MARKED

SECRET CODE

Harlan gave us the greenlight to access our classes remotely for however long we needed, and Rasan jumped right on that. He even leant Iris and her services to us to help with what we needed.

So, it turns out turning to another alpha for help is acceptable, but only when Rasan does it. And I would tell him exactly how I feel about his sexist ways, except, I haven't seen him in days.

In fact, I'm pretty sure he's avoiding me.

I've only been able to catch glimpses of him here and there whenever I walk by his wing of the house. Which is heavily guarded. Only Eve, his brothers, and his handlers are allowed inside. The rest of us peasants are forced to sit tight and wait for his royal asshole-ness to grace us with his presence.

"Stop pacing." Tarik groans. "It won't make him talk to you any sooner. He's just angry and he needs time to calm down."

"He's angry." I scoff at the irony of it. "He hasn't even seen angry yet, but he's about to."

"And what exactly are you going to do? Yell at him from the other side of the house? Because his guards aren't letting you anywhere near him. Not to mention the part where... oh yeah, you were the one in the wrong."

"What?" I narrow disbelieving eyes at him. "How?"

"You slapped the shit out of him for something out of his control, according to Tai. Who's been bitching about you since then. And then you invited another alpha into his territory, therefore making him look incompetent. Oh, and according to Eve, your lack of knowledge, or stupidity, about being a shifter is a liability he can't afford." Tarik lays it all out there for me. "If you go storming in there all kamikaze... with stifled, unsatisfied hormones, you're just going to push him further away than you already have. So... don't. Wait for him to come to you."

"Stifled, unsatisfied hormones?" I quirk an amused brow at him.

"Yeah. I wish the two of you would just fuck and get it over with."

My mouth drops open in shock and he laughs. His laughter tugging at my heart strings. Mostly because I miss him. I miss this. I used to come to him with all my problems, and he would always talk me off the ledge. Much like he's doing right now. "The bond between the two of you is strong, Ki. And the only reason you're walking around here all fire and brimstone is because he's cut you off."

"He promised me he wouldn't do this. That he wouldn't disappear on me." I sulk. Not even bothering to deny it. Tarik would see through me anyway.

"Actually, I promised you you'd always know where I was." Rasan chimes into the conversation.

How long he's been standing there is anyone's guess, but I'm praying it's before Tarik suggested we fuck and get it over with.

Turning to face him, I can't bring myself to look him in the eyes. I wish he would just yell at me or say something, but he won't. He has way too much control for that. Instead, he asks us to come to his wing of the house to look at something.

We follow him to an office where he points to the monitor and tells us to watch. Then he presses play, and I watch as my parents and brothers Jalen and Deon sit connected by the collars on their necks.

"Watch him." Rasan points to my brother Jalen.

Every time he the guard leaves the room Jalen looks directly into the security camera, taps his chest twice with his hand, and then he starts to blink. At first, I'm confused and have no idea what he's doing. But as I look closer, I realize he's not just tapping his chest. The pocket to his shirt is missing. As in, he's trying to communicate.