Marked by two book 2 : His rejected Luna

POV: Serena

The pack house was quiet in that deep, late-night way that only came after everyone else had finally gone to sleep.

Unfortunately for me, sleep was nowhere near my future.

I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my eyes before staring again at the endless stack of reports covering my desk. Territory reports. Patrol schedules. Supply inventories for the Moon Ball. Guest lists from three neighboring packs.

And that was just tonight’s pile.

Being Beta was demanding.

Being Beta while also covering the duties of a missing Luna?

That was borderline madness.

And doing it while my body felt just slightly off-balance lately—slower in ways I wasn’t used to, more aware of myself in my own skin—didn’t make it any easier.

I sighed and dropped my pen on the desk.

“One year,” I muttered to myself. “One year of this.”

Not that I regretted any of it.

Blackwood had grown stronger in the last year than we had in decades. After the Council investigation, most of the land Silverclaw had stolen over generations had been redistributed among nearby packs. Blackwood had received a large portion of it, which meant more territory to patrol, more wolves to protect, and more responsibilities than ever.

Which somehow always ended up on my desk.

And now the Moon Ball was two days away.

Two.

Days.

I groaned softly, dropping my head into my hands.

If we had a Luna, half of this would already be handled.

Instead, it was me juggling ceremonial planning while also keeping the pack running smoothly.

“Talking to yourself now?” a familiar voice asked from the doorway.

I lifted my head and found Malek leaning casually against the frame, sleeves rolled to his forearms, dark hair slightly messy like he’d been running his hands through it all night.

Just seeing him made something warm settle in my chest.

“You’re late,” I said.

He pushed off the doorframe and walked inside, his gaze sweeping over the chaos of my desk.

“Court records,” he said dryly. “Council documents. Three disputes between neighboring territories that somehow became my problem.” He loosened his collar slightly. “I’m starting to think Alpha politics might be worse than war.”

I huffed a laugh.

“You chose the law department.”

“Yes,” he said, coming around the desk. “But I did not choose this much paperwork.”

His hands settled on my shoulders before I could react, warm and steady.

The tension I hadn’t realized was there melted instantly under his touch.

“You’ve been here too long,” he murmured.

“I have the Moon Ball to finish organizing,” I said weakly.

His thumbs pressed gently into the muscles at the base of my neck.

“You have two days.”

“Yes.”

“And right now it’s almost midnight.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re still working.”

“…Yes.”

Malek leaned closer, his voice lowering near my ear.

“That sounds like poor decision-making from our Beta.”

I snorted softly.

Before I could answer, another voice echoed from the hallway.

“Well, that explains why the lights are still on.”

Cassian stepped into the office, still wearing his black guard uniform, though the jacket was open and the top buttons of his shirt undone. His blond hair was slightly disheveled, like he’d just finished training drills with the night patrol.

His gaze landed on me immediately.

And then on Malek’s hands still resting on my shoulders.

Cassian’s mouth curved slowly.

“There she is,” he said. “The hardest-working wolf in Blackwood.”

“You’re both supposed to be asleep,” I told them.

Cassian folded his arms.

“I just finished reviewing patrol rotations for the expanded northern territory.”

Malek lifted an eyebrow.

“And yet somehow you ended up here.”

Cassian shrugged.

“Funny how that happens.”

My mates shared a look over my head — the silent kind of conversation they’d perfected long ago.

Which meant I was about to lose whatever argument I thought I was making.

I pointed weakly at the mountain of paperwork.

“I still have—”

Cassian moved before I finished.

In one smooth motion he scooped the entire stack of papers into his arms.

My eyes widened.

“Cassian—”

He walked straight to the cabinet against the wall, opened a drawer, and dropped the stack inside.

Then he shut it.

Decisively.

“There,” he said.

I stared at him.

“You cannot just—”

“Oh, we absolutely can,” Malek said calmly.

His hands slid from my shoulders, and before I could react he lifted me straight out of the chair.

“Malek!”

“You’ve been working for twelve hours,” he said.

Cassian leaned against the desk, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

“Correction,” he added. “She’s been working for twelve hours today.”

“I’m the Beta,” I protested.

Malek carried me toward the door.

“Yes,” he agreed easily.

“And you’re not doing this alone anymore,” Malek added quietly.

I stilled slightly. “I never was.”

Cassian stepped further into the room, his gaze sharpening. “That’s not what he means.”

My fingers tightened on the edge of the desk.

“You’re pushing yourself like nothing’s changed,” Cassian said, voice lower now.

“And you’re carrying our child,” Cassian cut in, not harsh—but firm enough to still me.

The words didn’t feel heavy anymore.

They felt… real.

“Which means,” Malek added gently, “you don’t get to pretend your limits are the same as before.”

“And tonight,” Cassian added as he followed us out of the office, “your Alpha’s guard and the head of the law department have decided you’re officially off duty.”

I narrowed my eyes at both of them.

“And where exactly are you taking me?”

Cassian’s grin was wicked.

“To bed.”

