Chapter 8: Marked

Evelyn

The pain came in waves.

First a dull ache in my chest. Then heat, rising under my skin like fire. My fingers trembled. My senses pulsed and stretched and snapped like they didn't belong to me anymore.

Everything smelled stronger. The trees. The air. Even Lucian.

And when I looked at him, sometimes I could hear his heartbeat.

Something inside me was changing.

But it didn't feel magical.

It felt like I was breaking apart.

⸻

Lucian stood in the clearing, arms crossed, watching me struggle to breathe.

"This is normal," he said softly. "The first few days after the awakening are the worst."

I doubled over, clutching my ribs. "This isn't normal. This is hell."

"You're not shifting," he said, kneeling beside me. "Not yet. Your body's adjusting to the blood. You're not turning into a wolf… but you're not fully human anymore either."

"I don't want to be either," I hissed through gritted teeth.

He didn't flinch.

"I know," he said. "But you don't get to choose your blood. Only what you do with it."

That shut me up.

He offered me a hand. I took it, and let him pull me up.

"You're going to teach me?" I asked.

Lucian gave a crooked grin. "More like throw you into the deep end and hope you swim."

I groaned. "You're terrible at pep talks."

"Good. You won't need words where we're going."

⸻

Lucian

I took her to the old training ground. Deep woods. No roads. No people.

Just instinct.

The place hadn't been used in years. But the scent of wolves still lingered in the moss, the trees, the bones buried beneath the dirt.

I watched Evelyn take it all in.

"Rule one," I said. "Don't rely on sight. Wolves trust scent, sound, feel."

She closed her eyes.

Good.

"Now listen."

At first, she struggled. Fidgeted. Too human still.

But then something clicked. Her breathing slowed. She tilted her head.

"I hear… birds," she whispered. "Movement. Four legs. About twenty feet east."

I smiled. "Rabbit."

She opened her eyes. "I've never heard anything that clearly before."

"That's your blood waking up."

She met my gaze. "Does it get easier?"

"No," I said honestly. "But it makes you stronger."

⸻

We trained for hours.

Tracking.

Scent trails.

Evasion.

Evelyn was a quick learner — fast, sharp, determined.

But by nightfall, she was exhausted. Her body still fighting itself. Her hands shaking again.

I helped her sit under the tree where my father once trained me.

"You'll get through this," I said quietly. "You're stronger than you think."

Her eyes locked on mine, and for a long moment, we just sat there in the dark. No lies. No walls.

Just us.

Until her phone buzzed.

And everything changed.

⸻

Evelyn

I didn't want to look.

But I did.

A message from Jess, my best friend.

"Emergency at school. Call me ASAP."

Lucian saw my face and didn't ask. He just grabbed the keys and drove.

⸻

The school parking lot was filled with flashing red and blue lights.

Police.

Ambulance.

Crime scene tape.

I felt sick.

Jess ran to me the moment I stepped out.

Her eyes were wild.

"It was Ryan," she choked. "They found him in the locker room… barely conscious. But alive."

Relief. Confusion. Dread.

I barely knew Ryan. He was in my chemistry class. Always kept to himself.

"Why would anyone hurt him?" I asked.

Jess looked pale. "They didn't just hurt him."

Lucian stepped beside me. "What did they do?"

Jess hesitated. "It's… carved into his chest."

My blood ran cold.

"Carved?" I echoed.

Jess nodded.

"Four words," she whispered. "Burned in with something sharp."

SHE IS MINE.

⸻

Lucian

We didn't speak on the drive home.

There was nothing to say.

Caleb had crossed a new line.

Before, he killed quickly. Cleanly.

Now he was sending messages.

Ryan had nothing to do with us. He was a warning. A puppet. A billboard for what Caleb wanted us to know:

Evelyn belonged to him.

I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.

Evelyn sat stiff beside me, fists clenched.

"I'm done hiding," she said finally.

"You were never hiding," I replied. "You were surviving."

She turned to me, voice trembling with rage. "Not anymore. He wants me to be afraid. But I'm not going to break."

I glanced at her — the quiet girl I met in the woods now burning with fury and fire and something dangerously close to power.

"You're starting to sound like a wolf," I said.

She didn't smile.

"I want to find him," she said. "I want to end this."

My voice dropped. "That's exactly what he wants."

"Then we beat him at his own game."

⸻

Evelyn

I didn't sleep that night.

I sat on the porch with the bloodied cloth in my lap and the note Lucian showed me pressed to my palm.

The girl will be the key.

Caleb wanted to use me.

But maybe he made a mistake.

Because I wasn't just the key.

I was the door.

And he was going to regret ever opening it.