Marked by Fate

Luca ran, his feet pounding against the cold stone of the palace halls. He didn't look back, didn't care that the guards were already closing in on him. His only thought was to escape. He had tried, failed, and now he was running from the consequences. The shame of his actions and the weight of his failure pushed him forward.

Behind him, the distant sound of Alpha Keiran's enraged growl echoed through the halls. But Luca wasn't concerned with that now. He didn't care about anything but his own survival.

But Keiran wasn't about to let him get away that easily.

"Bring him to me!" Keiran's voice roared, full of command and fury. His eyes burned with possessive anger as he turned to his guards. "No one leaves this palace unless I say so."

Luca barely made it to the palace gates before he was tackled by two of Keiran's strongest warriors, and with that, his escape was over. He thrashed in their grip, but their hold was firm. He was dragged back into the palace, his pride shattered.

Meanwhile, King Keiran's mind was consumed with thoughts of Ariana. He couldn't shake the image of her face, pale and sweating, her body too weak to withstand the intensity of the bond they had shared. The alpha's instincts screamed at him to protect her, and every fiber of his being burned with the need to keep her safe.

The walk to the pack's medical wing was a blur of adrenaline and rage. He clutched Ariana's limp form tightly to his chest, his heart pounding in his ears. He wasn't sure if the mark had done this to her, or if it was something else entirely, but he couldn't stand to see her like this. His mind raced with fear, guilt, and anger, and he didn't know what to expect when he reached the doctor.

Dr. Selena, the pack's trusted healer, met him at the door. She was a woman with kind, yet practiced eyes, eyes that had seen more suffering than any person should. She didn't ask questions as she immediately led King Keiran into the examination room, where she quickly gestured for him to place Ariana on the bed.

Keiran hesitated for a moment before gently laying Ariana down. His heart clenched as he looked at her: her face pale, her brow damp with sweat, her breathing shallow. She was beautiful in every sense, and the bond between them flared with the need to keep her alive, to keep her from harm.

"Is she going to be okay?" Keiran asked, his voice low, strained. He kept his hands on Ariana's, unwilling to let her go. The weight of the moment pressed on him, and he could barely breathe.

Dr. Selena moved toward the bed, her brow furrowed in concentration. She checked Ariana's pulse, listened to her breathing, and examined her condition carefully before speaking.

"She's very weak at the moment, Alpha," Dr. Selena said, her voice soft but firm. "Her body is still adjusting to the mark. It is common for those who have not yet shifted. The mark is too strong for her body to handle, especially since she doesn't have a wolf to help her stabilize."

Keiran's jaw tightened as he processed her words. He felt a swell of guilt at the thought of causing Ariana pain. It had never been his intention to hurt her, but the bond was stronger than either of them could have expected.

"I should have waited," Keiran muttered, more to himself than to Dr. Selena. He felt a wave of guilt crash over him. "I never meant for this to happen."

Dr. Selena looked up at him, her expression softening. "You didn't know how her body would react. It's not your fault, Alpha." She paused, glancing down at Ariana, who still lay motionless on the bed. "She needs time to heal. You must be patient with her. The mark is an intense connection, and it could take some time for her to adjust to it fully."

Keiran nodded, his mind still racing. He could feel his wolf growling, wanting to take charge, to heal Ariana with his own power. But even the wolf inside him knew that healing this bond wasn't something that could be rushed. He had to wait. He had to let her body do what it needed to do.

As he sat beside her, holding her hand gently, his thoughts kept drifting back to the moment he marked her. The heat in her body, the way her pulse had surged, he had never experienced anything like it before. The bond between them had been instant, undeniable, but now Ariana was suffering because of it.

"I told you I wasn't going to hurt you," Keiran whispered, his voice thick with regret. "But look what I've done to you."

As he held her hand, a strange sensation began to rise within him. Ariana's body seemed to grow warmer, almost feverish. He frowned, glancing down at her face, and his heart skipped a beat. Was she... was she waking up?

Keiran's eyes widened as he saw something he had never seen before: the mark on Ariana's neck began to glow. At first, it was faint, but then the glow intensified, and strange, foreign symbols began to form around the mark.

The word "Mine" appeared in glowing letters, and the air in the room seemed to thicken. Keiran's heart pounded in his chest. What was happening?

He quickly stood, panic surging through him. "Selena, what's happening?" he demanded, his voice rough with urgency.

The doctor's eyes widened in shock. She approached the bed, staring at the glowing marks in disbelief. "I've never seen anything like this before, Alpha," she admitted, her voice trembling. "The bond, it's... it's responding to something in Ariana's body. But this…this is something completely unexpected."

Keiran's wolf growled lowly inside him, sensing something was off, something dangerous. He needed answers. "What does this mean for her?" he asked, his voice laced with desperation.

Before Dr. Selena could respond, Ariana's body jerked, and she let out a piercing scream. The sound tore through Keiran's soul, and he instinctively reached for her, desperate to comfort her, but he couldn't stop her pain.

Ariana's body writhed beneath the sheets, her chest heaving with the effort to breathe, but it was as if the heat consuming her was too much for her to handle. She cried out again, louder this time, and Keiran could only watch helplessly as her body reacted to the mark in ways he hadn't anticipated.

"What's going on?" Keiran shouted, his control slipping. His eyes glowed with an animalistic rage, but his concern for Ariana overpowered the wolf inside him. "Why is she in so much pain?"

Dr. Selena stepped forward, her face pale. "Her body is trying to accept the bond, I think, but it's too much for her right now. Without a wolf to help regulate the process, her body is struggling. The mark is too powerful seeing that you are an alpha king."

Keiran's heart twisted in agony as he watched Ariana suffer. He couldn't bear it. He had never intended for this to happen, but now there was no going back. He had marked her, claimed her, and now he had to protect her from the consequences.

"Please, Ariana," Keiran whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. He leaned down close to her, brushing a strand of hair away from her sweaty face. "I'll be here. I won't let anything happen to you."

But as he spoke, Ariana's body began to glow even more intensely. Her skin shimmered with an ethereal light, and Keiran's heart stuttered in his chest. What was this? What was happening to her?

Ariana's body shuddered one final time, and then, as suddenly as it had started, everything went still.

Keiran froze, his breath caught in his throat. Ariana's body was still, but her heart was beating faster than ever. She had stopped screaming, but her face was still twisted in pain.

Dr. Selena stepped forward cautiously. "Alpha, I think she's... adjusting. But we need to give her time. This is unlike anything I've seen before. The mark is... it's changing her."

Keiran's gaze never left Ariana's pale face. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening to her, something he couldn't understand. But as he looked at her, he knew one thing for sure: he would do whatever it took to help her survive this.

And no one, not even her own blood, would take her away from him.