Blind Love

Chapter 18

"I..I can see."

His eyes snapped up to mine, and I knew he was telling the truth. He stared at me, eyes wide, as if I knew why.

I looked to Ce, who looked more worried than shocked.

"Cece.. How?" I asked.

"I don't know.." She replied, feigning shock and then quickly looking away.

"Don't lie to me Ce. You know. I'm your best friend, you can tell me."

Closing her eyes, and resting her face in her hands, she sighed. A single tear slipped down her cheek as she turned, fearful eyes meeting mine.

"She's marked by the moon." She whispered.

I gasped.

"That's not possible. No one has spoke of a marked in thousands of years. I thought they were just a legend that crazy pack had made up to condone killing Nature Gifted wolves." I whispered.

"Bring her her." She replied, stretching her arms out towards me.

I handed her the tiny baby, my eyes returning to Aiden who seemed interested in the conversation, but more interested in staring at me, taking in every detail of my face.

"You're so beautiful.." He sighed, taking my hand in his. Placing my hand on his cheek, I smiled, before returning to the side of Celia's bed.
She had a wet wash cloth in her hand and was gently stroking the side of Scarlett's face.

Slowly a twisting tattoo like mark appeared, winding down her face, the back of her neck, and all the way down her back. The mark swirled like black and purple ink in water, crescent moons visible if you looked closely at it.

The mark of the moon.

I placed my finger on the side of her tiny face, tracing the mark down to her neck, and sighed. "You're right.. She's marked."

Celia let out a small sob as she cradled her baby in her arms, holding her close to her chest.

Luca entered the room shortly after, eyes growing wide when he saw her mark. "I thought we were waiting to show them?" He asked.

"They knew something was up." Celia sniffed. "She healed Aiden.."

Luca looked to Aiden in shock. "You can see?"

"I can." Aiden smiled.

Luca nodded, before taking a seat on the opposite side of Celias bed, and taking Scarlett's tiny hand in his.

"I don't know what we're going to do, Al.." He said quietly.

"Nothing is going to happen to her. We can keep her safe." I reassured them.

"How? How can we protect her from them?" Celia asked, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"We'll figure it out, but no ones is going to touch that baby." I promised.

"My pack will stand behind you, ready to fight if it comes to that." Aiden nodded. "You all obviously mean a lot to my Alice, and this child has given me my sight back. Anything you need, we will help."

Luca stood, shaking Aiden's hand. "Thank you." He said sincerely.

We stayed talking for a few hours, before finally finding our way to our room for the night.

"What do you know of the marked?" I asked Aiden, as I sat on the foot of the bed brushing my hair.

"More than most, honestly." Aiden admitted. "My mother told me her great great uncle had been marked, but no one ever believed her. I did as a child, but as I grew older, I thought they'd just been bed time stories she'd made up for my amusement."

He sat beside me, looking up towards the ceiling as if trying to recall a memory.

"She told me he had been born with it. A swirling purple and black mark that ran down his face just like Scarlett's. To keep him from the Hunter pack, he was never allowed outside their pack house. She spoke of how in the few photos she'd seen of him, his mark practically glowed against his skin. White as snow from never seeing the sun. No one but family was allowed in the house, so no one knew for many years. When he was 17 he escaped, went on the run to try and find his mate. He found her. But it was terrible. The Hunter pack had captured them both, tied them up together and burned them."

"Your mother told you this story as a child?"

"We're wolves." He shrugged. "Bedtime stories weren't child friendly in our home."  

"Do you know why the Hunter pack is so obsessed with the Marked ones? I've heard different stories, but I don't know which to believe."

"My mother told me the Hunter pack believes when the Marked find each other, they're destined to rule, and eventually destroy all wolves. It's not true though. The Marked are born to lead, and bring peace to all the packs at war. Together the King of Alphas and Queen of Luna's, they will bring all of the packs together again, like when the last Marked pair ruled. But the sad truth is that Scarlett's mate has probably already been found by them, or will be before she's old enough to sense him." He sighed, looking towards me, his eyes sad.

"We have to keep her safe Aiden. We have to find a way to help." I said, standing from the bed and beginning to pace.

"We will, my dear, we will." He told me, as he too stood, grabbing my hands and stopping me from my pacing. Softly his hand brushed the hair from my eyes.

"How are you Aiden? How are you, really?" I asked him.

"Ive never felt peace like this. Not since my family died." He replied.

"It wasn't even my sight being returned that saved me. It was you." He said, leaning closer, his breath on my lips.

"I didn't do anything.." I said, breathless from our close proximity.

"You did though.." He whispered. "You loved me blindly, when I couldn't love even myself." He finished, slowly kissing my neck, up to my ear, and across me cheek all the way to my lips.

He kissed me slowly, taking the air from my lungs.

We pulled away, breathless.

Staring into each other's eyes, I moved my hair from my neck.

"Mark me." I spoke boldly.

He didn't question me, but instead placed his hand on my neck, pulling me closer. He kissed my neck softly for a moment before stopping.

"I love you." He whispered against my skin, before marking me.