Moon Bound

(54) Brand Me Yours |Scarlet's POV|

My hand was shaking with exhaustion. The skin on my palm was blistered from the heat of the device I'd been holding for nearly an hour now, branding the females with it.

I kept going on, never turning my eyes aside from the task, never speaking a word to them, never looking at him.

It was satisfying to press the hot metal to their bared shoulders and to know the skin was burning and hissing under the heat, to know that it was hurting them, but it wasn't how I'd wanted it to be.

This wasn't a punishment for them but a reward.

Retracting the device with a flick of my wrist I'd place it back into the burning fire to heat up again and again.

I'd dip my fingertips into the oil mixed with silver powder and apply the substance over the raw flesh so the letter would remain. The mark was going to stay for a long time – for as long as they lived. Nothing would ever cover it. The only option for them to get rid of it was to cut the scarred flesh out.

The females accepted that mark I gave them, welcoming it on their flesh. It was their luna's sign branded across their skin and it was almost surreal to see them bend their heads in front of me as if they were finally accepting me.

I didn't believe them. After so much betrayal, I couldn't believe them.

There was just only one of them left – a female who didn't deserve the mark, a female who had tried to kill me mere hours ago.

She's going to get her punishment, Scarlet, he sent out, probably lying again.

I ignored him and instead watched Sasha stepping forth. She then slowly trekked toward me with her head bent low and her gaze downcast. She was playing if I had to judge by the smug smile on her face. She was playing the perfect subject when she was anything but.

She was probably thinking she was going to get away with it.

A few seconds later, she stopped in front of me, her knees bending until she was kneeling, her eyes hard when she looked up at me. Unwavering.

"Brand me yours, Luna," she gritted out, mocking me.

Her eyes skipped to where he stood now, several steps away from where we were. I straightened my spine, my hand gripping the handle tighter. Was this what he wanted? Was this how he showed me I meant anything for him – by allowing his ex-lover to shame me, laugh at me while they exchanged glances they didn't even bother to hide?

I didn't look at him. I couldn't. My gaze stayed trained on her as I raised the device to the front of her shoulder blade that was offering me her barren flesh to burn.

The hiss of heated metal against skin was accompanied by the female's breath intake, suppressing her scream as she embraced the touch of hot iron on her skin. Tears leaked from her eyes but never notes of pain out of her lips.

The stench of burned flesh lifted to my nostrils once again, making me gag from the whole thing. She was the only one I wanted to punish, and perhaps, the people who helped her if there were any, but he made me do this instead.

The metal separated from the skin, tearing small chunks of flesh as it did. I dropped the branding iron on the ground, as far from me as I could throw it without hurting any of the bystanders.

"Stand up," my voice rang loud in the descended quiet.

Picking up the bowl of oil from the ground, Sasha rose to her feet, offering it to me. I doused my fingers into the liquid and applied it on the newly-burned mark and then she placed the bowl back on the ground.

Standing on her feet once again, the bitch stared at me for a few minutes, measuring me up and down.

I wondered just then if I asked her would I get at least an answer, but before I could make up my mind, she leaned closer to me.

"I'll show you why," she whispered in my ear, her fingers snaking around my hand.

It was like a flash that made the circle of wolves and the world disappear around us. We stood in a room with black walls, floor, and ceiling. The only thing that wasn't of the same color were the two big full-length mirrors placed in the middle of the room opposite each other.

"Go. See for yourself," she said, pointing at the mirrors before giving me a slight push.

Hesitantly, I made my way.

"Stand between them and look at both reflections," she instructed, her voice taking a sad note.

"What is this about? Where are we?" I stepped right in the middle of the mirrors.

"Just look at the reflections. I'm just showing you what I've seen – been seeing for years," she corrected.

It wasn't that she asked that made me look. It wasn't because she told me she'd seen it. It was my own curiosity that made me turn toward the first mirror.

Seeing my own reflection didn't surprise me one bit, what did was the reflection of the man standing right next to me. He was a stranger – a gorgeous blue-eyed stranger. A flutter of a feeling passed through me when those eyes met mine and he flashed me a smile. It made me uncomfortable how familiar that smile felt. And then, he engulfed my hand in his, black smoke coming from his fingertips and slowly filling the mirror frame until he disappeared and there was only my own reflection staring back at me.

Turning toward the other mirror, it didn't take long until I saw a familiar sight. It was still me, but the man next to me was Regan. Just like the stranger his eyes locked with mine and he smiled, but when he held my hand there was something red dripping from his fingertips. Blood.

And this time, it wasn't just the man who disappeared but both of us.

I spun around to find Sasha already standing next to me. "This is why you need to leave and you need to do it before it's too late," she said, her hand grasping mine once again and another flash later, I blinked to find we were back.

The place she'd taken me was gone and we were back at the clearing.

Retracting a step, Sasha gave me a curt nod, then swirled back to retreat into the crowd of wolves. I looked after her, wishing to ask her what it was that she showed me, what it was that I saw, but before I could, Regan stepped into the middle of the circle.

"There is one more reason for our gathering here tonight," he said to the pack.

Turning toward Cole, he gave him a nod then shouted out, "I call forth those of you who want to join this pack."

Cole was the one to make the first step, a ghostly smile tweaking in the corners of his lips, letting me know that they were ready to answer the call. It was to be expected after they'd fought on Regan's side last night. It was a tradition for the alpha to extend an invitation for them to officially become a part of the pack and join in the bond.