The Marked One

Willow-Rose

The sky over England was gray. Heavy and low, like it hadn’t decided whether to rain or just smother everything with silence. A perfect match for the icy, ancient stone fortress looming in the distance.

“Cheerful place,” I muttered, shifting my weight as the car slowed.

“Don’t start, sweetheart.” My mom smiled softly, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “Let’s at least see the inside of the house before you start roasting the Lycan King’s territory.”

My dad chuckled from the front seat. “To be fair, she’s not wrong. This place is… intense.”

Intense was one word for it. Gothic, broody, terrifying — all worked too.

As our driver — a stiff, silent warrior named Maddox — pulled through the tall iron gates, the full weight of it hit me: this was real. This wasn’t a vacation or a temporary visit. We were moving into his territory.

The territory of Leo Damaris. The Lycan Alpha King.

I didn’t know much about him — only what I’d heard in stories and whispers. That he was powerful. Unforgiving. That people bowed when he walked into a room. That no one dared meet his eyes for long.

And that he’d killed his own uncle at sixteen to take the throne.

No big deal.

“Willow,” my mom said gently, reaching over to squeeze my hand, “we’re going to be okay.”

I gave her a small smile, hiding the way my stomach had knotted itself into pretzel-level stress. “I know. I’m good.”

I wasn’t. But I was good at pretending I was.

The car turned into a smaller road branching off from the main fortress. Neat rows of stone houses sat tucked beneath towering evergreens. Ivy curled up walls and chimneys. A large raven stared at us from a fence post like it had personal beef.

“This is where the council members stay,” Dad said, turning slightly. “They’ve given us a home right next to High Warden Caelan Idris.”

“He was close to the former Alpha,” Mom added. “Apparently, he requested we stay near him.”

The car stopped.

The house was beautiful in a slightly spooky, medieval-cottage way. Ivy-covered stone. Dark green shutters. Smoke curling from the chimney.

Before I could reach for the door, my dad was already out, circling the car to open it for Mom like always. She stepped out with a warm laugh, her long braid swinging down her back as she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.

“Still charming, Doctor Vale,” she teased.

“Still breathtaking, Mrs. Vale,” he murmured.

They were disgustingly in love. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I stepped out into the cold air, tugging my jacket tighter. My boots crunched against the gravel as I looked around. A few other houses dotted the street, each one grand and a little eerie, like the setting of a fairytale right before the monster shows up.

From somewhere deeper in the woods behind the council homes, a low, distant howl echoed.

I paused.

Something about it wasn’t just animal. It was... controlled. Like it was meant to remind everyone who ruled this place.

“Was that—” I started.

“Yes,” my father said softly. “That would be the Alpha.”

My heart gave a traitorous thud. I swallowed it down.

“Well,” I said as breezily as I could manage, “he seems warm and fuzzy.”