Page 126 of Mark & Don't Tell

I shake my head, pinching my eyes shut. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“Oh, bunny, it’s okay,” Linc soothes. “It wasn’t so bad.”

Then, why didn’t they mark me back?

I don’t understand.

But you do, don’t you? No pack is ever going to want an omega like you, my mother’s voice slithers through my head.

Normally, I ignore it, but waking up from our first heat together, without their marks on my skin, her words ring true. They didn’t want to claim me.

Air trembles in my lungs and my throat clogs. A big tear tracks down my cheek and splashes onto Linc’s skin.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” he asks, pulling away and forcing me to look at him. His features are blurring with the tears filling my eyes.

My hand clutches at my throat, and I dip my head in shame. They don’t want me.

“No,” he says roughly. “Don’t think that.”

“Why?” It’s all I can ask, the word packed full of so much pain.

“Daria, babe, look at me,” Kai demands.

I shake my head.

“Bunny,” Lincoln warns.

But it’s Vic who snares my attention, suddenly in front of me and yanking my hand from my throat and placing it against his. I stubbornly keep my eyes on his chest as the pads of my fingers brush over the bite I left on his skin. The indents are deep, and dried blood flakes off.

That only makes me cry harder.

How pathetic is this?

“Look at me,” he demands. He’s a beta. There’s no alpha command in his words. No otherworldly reason I should do as he says, but my gaze flies to his, as if my body refuses to disobey him.

I blink to clear the tears, and he glares at them. “I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head. “No, little doe, we’re sorry. We’re sorry we haven’t done enough to show you how much we want you.”

“Why didn’t you mark me?” Even to myself, my voice sounds whiny, and I hate it. I sound weak. I sound lovesick. I sound...hurt.

“We never talked about it.” He clenches his jaw and looks at his pack mates. “You never said yes, and as much as we wanted to”—his eyes return to mine—“we needed to be sure you were all in.”

As much as I hurt, as much as what feels like rejection lashes through my body, it’s then that I understand. They’ve had a mate before. Which means, they’ve broken a bond before, and that’s said to be one of the most excruciating experiences a pack can have. Shame lances through me. They were only trying to show me respect. “Waking up without your claims hurts, but I understand. I’m sorry I bit you.”

Vic cups my jaw and searches my face, not a trace of anger or regret. “I’ll proudly wear your mark, if that’s what you want.”

Another tear slips down my cheek. “I want that.” My fingers flex over where I bit him.

A slow smile tugs at his lips. “Do you like it?”

I bite my lip and nod, hating how good it feels to have my mark on his throat. It must’ve hurt.

“We love it,” Kai says, pressing against me from behind, sandwiching me between him and Vic.

“That’s really not fair,” Lincoln drawls, kneeling next to me. “Where do I fit?”

I glance at him and smile. “Right here.” I wrap my arms around him and tug him into the embrace. It’s an awkward sort of bear hug, but they cocoon me in their arms.

---