Chapter 136: The Mark of Submission
Selene's POV
It felt like my body was a battlefield, every nerve frayed, every breath sharp and shallow. My skin still tingled where Alaric's hand had touched it earlier. His grip had been rough but intentional, igniting a strange tension I couldn't quite name. I told myself it was fury. Disgust. Anything but what I feared it really was—desire.
The ceremony was supposed to mark peace. Instead, it felt like the beginning of war. Not just between the packs, but within me.
After the confrontation in the council chamber, I didn't speak to any of them. I walked away from Alaric's intense gaze, from Cassian's brooding silence, from Ronan's torn expression. I kept my head high, refusing to let them see me crumble.
But in the privacy of the room they'd prepared for me—lavish, golden, and distinctly marked with the symbol of their united Alpha rule—I let myself breathe.
