Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 14

Chapter 14

LUNA

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My eyes opened slowly, and the first thing that hit me was pain. Sharp, stabbing pain right behind my forehead, like someone had driven a hundred tiny needles straight into my skull. I couldn’t move at first, and every time I tried to shift. the needles dug deeper, and a small grunt slipped out of me before I could stop it.

I lay there for what felt like forever, breathing shallow, trying to calm myself down. In… out… in… out. The pain didn’t go away, but after about a minute it dulled enough that I could think past it. I forced my eyelids open wider and looked around.

This wasn’t my dorm room.

The bed I was lying in was huge, three times bigger than the narrow bed I used at Hawthorne Hall. The sheets were soft, almost silky, and the mattress felt like sinking into a cloud. Too soft, too fluffy, and nothing like the lumpy dorm mattress I was used to.

My heart started beating faster.

I pushed myself up on my elbows, ignoring the fresh spike of pain in my head. The room came into focus slowly. High ceilings, dark wood furniture, and a big window with heavy curtains pulled almost closed, letting in thin stripes of light. There was a desk in the corner with books stacked neatly, a leather chair, and a door leading to what looked like an attached bathroom. Everything was expensive–looking, clean, and quiet.

None of it was mine.

I swallowed hard and turned my head, and that’s when I saw her.

Ivy.

Her bright red hair spilled over the edge of the bed, and she was curled up in the leather chair, her head resting on her arms, fast asleep. Relief flooded me so fast it almost drowned the headache.

“Ivy,” I croaked.

No answer.

“Ivy,” I called out again, a little louder this time.

She jerked awake, blinking fast, eyes wide and confused for half a second before they landed on me.

“Luna!” She scrambled out of the chair so fast it almost tipped over. “You’re awake! Oh my God, you’re finally awake!”

She rushed to the side of the bed, hands hovering like she wasn’t sure if she should touch me or not

“How are you feeling? Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Do you need water? Painkillers? Should I get someone? Do you remember what happened? Are you dizzy? Hungry? Cold?”

The questions came so fast I could barely keep up. My head throbbed harder with every word

“Ivy,” I managed, voice raspy “Slow down. Please.”

She clamped her mouth shut, cheeks pink. “Sorry Sorry I was just… I was really worried”

I took a careful breath. “What happened? Where am I?”

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2:42 pm P PPP.

Chapter 14

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Ivy sat on the edge of the mattress, careful not to jostle me too much. “We’re in one of the rooms at the guys‘ place. The football team’s house? The big one on Maple.”

My stomach dropped.

The party,” I whispered.

She nodded. “You passed out last night right in the backyard. One second you were standing there talking to Ryder and the other guys about telling you everything, and the next… you just went down. Scared the hell out of everyone.”

I tried to remember. Flashes came back, Ryder’s smirk, Ivy nudging me, the others closing in, all five scents hitting me at once, the heat exploding, and my legs giving out.

“How long was I out?” I asked.

“Almost the entire day,” Ivy said quietly. “It’s almost six now, and you’ve been asleep since last night.”

I stared at her. “Six? In the evening?”

She nodded again. “They carried you up here. They wouldn’t even let anyone else touch you and said it was safer if they handled it instead of getting you to the hospital. I stayed with you the whole time and refused to leave since I couldn’t exactly trust them with your safety.”

I rubbed my face with shaky hands. My head still pounded, but the sharpest pain had faded to a dull throb. “Who’s they?”

“The guys,” she said. “Ryder mostly, and Jace too. They took turns watching you. Theo brought water and ice packs, Knox stood guard outside the door like a bodyguard, and Orion kept checking your pulse and stuff. They were… really worried.”

ond. The room smelled like them, all of them. Pine, smoke, storm, ink, and earth all mixed

head spin again.

o myself than to her.

Softly. “It was bad. You went completely limp. Ryder caught you before you hit the ground, but… yeah. It was

looked down at myself. I was still in the black dress from last night, though someone had taken off my shoes and pulled the covers up to my waist. My arms were bare, skin prickling with goosebumps even though the room wasn’t cold.

“I don’t remember much of what happened after they all came over,” I admitted.

Ivy reached out and squeezed my hand. “That’s okay. You don’t have to remember everything right now. Just… rest.

I shook my head. “I can’t stay here.”

“You kind of have to,” she said gently. “They won’t let you leave until they’re sure you’re okay. And honestly? I don’t think you’re okay yet. You still look pale.”

I wanted to argue, but the truth was I felt weak. My legs trembled just thinking about standing up, my head sull hurt and underneath all of it, that strange heat simmered, low, steady, and waiting

Ivy watched my face. “They said they want to talk to you, but it’ll be when you’re ready.”

I let out a shaky laugh. “Of course they do.”

She didn’t laugh back. “Luna… something’s going on with you and with them. I saw how you reacted when they all got close. and you can forget what I said about it being a normal attraction. That, whatever it was, wasn’t normal, and they all acted like

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2:42 pm P P P P

Chapter 14

they knew exactly what was happening.”

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I let out a soft sigh and turned my head toward Ivy. The room still felt too big and too quiet, and my head still throbbed like someone had taken a hammer to it, but at least the sharpest pain had faded to a dull ache, and I could think again. Sort of.

“When was the last time any of them came in here?” I asked.

Ivy sat up straighter. “Jace was here about an hour ago. He just stood in the doorway for a minute, checked that you were still breathing, and asked me if you’d woken up yet. I told him no, he nodded, and then he left. That’s it.”

I nodded slowly. “Do you know where they are now?”

She shook her head. “No idea. This house is huge, so they could be anywhere, downstairs, outside, or in another room. I haven’t left this spot since last night. I didn’t want you to wake up alone and freak out about where you were.” She gave a small, tired smile. “But I can go look for them if you need to talk. Just say the word.”

I stared at the ceiling for a long moment. I tried to picture walking out of this room and facing them, Jace with his calm, unreadable stare, Theo with that constant half–smile, Ryder with his annoying smirk, Knox looking like he wanted to punch something, and Orion watching everything like he already knew the ending. Five of them, all waiting to explain whatever this was.

Was I ready?

The thought made my stomach twist.

Could I really sit there and listen while they told me why my body acted like it didn’t belong to me anymore? Why their scents made me feel feverish and desperate? Why I’d fainted like some fragile thing the second they all got close?

And even if I heard the answers, even if they made perfect sense, then what?

I’d be deeper in this and tied to them in ways I didn’t understand and didn’t ask for. My life was barely hanging on as it was. Scholarship on the line, Coach Ramirez watching my every move, classes I couldn’t afford to fail, and track meets coming up that could decide whether I stayed or got sent home. I had goals, big ones, and I couldn’t let anything or anyone get in the way.

After what felt like forever, I looked back at Ivy.

‘I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to hear whatever they have to say,” I told her quietly. “So I’d better leave now.”

Ivy’s eyes went wide. “Luna, I already said that’s a bad idea. You’re still too weak. You literally passed out less than twenty- four hours ago, and you can barely sit up without wincing.”

‘I’m fine,” I lied. My legs felt like wet noodles, and my head still pounded, but I wasn’t staying here another minute. “I just need to get back to the dorm, sleep in my own bed, and clear my head.”

She crossed her arms. “Shouldn’t you at least understand why being around them made you faint before you walk out of here? What if it happens again? What if it’s worse next time?”

I swallowed. She wasn’t wrong, but the other voice in my head, the louder one, was stronger

“As curious as I am,” I said slowly, “something keeps telling me I’m not ready to handle it just yet, and right now at this point in my life… I can’t afford to let anything get in the way of my goals, not them, and not whatever this feeling is”

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