Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Third–person POV

56

Jace was already irritated before Knox even stepped into the room. Football practice had ended almost an hour ago, but instead of feeling better after spending time on the field, he somehow felt even more frustrated than before. Usually, practice helped him clear his head. Running drills, yelling at the team and exhausting himself physically normally help him stop overthinking things, but today had been different. His mind had kept wandering no matter how hard he tried focus, and the worst part was that he already knew exactly why.

Luna, or more specifically, the fact that he had not seen her for a few days. He hated that it bothered him at all.

Jace sat on the long couch inside the private lounge connected to the locker room, one arm resting against the back of th couch while he stared blankly at the television in front of him that was muted. The room was quiet except for the sound the air conditioner humming softly in the background. He had showered already and changed into black sweatpants and dark shirt, but despite physically being relaxed, mentally he felt anything buscalm.

Ace was restless. His wolf had been irritated since morning, pacing endlessly at the back of his mind like something was wrong. Every now and then. Jace would feel a strange pull in his chest that made him want to know where Luna was and what she was doing. It was annoying, extremely annoying.

At first, he blamed the mark. Every werewolf bond came with side effects, especially after marking, and he figured this wa probably just part of it. The problem was that no matter how much he tried convincing himself of that, the feeling still efused to go away.

The door suddenly opened, pulling him out of his thoughts, and Knox walked into the lounge casually with one hand shoved into the pocket of his jeans. Unlike the rest of them, Knox looked completely relaxed, like he did not have a single problem in the world.

ace glanced at him briefly before looking away again. “You’re late.”

Knox shrugged lightly. “I stopped for food.”

ace hummed absentmindedly in response before leaning back further into the couch again. For a few seconds, neither of hem spoke. Knox walked over to the mini fridge by the wall, grabbed a bottle of water, then turned toward Jace again, with houghtful look in his eyes.

‘You know,” Knox started casually, “I just saw Theo earlier.”

lace did not react much outwardly. “Okay?”

Knox twisted open the water bottle before taking a sip. “He wasn’t alone.”

This time, Jace’s eyes flickered toward him properly. Knox noticed immediately, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly like he was already amused by Jace’s reaction.

“He was with Luna,” Knox added calmly. “Apparently they went on a date.”

For some reason, hearing the words out loud caused something unpleasant to twist lightly inside Jace’s chest. It was briet but it was there.

Ace stirred almost immediately, irritation rolling the ough him so sharply that Jace’s jaw tightened slightly before he could stop himself. His wolf clearly did not like the image that instantly formed i then head of tuna spending the entire day alone with Theo.

Jace immediately shoved the feeling down. It meant nothing. Theo was Luna’s mate too, so of course he was eventually

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Chapter 19-

oing wilake her somewhere. There was nothing strange about that.

Still, despite knowing that logically, fare could not deny the faint irritation that crawled under his skin.

Knox watched him carefully for another second before suddenly smirking. “Are you jealous?”

Jace immediately scoffed. “No.”

The response came so quickly that even he almost found it suspicious.

$5 vouch

Knox let out a laugh before walking over and dropping on the armchair opposite the couch. “That answer was a little too fast.”

lace rolled his eyes. “I’m not jealous,” he repeated more calmly this time. “I don’t care who Luna goes out with. It has nothing to do with me.”

Even as he said the words. Ace growled lowly inside his head in disagreement, but Jace ignored him.

Knox continued staring at him with obvious amusement “Sure”

ace frowned slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean

It means,” Knox replied while taking another sip of water. “that you don’t look nearly as unaffected as you’re trying to retend you are.”

ace shook his head lightly before leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “You’re reading too much into it. The nate bond messes with emotions. That’s all this is.”

That explanation sounded reasonable enough in his own head. The bond already made all of them more emotionally aware of Luna than normal. It heightened instincts, attraction, protectiveness, and territorial feelings. The slight irritation he felt hearing about Theo taking Luna out was probably just another side effect of the bond and nothing deeper than that.

That had to be it because the alternative was ridiculous. Jace had no intention of competing over a girl, especially not with

his friends.

Knox studied him quietly for another moment before suddenly chuckling. “You know,” he said casually, “for someone who doesn’t care, you look really tense right now.”

ace immediately leaned back into the couch again, forcing himself to relax slightly. “I’m fine.”

‘Mhm.”

The skeptical sound Knox made instantly annoyed him,

Jace frowned before deciding to turn the conversation around instead. “Funny how you’re sitting there teasing me,” he muttered. “Luna’s your mate too, remember? Shouldn’t you be jealous too?”

Knox looked completely unbothered by the question. “No”

Jace blinked once. “That was quick.”

Knox shrugged. “Because I genuinely don’t care.”

Jace nrowed his eyes slightly at him. “You’re telling me that possibly watching the guys fight over Luna doesn’t bother you

at all?”

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Chapter 101 –

sox looked thoughtful for a second before answering calmly “Tm telling you that I have no interest in competing with m friends over a girl”

The way he said it sounded shople and hortest

I’ve known you idiots for over ten years.” Knox continued. “There’s no woman on earth worth ruining that for.”

Jace stayed quiet.

Knox leaned further back into the chair before speaking again. “Honestly, I think the rest of you are letting this whole mate bond bullshit get into your heads too much”

Jace almost laughed dryly at that because if anyone else had said it, maybe he would have agreed, but coming from Knox, i sounded different. Knox genuinely seemed detached from the entire situation in a way the rest of them simply were not.

Theo flirted openly with Luna every chance he got. Onion looked one argument away from murdering someone whenever Jace’s scent was on her. Ryder was trying hard to stay calm but clearly struggled whenever Luna was around, and Jace

himself…

He honestly did not even know what to call whatever was happening inside his own head anymore.

“I’m not competing for her either.” Jace finally said after a moment. “Outside the mate bond, I’m not interested in Luna like that.”

The words sounded strange even to him because technically, they were not entirely false.

Without the bond, Luna was simply another girl on campus. Pretty, sure, but he would never have looked at her twice otherwise. Everything between them had only become complicated because of the mate bond and what happened during her heat.

That was the truth, or at least, that was what he kept trying to tell himself.

Knox tilted his head slightly while watching him carefully. “Are you sure about that?”

Jace frowned. “About what?”

“About not being interested.”

Jace looked away briefly. “I already said I’m not.”

Knox stayed silent for a moment before reminding him quietly, “You marked her, Jace.”

The words immediately made something tense tighten inside his chest again. Jace’s jaw flexed slightly

“It’s not like you can just reject her now,” Knox continued calmly. “Things changed the second you marked her.

Jace hated how true that was. Marking a mate was not something casual. Even if what happened had been caused by instinct and heat, the mark still existed. Lusia carried his scent now. Ace recognized her as theirs now. The bond between them had deepened whether Jace wanted to admit it or not

Still, despite all of that, he stubbornly shook his head. “I’m still not interested,” he insisted again.

Knox gave him a look that very clearly said he did not believe him at all.

Jace immediately grew irritated by that expression. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Chapter 101-

Because,” Knox replied simply, “you keep saying you’re not interested, but you sound like you’re trying to convince yo more than me.”

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