Unmarked by Love novel Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

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Willow’s POV

When it was time for my shift at the subway station, I walked over and quietly told Rowan I had to head out.

Rowan seemed to have forgotten I was even there. He blinked, looking like he was about to say something, but Lyra immediately looped her arm through his.

“I should get back to my pack, too,” she said. “Rowan, would you drive me?”

Of course he would. But then he turned to me, his expression unreadable. “I’ll drop you at the station, too.”

Even as his pet, I insisted on working my nightly shifts just to keep some connection to the human world.

Before tonight, Rowan had never offered to drive me. To him, my daily commute was beneath his

notice.

Watching their little games all day had left me exhausted. I turned him down. “That’s okay, Alpha Rowan. Just take Lyra.”

He caught the distance in my voice and took a step toward me, his tone dropping an octave. “I said, I’m driving you.”

Lyra watched us, sniffing out a threat.

She tightened her grip on his arm, her smile looking bright and effortless.

“Don’t be shy, Willow. I heard you’ve known Rowan for ages. I’d love to hear some stories about his past.”

It was a clear claim of ownership.

Rowan patted the back of her hand, clearly enjoying her possessiveness.

I didn’t push back again. I lowered my head and bowed to them, the way the omegas in the pack did. “Then thank you, Alpha Rowan. Thank you, Lyra.”

When I straightened up, I caught Rowan’s gaze. His eyes were burning with a rage I couldn’t

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Chapter 3

explain.

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I was just doing what a pet was supposed to do, even if he had never asked me to act like an

omega.

At the subway station, I headed for the breakroom to drop off my things. Rowan’s hand suddenly clamped around my wrist.

“Wait for me,” he said. “I’ll pick you up when you’re done.

Wait for him? Was he actually coming back to this rotting underground platform tonight?

I didn’t ask. I noticed Lyra’s beautiful eyes staring death at the hand he had wrapped around me.

My walkie-talkie crackled-my coworkers were shouting for me. I gave a quick nod, shook his hand off, and ran.

Soon, Rowan’s dark silhouette and Lyra’s golden hair vanished into the exit.

The shift was brutal. The wind in the tunnels was bone-chilling. I waited past the final train, but Rowan never showed.

I didn’t keep waiting, and I didn’t let myself wonder why.

I went back to the breakroom, put my head down on the cold wooden desk, and fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes, I was staring at a familiar ceiling.

Rowan was sitting by my bed, smelling of something sickly sweet.

I looked over and saw a fruit cake on the nightstand.

“For you.” he said, watching me.

I looked away. “Thanks.

He pressed his lips together, looking agitated. “Lyra had an emergency last night. I shouldn’t have made you wait.”

“It’s fine,” I interrupted.

I had been abandoned so many times that I didn’t even feel the sting anymore.

I reached for the cake to get some energy, but Rowan spoke again.

“She was right. She said humans love sweets. Other than this, what else do you humans like?”

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My hand froze. So the cake wasn’t for me; it was just something he’d picked up to test a theory Lyra had.

I lay back down, fighting a wave of dizziness, and closed my eyes.

“It doesn’t matter. Her preferences are what’s important.”

“You” Rowan started, his temper flaring.

His comm-stone chirped. I felt his aura shift instantly.

He stood up without a word and sprinted out of the room.

I drew another circle on the calendar.

I gave the cake to Silas as a thank-you for bandaging me.

At the station, my coworker Lisa was shocked to see me in so early.

Lisa was also a human pet to a wolf, and we had traded our secret identities long ago.

She leaned in, lowering her voice.

“Willow, didn’t you see your Alpha? I saw him in public with a gorgeous woman in his arms. She was tall-didn’t look human. Your Alpha looked like he’d lost his soul, just clutching her. Who is

she?”

I looked down and shook my head. “I don’t know.”

Then I asked her the question that had been haunting me: how to forcibly erase a mark and break

a bond.

She looked at the jagged scars on my arms and started to ask, but then she just sighed and told me what I needed to know.

Before I left the station, I handed in my resignation.

If I was going to be free, I had to disappear completely.

When I got back to the packhouse, a thick wave of Alpha pheromones hit me-heavy with the scent of lust.

I walked up the stairs. The hallway was a mess; an expensive silk shirt had been ripped to shreds and tossed on the floor.

The bedroom door was slightly ajar, and I could hear the sound of wild, frantic breathing.

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Chapter 3

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Rowan’s eyes were blood-red, his sanity completely gone. He was hovered over Lyra’s neck, his sharp canines buried deep in her skin. He was marking her.

My knees buckled. I slumped against the doorframe, making a dull thud.

Rowan’s head snapped toward me. His gold-green eyes were filled with pure, murderous rage.

He looked at me like my very presence was defiling his sacred ritual. He grabbed a glass vase from the table and hurled it at my head.

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