MARKED

SECRETS AND SUGAR COOKIES

I watch as her face turns pale and Kiara bolts for the nearest restroom. She throws up everything in her stomach and dry heaves a few times before I hear the toilet flush.

Sending everyone else away, I walk into the bathroom to find her still hugging the toilet. Horror, guilt, and sadness tormenting her all at once.

"I'm fine." She tells me.

Though, we both know it's a lie. She's far from fine. And I don't know what to do to help her or to fix this. Handing her over would solve everyone's problem, including mine. But she's my mate. I don't know if I have it in me to do that. Even to save my parents.

"Why would someone be after you?" I ask her.

"I don't know." She shakes her head. Her voice barely above a whisper.

"Do you or your parents have any known enemies?"

"I. Don't. Know. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly an expert on anything shifter related. Why would they do this to me? Why would my parents leave me so utterly helpless. Defenseless. And at the mercy of someone like Uncle Jesse?"

What Eli told me comes to mind.

But silence settles between us, and Kiara looks like she's about to hurl again. She meets my gaze for a brief moment, then quickly looks away with shame and guilt written all over her face.

"Some mate I am." She scoffs. Shaking her head. "I have absolutely nothing to offer you, and I've done nothing but mess things up for you. I keep making one mistake after another."

"I'll survive." I tell her. Hoping to calm her down. "And I'm more worried about you now that we know you're the one they want."

"I wish I knew why. I have nothing to offer them unless they're after the best damn sugar cookies in the world."

Tilting my head to the side, I have to ask. "Sugar cookies?"

"Yeah." She nods. "I'm a master at making sugar cookies."

I try to hold it in, but I can't. Sugar cookies is the last thing on anybody's mind, but this is also a tribute to how innocently her mind works. She's as harmless as a butterfly. Which brings me back to the nuclear bomb Eli dropped in my lap not too long ago. Part of me feels like it has something to do with what's happening to her now.

But I'd have to ask her and reveal things I'm positive she's not ready for.

It would tear her world apart.

I may be an asshole sometimes, but I don't want to be responsible for that. So, I keep my mouth shut and say nothing. Plus, I don't want to get sucked back into her world. When she's not undermining me as alpha, she's deliberately disobeying my commands, and openly challenging me in front of my pack. All of which I can't have. Mate or not. If I can't keep my female in check, some might assume the same about my pack and start questioning my ability to rule. Which I can't have either. And I don't know what else to say to her to get her to understand how things work with our kind.

Not to mention, she both infuriates me and tests my patience at every turn. And because Eve is right... Kiara is a liability we can't afford. Not because she wants to be, but because she wasn't raised right. And I don't have the time to clue her in on what it means to be a female alpha, or a shifter. I don't have time to clue her in on how pack politics work.

But this is the hand I was dealt.

The mate I was dealt.

As much as walking away from her would be easier for me and my pack, I can't walk away from her now that I've found her. All I can do now is educate her as quickly as possible. And that starts with the truth. So, I pull out my phone and text Eli to come to my office because we're running out of time, and we have no choice.