The Werewolf Mark

My mouth waters as I stare at the dish Dan is holding, and the discomfort in my abdomen worsens. Starving myself is a harsher experience than I thought. I didn't have big hopes in the first place.

Dan warned me it would hurt, but I hadn't realized how different hunger pains were from physical ones. I can deal with a few broken bones, but this is driving me insane. But I'm our best hope of defeating the Alpha, and I need to look the part if he's going to believe my story.

"Only a few more days," Dan claims, repeating the promise he's made for weeks. "The wolves have become more active since word of his marriage leaked, and your arrival will cause controversy. Our timing is everything."

I nod, casually stroking the birthmark on the back of my hand. The color has become more pronounced with age, starting from a fleshy tone when I was a child to its current deep red.

I despise it, and even more so, what it represents. For the majority of my childhood, my parents refused to tell me, claiming that sharing the information would result in my death. I only knew I needed to keep it hidden, so when I saw it on the news, I was overjoyed. The way the round mark branches up the backs of my fingers like small vines and ends completely at my wrist is impossible to miss, and the people on television had a perfect drawing of it.

I am the Alpha's fated mate, and the cursed marking on my hand proves it. The wolves were looking for me, the female with the same mark as their leader, and reality had yet to overshadow my childhood fantasies. I thought having a fated mate was the most romantic thing in the world, and I was excited to find him. Seven-year-olds are really stupid.

Dan hands me a piece of bread, the only thing I'm allowed to eat for the next 48 hours. If I were stronger, I'd push it away, but my fingers curl around the food and shove it into my mouth in an instant.

It's a miracle HPAW found me before I got into the wolves' territory, as my childhood fantasies of true love pushed me to flee in search of my Alpha. They were in the middle of a mission, and the fresh recruits were entrusted with mapping the borders. The Human Protection Against Wolves agency is one of the most exclusive; only the best of the best are allowed in.

Most government funding is directed through them, ensuring our race is safe against the savage predators that insist on taking over our world. They already have all of Canada and much of the Northwestern United States, and it's HPAW's responsibility to keep them at bay. And I'm the key.

"Will you leave my ribs intact?" I inquire, gulping down the glass of water Dan gives me. He grimaces, the action answers enough.

I know the attack needs to look real, but I've fractured my ribs too many times to avoid trying to get out of it. I've been exercising constantly since being put into the HPAW program, but this is serving as the greatest obstacle yet.

They've taught me how to fight and defend myself, but now I need to be weak. The Alpha must assume I'm a victim, captured and tortured by the human government because of my mark.

He'll be likely to trust me since I'm his mate, and once I've gotten all the essential knowledge regarding him and his pack, I'll plunge a knife straight into his chest. I'll kill him just as his people killed my parents, ripping them to shreds when they travelled deep into the jungle looking for me.

Dan doesn't like when I say that, but I'm pleased they're dead. They were sympathizers, and I suspect they intended to take me to the wolves themselves when I was older.

There's no other reason they would keep my mark hidden, forcing patches and makeup over my hand, and live so close to the border.

My childhood house is now deep within their area, and the filthy wolves are stealing more land with each passing year. However, I will be the reason we take it back.

"I got permission to have you sedated for your injuries. We are going to break your arm, three of your ribs, and collarbone. The blood we've been collecting from you has been soaked into a tattered dress, and we'll mat the hair along the left side of your head," Dan explains, working his jaw side to side as he speaks to the extent of the injuries I'll sustain.

We've both been worried HPAW leadership would insist I'm awake for it all, making my story that much more believable, but he's been fighting hard to change their minds. Dan's been my primary caretaker since I was brought to this facility, and I appreciate his care.

"You'll be alone in the cabin when you wake up, and you'll be tied to the bed so it looks like you can't leave. The wolves should be arriving that night, the pair sneaking into the cabin every month like clockwork, but we'll make sure to tie you so your mark is facing outward," he promises, his lip curling at the mention of my mark.

I'm disgusted by it, too.

"And I'll tell them I hid my mark in fear of the wolves, but somebody must have noticed it because one night my apartment was broken into and I was forced into the woods to be tortured and punished," I continue, explaining the rest of our plan. "I think it was the government because they kept asking about my involvement with the wolves."

We've been perfecting the story for years, and I have every detail memorized. I could say it forwards and backward, and can even pass a lie detector test. Dan insists it won't come to that, the wolves foolish in their blind trust in mates, but I like to be prepared.

"I'm so proud of you, Charlotte," Dan admits, leaning against the door frame.

I hold back a smile, encouraged by his praise. This isn't easy, and is undoubtedly not a fun life, but it's a small price to pay for the lives of millions of humans. The wolves are bigger and stronger than us on their worst day, and it's only a matter of time before they kill us all in their bloodlust.

It doesn't matter that they walk around with skin identical to humans most of the time. Their wolf side is, and always will be, nothing more than a dangerous predator.

"I just hope we aren't putting too much faith in the mate bond," I say, glancing at my hand.

They believe the Alpha will fall in love with me, the bond drawing us together in ways I can't even conceptualize. It's a cute idea, but I'm not sure how much I believe it.

"The mate bond is everything to them. He'll bend over backward for you, and I doubt it will be long before he's willingly and openly shared every bit of information we need to bring him down," Dan promises, his teeth on full display as he grins at me. "We'll have armed men at our meeting spot twenty-four-seven, but there is no rush. Wait until you have everything you need."

I nod, confirming I've heard as I move to sit on my bed. My head aches, probably from dehydration.

Dan offers me another glass of water, the only thing not currently being withheld from me, but I wave it away. The men who kidnapped me wouldn't have given me any.

This has to be perfect if it's to be believable, and I only have one opportunity to take the Alpha and his entire pack down.

I will not disappoint.