Page 189 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

Oh Danica,I snort.I’m not that important.

You are! Best woman ever! I will be keeping my eye on him. If he ever hurts you again, I will bite his butt. I have Cyrus’ approval.

I fight hard not to laugh at her words.I think he’s learned his lesson.

Right, then we can go back to killing that piece of trash who laid his hands on him. No one hurts our mate!

He will be brought to the Council,I state.

She sneers.Good. He will wish he’d died by our hands then!

I agree with her before focusing back on Marius. His mind is so far away, he hasn’t even noticed my silence. I gently turn his hand with my own, noticing once again that he has beautiful hands and arms. My eyes catch on something on his wrist.

I push his bracelet aside. “Marius,” I say in astonishment. “You have a scar there?”

Marius shifts his gaze to me, startled by my sudden question. He seems confused at first before his gaze shifts to his wrists, squeezing his eyes shut. He tries to pull his hand away from him, but I don’t let him.

“You don’t need to tell me anything,” I say. “But don’t push me away.”

He nods, before murmuring, “You will think badly of me.”

“No, I won’t,” I say with emphasis. “I’ve never thought badly of you. Well, aside from when you were pushing me aside because you didn’t want a mate… But I understand that now. However, considering your past and what Calvin did to you? I would never judge you or think less of you.”

“This scar was not Calvin,” he says.

My heart sinks at his words, sadness flooding me. Instead of responding, I just keep rubbing my thumb over his palm.

“It was a low moment,” he says quietly. “I couldn’t bear it anymore. I was sixteen, and he was losing interest in me because I was getting too old. I was glad at first. Relieved he had finally left me alone. I thought I would be happy.”

“But you weren’t,” I state quietly. “It’s understandable that you couldn’t move on.”

“I tried everything,” he admits. “I tried hanging out with Liam and Finn, training, even studying. But when nothing made me happy, I tried the opposite. I skipped school, let my anger out on Liam and Finn. I even tried dating, but the first time I wanted to get intimate with a girl, I just saw… his eyes. I had to get drunk just to be with her. He ruined every experience for me. I went home that night thinking I would never be happy.”

My heart aches for that lost 16-year-old boy. He doesn’t share a lot about his past. It’s always bits and pieces. This being just another piece in the puzzle that is Marius.

“I went to the park that same night,” he continues. “I… I knew if I did it in the pack house, they would bring me to the infirmary. My parents would notice. They’d already started suspecting that something was off with me. I lied to them yet again, telling them that a girl had broken my heart.”

“You used a silver knife,” I murmur.

“A silver dagger actually,” he says. “I thought I was alone. And Cyrus, at that time, had only just awoken, so he wasn’t able to heal me instantly. However, as fate would have it, I didn’t die. A young couple walked past. The woman was a doctor, and she immediately stopped the bleeding. She called for an ambulance, but I used that brief moment of distraction to disappear.” He pauses. “That’s all.” He shakes his head. “At the time, I was too scared to tell anyone the truth. I thought no one would believe me.”

“Because Calvin’s gifts made it easy for him to hide,” I finish for him. “You must have been shocked when everyone believed you.”

“I didn’t expect it,” he says quietly. “I also didn’t expect them to stand up for me the way they have.”

“They are your family, and they love you,” I smile. “Did you know when your mother first found out, she made a silver dagger appear and slammed it into his hand, nailing him to the wall?”

He gives me a crooked smile. “You’re kidding?”

“No, Annie told me.”

He might not show it, but I know it makes him happy that his family immediately had his back. “It’s a fancy gift she has, right?”

“How does it work, anyway?” I ask curiously.

“She can conjure silver,” he explains. “And form it into anything she wants.”

My mouth drops open. “Fancy doesn’t even remotely describe it.”