two hundred faces looked back at me in the firelight.
"I want you all to hear this," I said, and my voice carried. "I said it to him this morning, in a sickbed, with no moon in the sky and no elder in the room."
"I'm not asking for the council. I'm not asking for the seat."
I turned back to Lachlan.
"I want your mark, Lachlan Brannigan. If the moon rose tomorrow instead of tonight, I'd say the same."
The clearing was so quiet I could hear the fire.
Somewhere in the crowd, a woman started to cry.
"Mine's yours for the asking," Lachlan said hoarsely.
"Then I'm asking."
"Well," said Pearl, and everyone looked at her. "Don't just stand there. Turn around, all of you."
"Mother," Lachlan said.
"The old custom. Witness by sound, not by sight. You can all hear a bite from the back of a field." She flapped her shawl. "Turn."
Two hundred wolves turned their backs.
The old man with the white beard turned last, and he was smiling into his beard.
Lachlan took my hand and led me into the pines at the edge of the clearing, where the firelight gave out.
Keep reading free with an account. Start After My Fiancé Rejected Me, I Became His Uncle's Fated Mate from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 18 · All chapters · Chapter 20 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend