Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Third–person POV

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Jace stood outside the girls‘ dormitory, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his dark jacket, and his shoulders tense

against the evening chill. He had never come here alone before, especially not like this. The only other time had been that first night, when all five of them had tracked a down after the race, when her scent had hit them like a freight train and they’d known, without a single word, that she was theirs. Their mate, the one they’d never expected to find.

He hadn’t planned to come tonight. He’d told himself he wouldn’t, but the worry had been eating at him all day, sharp and constant. Luna had walked away from Theo at the track field earlier, head high, cap low, refusing to let anyone see how shaken she was, and Jace had watched the whole thing from a distance with his arms folded and jaw tight.

He knew Theo could be a little clueless and selfish a lot of times, and he’d wanted to go after her then, but he hadn’s Pri had stopped him, pride and the knowledge that pushing too hard in the moment would only make her run farther

Now pride felt small and useless.

The full moon was coming, less than a week away, and her first real heat would hit soon, stronger than the flashes she’d already felt and way stronger than the faint that had dropped her in the backyard. She was clueless, completely human in her own mind with no idea what an omega wolf was, no idea why her body burned every time one of them got close, and no idea why she healed too fast, heard too much, and smelled too sharply.

And she had chosen not to know.

Jace hated it. He hated that she was walking around blind while the change built inside her like a storm. He hated that she thought she could outrun it, and he especially hated that he cared this much.

He considered calling her, then remembered he didn’t have her number. He also considered texting Theo to ask for it since Ryder and Theo had been the most interested in her, but then decided that he didn’t want to look that desperate and give any of them the impression that he was trying to one–up them by getting close to her.

So here he was waiting.

The sky had turned deep blue, streetlights flickering on one by one. The girls drifted past in small groups, laughing, heading to dinner or the library, and thankfully, none of them looked twice at the tall guy leaning against a black SUV parked just outside the dorm entrance. Jace kept his cap pulled low and his face turned away from the doors. He didn’t want to draw attention. He just wanted to see her.

After what felt like forever, he finally spotted her.

Luna came around the corner of the path with her cap on, hoodie zipped, and shoulders hunched like she was trying to disappear into herself. She walked fast with her eyes on the ground, and Jace pushed off the car and quickly moved toward

her.

Luna was still boiling from Theo’s stunt at the field, showing up in that flashy car, calling her name loud enough for the whole team to hear, and turning her into a spectacle again. She was so focused on putting one foot in front of the other, on getting inside and locking the door behind her, that she almost missed the scent.

It hit her like a wave, pine, storm, and something dark that she still couldn’t place, and her steps faltered.

She turned, and that was when she saw that Jace was running toward her, not jogging, but running. Long strides, jacket flapping, cap low but gray eyes locked on her. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

She had just escaped Theo. Now Jace?

8:29 am P P P P

Chapter 22-

Her heart slammed against her ribs. The heat stirred again, low, warning, and familiar, and she took an instinctive step back toward the dorm doors.

Jace slowed as he reached her hands raised slightly like he was trying to show he wasn’t a threat.

“Luna,” he said. His voice was low and calm but urgent. “We need to talk.”

She shook her head fast. “No. I’m not interested in talking. I just want to go inside.”

He took one more step closer, slow and careful. “You’re not okay. We really need to talk.”

“I’m fine,” she lied, and her voice cracked on the last word.

Jace’s eyes flicked over her face. “You’re not, and believe it or not, it’s going to get worse. The full moon is coming, and your…”

“Stop,” she cut him off. “I don’t want to hear it. I already told you that I don’t want to know anything. Whatever it is to yourself.”

“You don’t have a choice,” he said quietly. “It’s happening whether you want it to or not, and when it hits full force, you won be able to hide it. You won’t be able to run from it. You need to understand what’s going on before it happens.”

Luna’s chest tightened. She looked past him at the dorm doors, so close, but suddenly so far.

“I can’t,” she whispered. “I can’t deal with this right now. I have training, classes, and an important meeting coming up. I can’t… I can’t let you and your friends ruin everything for me.”

Jace’s jaw tightened. “It’s not going to ruin anything. It’s going to explain everything. Why you feel the way you do, why you faint when we’re all close, why you heal too fast, and why you probably think you’re hearing things no one else can.”

Luna’s frown deepened as she stared at Jace in confusion. Her mind was spinning too fast. “How do you know I’m hearing things?” she asked, her voice low. “And what the fuck do you mean I heal too fast? I don’t understand what you’re insinuating.”

She crossed her arms tighter over her chest, trying to hold herself together. The voices from last night still echoed in her memory, two people arguing, loud and angry, right inside her skull, and she already knew it had to do with them and whatever this was, but the healing? She had no idea what he was talking about.

She’d never noticed anything unusual about cuts or bruises. They just… went away like everyone else’s. Didn’t they? Jace watched her closely, and he could see the moment realization flickered in her eyes about the hearing. Her senses were sharpening, a classic early omega awakening, but the healing hadn’t shown itself yet, and that meant she hadn’t been hurt badly enough for her body to reveal what it could do. He opened his mouth to explain, to start small like he and the guys had agreed in the study, but Luna raised her hand suddenly, palm out, as if she could physically stop the words. “Shut up,” she said, voice cracking with frustration. “And don’t bother answering. I don’t want to know.”

Jace’s jaw tightened. He took a slow breath through his nose, trying to keep his patience. “Luna.”

“No!” She shook her head hard. “I’m not about to let some rich jocks ruin my life. I have a scholarship I can’t lose, and I car deal with whatever this is right now. I won’t.”

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