Malek glanced down at me, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“You can argue about pack politics tomorrow.”

He nudged open the bedroom door with his foot.

“Tonight,” he said softly, “you’re ours.”

Cassian opened the door to our bedroom, and Malek was the one who carried me the rest of the way in, placing me gently in the center of the bed.

The careful way he set me down didn’t go unnoticed. It hadn’t, for a while now. Not fragile—never that—but… aware. Protective in quieter ways.

The mattress dipped beneath my weight, the familiar scent of our room wrapping around me—clean sheets, warm wood, and the faint traces of the two wolves who had become the center of my world.

It had been almost a year since I learned they were my mates.

A year since everything had changed.

The beginning hadn’t been easy. Nothing about those first days had been simple—war, fear, responsibilities crashing down on all of us at once. But looking back now, lying here between them, I felt nothing but gratitude.

We had built something real.

Something strong.

There was no jealousy between them, no bitterness or hidden tension. We talked about everything. We faced every challenge together, the three of us learning how to move through life as one strange, stubborn, fiercely loyal unit.

Malek had taken charge of the legal department, shaping the laws and agreements that kept the pack stable. Cassian commanded the guard with the same unwavering discipline he had always carried. And me…

I had stepped fully into my role as Beta.

Together, we held Blackwood steady.

And somehow, in the middle of all that responsibility, we had also found peace with each other.

Real happiness.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had gone to sleep without feeling safe.

Or woken up without warmth on both sides of me.

Now I lay back against the mattress as Cassian moved to one side of the bed and Malek to the other, their presence surrounding me in that quiet, familiar way that made my chest soften.

Malek hooked his fingers into the hem of my shirt, tugging it upward with a playful kind of impatience, while Cassian was already working the button of my pants.

They moved with practiced ease, the kind that came from knowing each other—and me—so well.

Layer by layer, they removed the last pieces of the day from me.

Their hands were warm, their touches careful, almost reverent, like every movement carried the same silent message: you’re ours, and we take care of what is ours.

They peeled off my clothes slowly, piece by piece, with a kind of gentleness that felt almost like reverence, like they were worshipping me.

Their lips brushed my neck, my jaw, my collarbone.

Slow.

Unhurried.

My bra followed, then my panties, until I was left bare beneath the soft glow of the bedside lamp, my bare feet brushing against the sheets.

Instinctively, my hands lifted to return the favor—to pull at Cassian’s shirt, to drag Malek closer—but both of them caught my wrists at the same time.

Strong fingers closed gently around them.

Before I could react, they pinned my arms lightly above my head against the mattress.

Cassian leaned close to my ear, his breath warm against my skin.

“Mm-mm,” he murmured softly. “No, honey. You know the rules.”

A shiver ran down my spine.

Malek’s mouth brushed the side of my neck as he added, his voice low and teasing, “We take care of you first.”

Their lips traced slow paths along my jaw, their touches unhurried, deliberate, as if they were in no rush at all.

Every small sensation made my body react.

When their attention drifted lower, a breath caught in my throat. The contrast of their touches—one on each side, their movements perfectly in sync without needing to speak—sent warmth spreading through my chest and down my spine.

They both kissed along my jaw again before moving lower, until each of them took one of my nipples into their mouths.

The feeling became overwhelming in the best possible way.

My body arched instantly, my breath catching as I felt Cassian’s hand slide directly to my clit, brushing it lightly, while Malek’s hand moved between my thighs, slowly inserting a finger inside me.

My breath growing uneven while they continued their quiet, relentless attention.

“Oh God,” I murmured, my voice breaking slightly. “That’s… that’s too much.”

“Take it,” Cassian whispered.

“You can take it,” Malek added gently.

Their confidence in me made something inside my chest tighten and soften all at once.

They knew me.

They always had.

The sensations built higher and higher, waves of warmth and tension rising through my body until my breathing turned into breathless gasps.

The world narrowed to the warmth of their hands, their voices, the steady presence of them on both sides of me.

They kept sucking my nipples while their hands worked between my legs, the pressure and rhythm pushing the pleasure further and further until it became unbearable in the best way.

And when the tension finally broke, it rushed through me like a storm.

I came.

Hard.

My whole body trembling while they held me there through the waves of pleasure, they held me through it—steady hands, quiet murmurs, the comfort of their closeness grounding me while I struggled to catch my breath again.

When the last of the trembling faded, I collapsed back against the pillows, laughing weakly as I dragged in air.

“You two are going to kill me someday,” I said between breaths.

Malek chuckled softly.

Cassian’s hand brushed a strand of hair away from my face. He huffed softly. “Not a chance.”

His hand slid down again, resting lightly over my stomach, thumb brushing slow circles.

Malek leaned in, pressing a soft kiss there this time—intentional.

“We’re keeping you safe,” he murmured.

“Both of you,” Cassian added.

“And we’re just getting started,” Malek said.

Cassian’s grin was slow and wicked as he met my gaze.

“That,” he added calmly, “was only the first part.”