53

Melissa Spatiatis.

My fingers are trembling as I brush aside my hair to reveal the mark he placed at the lower angle of my neck. I turn the tap on, its old pipes groaning in protest before yielding a stream of cold water. I cup my hand beneath the flow, drawing a pool into my palms before splashing it onto the mark. The sudden cold is a shock against the burning heat that I feel on my neck. I gasp at the first splash but I repeat my actions by plashing more water in a desperate attempt to soothe the pain.

The cold-water drips down my neck and soaks the collar of my dress. Is it because I am wolfen? My body is so weak that it cannot even take the mark of another wolf or is it because this is the mark of a Gevaudan? Whichever one it is, King Dimitiro was wrong to mark me…I am not his mate, ……