Chapter 116
Chapter 116
50 No More Mark
Selma POV
After we discussed everything that happened Luna Amelia showed me to a room across from Bryson. I could tell that Cayden
doesn’t trust Bryson completely, but in my heart, I know he is nothing like the others. I head into the bathroom and I stand in front
of the mirror. I run my fingers over the forced mark on my neck. I know that Theo was right and Bryson recognizes that I am his
beloved but what happens now. I bare his brother’s mark. A tear slides down my cheek and I brush it away. I need to focus on
making sure my uncle and Bryer pay for what they have done to all of us. I step into the shower and let the spray wash over me.
I try to reach my magic but it’s like my power are inside a bubble that I can’t pop. After a few tries I give up for now. I step out and
dry before putting on pajamas that Lily gave me. I climb into bed even though I’m sure I won’t be able to sleep with all that is
running through my mind. A knock sounds on the door and I open it to find Bryson smiling at me. My stomach flips before I notice
his eyes fall to the mark on my neck. “I’m so sorry Selma. I should have stood up to my father and brother.” I step back inviting
him into my room. We need to talk about everything anyway.
I take a seat on the bed and he sits in the chair across from me. Goddess, it’s so strange how despite the fact that he and Bryer
are identical, my attraction is only to him. I feel the pull like I want to crawl into his lap and bury my head in his chest. “Selma”, his
name on my lips brings me out of my thoughts. He smiles like he knows what I’m thinking about. “‘Bryson, you helped me when it
mattered most. I know what it is to have someone who is supposed to have your best interest at heart use you for their own
selfish needs. I don’t need you to be sorry. I’m sure we have both done things we aren’t proud of in our family’s name. What
matters to me is what you plan to do now?” He stands and walks toward me. He places his hand against my cheek and I lean my
face into his touch. “I plan to stand with my beloved no matter who it is against.” Another knock sounds on the door and I stand
to open it. Pheobe and Lily smile when they see Bryson standing behind me. “I think it’s time we set things right and remove that
forced mark from your neck”, Lily says. “The only reason this is possible is because it was done without your consent, otherwise
it would require black magic. A mate’s mark is sacred and since he wasn’t your true mate, we can erase it like it never
happened” Pheobe says, and I can’t help the smile on my face. I was worried that I would bare this ba**ard’s mark unless I
involved the black magic witches. Their help always has a cost and I’m not willing to pay with my soul.
They lead me over to the bed and I lay down. Bryson comes around and takes my hand in his. “Selma, this is definitely going to
hurt. Even though its a forced mark, it’s a mark just the same.” “I don’t care how much it hurts, I want that ba**ards mark gone.”
Bryson squeezes my hand. Lily and Pheobe come to stand over me and as they begin to chant, I brace myself for the pain. Their
chanting gets louder just as the pain hits. I feel like I’m being burned from the inside out. After a few minutes, the burning stops
before a pain like I’m being stabbed in my marking spot takes its place. I don’t know how long the pain lasts because I can feel
myself fading into unconsciousness. I just pray after all of this pain that when I wake up the mark is really gone.
Bryson POV
She is so beautiful and I know I don’t deserve her after all her uncle and my family have put her through. I should have fought
harder when they placed her in that f**king cell. I swear to the goddess I had no idea he was going to mark her by force. I know
he is ba**ard but that is a new low for even him. As soon as we make it back to the pack, I expect them to throw me in the cells.
Selma is the only reason that didn’t happen. I still can’t believe that she is my beloved. He marked my beloved. I knew the
moment I looked into her eyes that she was mine even if I don’t deserve her. When they showed me to my room I couldn’t stop
pacing. I need her to know how sorry I am and pray she truly forgives me. As we talk her words give me hope and everything in
me wants this woman. When the two witches arrive and say they can remove my brother’s mark, I’m torn. I want nothing more
than to place my mark on her neck but taking the forced mark away will hurt her. She has suffered enough for what those
a**holes have done. When she says she wants it done, all I can do is be there to hold her hand.
I take her hand in mine as she lays back on the bed. When they begin to chant, I say a prayer to the goddess that she helps
Selma. The first scream from her lips makes my chest ache. She arches off the bed and I have never felt so helpless in all my
life. It feels like a lifetime before the chanting stops and Selma passes out. I look at the witches and I see sympathy in their eyes.
