All Chapters of Marked by blood, bound by fate. : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Drip. Drip. Drip. The steady sound of liquid striking stone is the first thing Maxine becomes aware of. The putrid smell of rotten flesh, wet earth, and mold is all around her. She opens her eyes, nothing. She blinks, still in darkness. ‘Have I gone blind or something?’ She sits up immediately. ‘Bad idea!’ Pain shoots through her skull so much she nearly cries out. The room, or rather the darkness, begins to spin, her stomach lurches, and everything goes black again. *** The next time she wakes up, she's running. Trees rush past her in a blur of greens, white and pink. Someone’s screaming. "Ine..Axine…Maxine!" Kassy. She gasps, ‘I know that voice.’ "Kassy!" She tries to find her. “Max…Axine!” Tries to reach her. But she can't. No matter how fast she runs, the voice stays ahead of her. Then she sees fire. Everywhere. The trees. The ground. The sky. It’s suffocating. Unrelenting. Lightning lights up the sky, a loud thunderclap follows and then—Darkness. *** Maxine je

Maxine wakes to the groaning sound of her prison door opening.Something in the back of her mind stirs—again. She doesn’t react to it because it’s not new anymore. It’s just there. Like a second heartbeat she never agreed to have. It had been there for days—weeks—months, or whatever time meant in a place without light or windows. She couldn’t tell anyway. Time had dissolved a long time ago.She doesn’t bother lifting her head; she doubts it will listen even if she tries. After the giant of a man who visited her yesterday, she already knew what was going to happen, unless he lied to her and they were finally going to kill her. Part of her actually hoped so, but the other part thought about the tiny possibility of Kassy being alive. So, she hoped he wasn’t lying. At the sound of footsteps, the presence in her mind stirs again. Closer now. More alert and almost…listening. She ignores it. She’s good at ignoring things now. Hunger. Pain. Time. Even herself.“Hello,” a soft female voice sa

Remembering Eliza’s warning, Maxine quickly lowers her gaze. “Your Majesty.” She dips into an awkward bow she’d mostly learned from cartoons and historical dramas. Silence follows. Heavy, suffocating silence. Then— “Come closer.” The voice was deep. Controlled. The kind of voice that expected obedience without ever needing to demand it. Maxine obeyed immediately. She took one step forward. Then another. Each felt heavier than the last. Behind her, Eliza remains where she stood. And suddenly, Maxine felt very alone. “So.” The man’s voice rolls through the vast throne room. “You are the one they found wandering my territory.” Confusion flickers through her. ‘Wandering?’ The last thing she remembered was being kidnapped by that creature. “Your Majesty, I—” “Silence.” Maxine flinches. Fear slides cold and sharp through her chest. “Do not interrupt me.” Her mouth snaps shut. The room feels smaller somehow. The air is thicker and harder to breathe through. Then comes a pause,

Draven leans back in his chair. “I don’t know yet, actually.”Jeremiah blinks. “You don’t know?”“I don’t quite think there is one.”The room goes quiet, and neither of them speaks. Then Nyxar belows. “Are you insane?” Draven ignores him.“What do you mean there isn’t one?” Jeremiah asks.“Yeah,” Soren agrees. “She’s your mate. That’s usually where the planning starts.”Draven stares at the ceiling.“Maybe.” Then he shrugs. “…she’s not worth the trouble.”Jeremiah nearly chokes. Soren sits upright.“Excuse me?” Nyxar demands.Draven rubs at his temple. “If she’s the one from the prophecy…” The words hung in the air. “…then eventually I’ll have to end her.”Silence takes over; the easy atmosphere that had filled the office moments earlier evaporates completely; Jeremiah’s expression darkens. “But she didn’t do it.” Draven’s eye twitches, a telltale sign of his growing frustration.“I know.”“Then why are you talking like she’s already guilty?”“I’m not.”“You kind of are.”Draven exhal

“Quick, I want you to hear something.”The excitement in Maxine’s voice echoes through the spacious room before Dalton has a chance to respond. He already knew what she wanted to show him.He had known from the moment she’d insisted on returning to her room to watch the forest. He knew the exact window she would run to. He knew the exact sound she would point out. He even knew the precise moment her face would light up.Still, he forces himself to play his role.“Yes, Little Spark,” he says, allowing a hint of curiosity into his otherwise even tone. “What is it you would like me to hear?”She grins. “Come here.” Without waiting for him, Maxine hurries across the room.Dalton follows at a much slower pace, his boots making soft sounds against the polished stone floor. He watches her weave around the furniture with an energy that seems impossible after everything she’s endured.The room itself was grand, befitting the future queen of wolves. Rich crimson drapes framed towering windows.