Page 7 of Marked By the Alphas

Why was he worried about me? Did he think I would try to run away? Or did he just consider me dangerous?

“Very well,” Anyah conceded with a sigh.

I flinched as the healer gently examined my wounds, her touch surprisingly firm and soothing. “These are nasty gashes,” Anyah murmured. “You must have taken quite a fall.” She trailed her fingers along the gashes that the thorns and branches had left scattered across my skin while I ran last night.

I nodded, wary of revealing too much. The less I said, the safer I would be. At least, that's what my every instinct screamed.

“Do you remember where you’re from?” she began gently in a bid to start a conversation as she checked my injuries.

I swallowed heavily, wincing when she brushed past a particularly sore spot. “I'm not entirely sure,” I admitted, a touch of despair creeping into my voice, that I immediately tried to cover up. I could still feel Kai’s gaze on me, and I knew the Alpha was taking my every word into account, so I had to be careful about what I said. “I've been traveling for a long time. I barely remember where I started from.”

The healer's smile faltered slightly. “Do you remember being attacked or who your attackers were?”

My hands clenched into fists. How could I forget the shadowy figures of Silas’ hunters? They had been cloaked by darkness but I could hear the sound of their boots as they hunted me down like some sort of prey. However, revealing that information would change everything. I wasn’t sure about how receptive Kai’s pack would be to a Siren like myself, but what I did know was that Silas had a lot of enemies and maybe Kai was one of them. Even if I was a victim of Silas’ evil myself, I doubted anyone would pity me.

“I don't remember much,” I lied, the words heavy on my tongue. “It's all a blur.”

The healer studied me for a long moment, a flicker of doubt dancing in her eyes. “All right,” she finally said, accepting my answer for now. “Do you have anyone looking for you? Maybe your family?”

I bit my lip, a familiar ache blooming in my chest at the mention of my family. I had no family left. There was no one who would come looking for me.

“No,” I said softly. “No one.”

Anyah moved to the other side of the bed to pull some gauze from her bag and she began cleaning my wounds gently.

“It’s okay. You’ll be safe here. How are you feeling otherwise?” the healer asked, her gaze flickering over my face as she pulled out a soothing salve to apply to my injuries. The scent of it immediately calmed my frantic mind.

Is that Elixir?” I asked and Anyah’s face immediately lit up at my question.

“Yes, it is. How do you know about Elixir? Are you a healer?” she asked with a new excitement in her voice that made me laugh.

“Yes. I’m still learning though, but Elixir is one of my favorite scents. I think I would recognize it anywhere,” I added, and she hummed in satisfaction.

“Well, now that you’re here, I’ll be happy to help you with anything you need to know. Just let the Alpha know and he will bring you to me,” she offered. I smiled, nodding in response.

“Who said anything about her being here for that long?” Kai interrupted.

Anyah began to answer when a jolt of pain lanced through my head, and I instinctively lowered my head to clutch at my forehead.

The healer’s gasp ripped through the tense silence that had settled in the room at Kai’s question. I froze, a sense of dread rising deep within the pit of my stomach. Slowly, I lifted my head, meeting the healer's horrified gaze.

“That mark,” Anyah rasped, her voice barely above a whisper. “It can't be...”

Kai whirled around toward the bed, his eyes flashing with a different emotion that I hadn't witnessed before. He crossed the room in two long strides, his hand reaching out to touch my chin. I expected his touch to be harsh and painful, but it was surprisingly very gentle.

“What is it?” he demanded, his voice dangerously low.

Anyah only continued to stare at me, her eyes wide with a mix of fear and awe. She finally pointed to the very base of my neck, where a faint, swirling birthmark resided. It resembled a crescent moon, and my heart hammered against my ribs. The mark was a constant reminder of my past. It was the mark that Leo used to bind me to Silas’ magic while I was within his territory. Every girl he owned bore a unique mark that indicated she had been set apart for him. We got the marks at birth and Silas always said that it was the Moon Goddess’ way of choosing his girls for him.

“The Mark of the Moon,” Kai whispered.

At the same time that Anyah said, “The prophecy…”

And my blood ran cold at those words.

Chapter 5

Rhys

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