“It has taken a toll on her but she should wake up soon.” I look at her marking spot and though the mark is still there, it is
definitely lighter. “It will take a day or so to completely fade” the witch she called Lily says. “Stay with her your presence will help
her heal” the blonde woman says and winks at me. Do they know who I am to her?” “Only a true mate would have such love and
fear in his eyes”, Lily says before they leave, closing the door behind them. I don’t even think. I just slide into bed next to her and
pull her close to my side. I say one final prayer to the goddess before exhaustion takes me under.
Eli POV
We will be heading to the coven in the morning. Lily was able to use some of Larisa’s things to do a location spell. Now that we
have her location nothing will stop us from saving my sister and making those f**king vampires pay for taking her. I come out of
the bathroom and Calliope is laying Faith down in her crib. She heads for me and I wrap her in my arms breathing in her scent.
“We will get your sister back Eli.” “I know love, I just hate to think what she has been through while they have her with them.” She
puts her hands on my face so I’m looking in her eyes. “Your sister isn’t some weak girl. She is strong just like her brother.” I
smile, goddess I love this woman. “Come on, let’s get some sleep so we can get my sister-in-law back home.” I slide in next to
her and pull her back to my front. My lids are getting heavy when I get a link from the patrol guard that my sister just crossed the
border. “Is she alone?” “Yes, Alpha. She doesn’t seem hurt but she is barely on her feet.” “I am on my way.” I rush from bed and
tell Calliope what’s happening. “Be safe, it doesn’t make sense they would just let her go. It may be a trap.” I link my parents and
then more patrol guards before I’m outside the house and shifting.
We all reach her at the same time. She is barely on her feet and my father scoops her up. Besides the shirt, she is clinging to
that smells of a vampire. I can’t scent anyone else. I still tell my men to follow her scent to ensure they are not lying in wait to
attack. My father takes off toward the pack hospital. I run next to my father and mother. As soon as we reach the pack hospital
the doctor is already waiting to take her. They wheel her through the doors but my mother refuses to leave her side. I’m shocked
when the doctor allows her to follow, but part of me is glad. My aunt appears and heads through the double doors. I turn to my
father and the look on his face makes my heart squeeze in my chest. I put my hand on his back and he looks into my eyes. “I
promise you that they will suffer for what they have done” I say. A pained expression crosses his face before one of anger
settles. “Your sister was only awake for a few seconds while we ran but the only thing she said to me, was not to hurt the
vampires” before she passed out in my arms. Why the f**k would she say that after they kidnapped her?
Larisa POV
I’m in darkness and it feels familiar. I open my eyes and this time the mansion isn’t a foreign place. It’s like my previous vision but
I’m not confused about where I am. I take the stairs and follow the hallway until I come to the door where I was being held.
Something draws me to the room and when I open it, I realize it’s the man that let me go, not the room. He is lying in the bed in
just his boxer briefs. Goddess, he is the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. I shake those thoughts away and focus on the fact
that he is lying in this room. Why is he in here? What does it all mean? I go around the bed so I can see his face and is holding
the pillow like it’s a person. “Like it’s us” Ara says. “Ara, I want our mate as much as you do but I don’t think he wants us the way
you think he does?” Before I can say more, I hear one word that makes me realize just how wrong I am. “Laura” he says in his
sleep. In this moment I really wish I told Oscar my real name, even though I know he is calling out to me. “Ara, what do we do?”
“We don’t give up on our mate. We make him understand that he is worthy and that we want him despite everything that
happened.” The room fades and I’m back in darkness. I don’t know how much time passes but I hear voices and the beeping of
machines.
My eyelids still feel heavy but I force them open. “She is awake”. I hear my mother’s beautiful voice. “Hello my sweet girl. I’m so
proud of you. You saved yourself. I was so worried about you.” I smile “that’s not exactly how it happened.” I cough my throat dry.
She offers me a drink and I take it. It makes my throat feel so much better. I try to sit up before I speak again. I realize that Aunt
Lily is with us. “Larisa, tell us what happened.” I tell them everything that happened from the time I was taken until the time
Magnum let me go. They both have a look of shock on their faces. “He just let you go.” “He said that the coven is no longer a
threat to the pack and let me go.” The smile that crosses my mother’s face makes butterflies dance in my belly. “I think the
goddess knew exactly what she was doing when she made you, his mate. He needed your good heart to bring him back from the
darkness.” She takes my face in her hands. I can feel the tears running down my cheeks. “Don’t cry sweet girl. We will get this all
sorted out with your mate.” “What mate” I hear my father’s booming voice coming from the door. This is a conversation I’m not
looking forward to. I knew my mother would be the easier of the three, but Eli and my father are going to be a very different story.
“The vampire that took me is my mate.”