Chapter 5 THE WEIGHT OF THE MARK

Kiara's POV

I woke with a start. The memory of the forest, of the wolf, of Rylan's storm-gray eyes, pressed against me like a weight I couldn't shake. My chest ached-not from fear, but from the pull inside me, the invisible tether that seemed to coil tighter every time I thought of him.

The morning light was weak, struggling through the gray clouds over Red Hollow. I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the wall, trying to convince myself that the forest, the mark, and the boy were all figments of my imagination.

But they weren't.

The mark burned beneath my skin, a sensation I could no longer ignore. Not a pain, exactly, more like a pulse. A rhythm syncing with my heartbeat. I pressed my palm to my chest, hoping it would calm, hoping it would fade. It didn't.

I didn't want it. I didn't want him.

And yet, I couldn't escape the pull.

I tried to remind myself of everything I knew-everything I thought I understood. Rylan was dangerous. Rylan was forbidden. Rylan was the wrong wolf. But with each passing second, the magnetic pull of his presence haunted me, and a part of me hated that I wanted it.

I couldn't even focus on breakfast. My aunt's house was quiet, the hum of her old heater filling the spaces between my thoughts. I knew I had to go back into the forest eventually. I had to confront it. Confront the mark, confront him.

I shoved my hair back and grabbed my coat.

Outside, the town was still silent. The fog clung to the streets, curling around lampposts, stretching shadows in impossible directions. Every tree, every building, every shadow seemed to watch me.

I took a deep breath and walked toward the edge of the forest, forcing myself to stay calm, forcing myself to breathe normally. The mist thickened as I approached, curling at my boots like icy fingers, and I could feel my pulse quicken.

Then I heard it-a soft crunch of leaves behind me.

I turned sharply. Rylan stepped out of the mist, expression unreadable. "You came back," he said. His voice was calm, but there was something dangerous lurking beneath the surface.

"I need answers," I said before I could stop myself. "I need to know what this mark is, what's happening to me."

His storm-gray eyes darkened. "You don't get answers without risk, Kiara. You want to know the truth? You have to face it-face what the forest wants from you."

"And what if I don't want it?" I snapped. The words tasted bitter. "What if I don't want any of this?"

His lips curved into a shadow of a smile. "Then the forest will take what it wants anyway."

A shiver ran down my spine. The pull inside me flared again, stronger this time, dragging my gaze to the trees. Something moved deep in the fog, subtle but deliberate. Amber eyes flickered just beyond the branches. I swallowed hard.

"You feel it," Rylan said, voice low. "The pull. The mark. The hunger. You can fight it, but it's already part of you."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to argue. I wanted to deny everything and run far away from this cursed town, from him, from the pull inside me. But even as I tried to convince myself, my legs refused to move. My body was caught in the invisible web of the mark.

Rylan stepped closer. The scent of pine and something... wild?... clung to him, wrapping around me, almost suffocating in its intensity. "You're not alone," he said. "Not in this. Not ever. But you have to trust me, at least a little. Just enough to survive."

I shook my head. "I don't trust anyone. Not you. Not this town. Not even... myself."

His storm-gray eyes softened, just slightly, though the warning never left them. "You will. Eventually. Or it will kill you."

Before I could respond, a loud growl ripped through the fog, closer than ever. My chest jumped, and the hair on my arms stood on end. The wolf-or whatever it was-was coming. Faster this time. More deliberate.

Rylan's hand shot out, gripping my wrist. "Run," he commanded. "Don't look back. Just-run!"

My legs moved automatically, lungs burning, fog curling around my boots. But something in the forest shifted. The growl multiplied, echoing through the trees. More than one. I realized with a shudder that I wasn't being followed by a single wolf...

There were more.

Amber eyes glimmered everywhere in the fog. Predatory, calculating, hungry.

I stumbled, almost falling, and Rylan caught me instantly, pressing me against him, shielding me. His storm-gray eyes met mine, intense, magnetic, and unyielding. "Don't let them see fear," he hissed. "Not yet. Not ever."

I nodded, chest heaving, barely able to think. My heart raced, the pull of the mark flaring hotter than ever. I wanted to pull away. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to run.

But I couldn't.

Something about him-the way he stood between me and the forest, the way his eyes never left mine, the way he seemed to understand me better than I understood myself-made me realize I was already too far gone.

The forest was alive. The wolves were hunting. And the mark was burning beneath my skin.

I had no choice.

And yet... I still wanted one.

A growl echoed from the mist, closer, sharper, more dangerous. Amber eyes shone everywhere, waiting, hungry.

Rylan's hand tightened on my wrist, and I felt his warning in every fiber of my being:

"This is just the beginning."