Alpha Noah ✔️

Chapter Thirty

Word Count: 1571

~Abella

I sit in front of the fire, staring at his wrist.

The scars are silvery, precise lines leading up to a point in the centre, the deepest crimson red lingering in a circle under his skin. When I look down at my mark, my flesh almost completely torn to shreds, I can't imagine how it will eventually form this very specific mark. I can't imagine even sharing a mark with Noah in the first place.

"What does the red mean?" I ask, eyeing it sceptically. Noah and I sit upon an ottoman in front of the fireplace, my leg splayed out, bound with white cloth. He holds his arm out to me, letting me see where he was once marked, many years before I was.

It looks like a bruise that has never healed, but a much richer, vibrant red. Will mine be like that, or different?

"It means he's crazy."

Glancing over my shoulder, I glare at Cian, who stands with his arms crossed over his chest, looking tense. He had been lingering around since he knocked on the door earlier, assuring himself that the entire time I was here under Noah's volition. Now he's convinced himself Noah is manipulating me with a fairy tale that doesn't actually exist.

"Not helping," I mutter, shooting him a look that apparently isn't enough to have him keeping his opinions to himself.

"You were attacked, brutally. We need to be finding who did this, instead of entertaining an idea that you are some kind of Daemon. They don't exist," Cian exasperates, throwing his hands up our blank expressions. "And I would know, since I'm Immortal, and I know every creature that walks upon these lands, since my powers control their inhibitions."

I can feel Noah's gaze on me as Cian talks, seeing if I'm receiving what my mate is feeding into my ear, but I can't look at him. How can I doubt this, after what Stace has done to me, having killed me, now this? Noah and I share the same blood colour...there has to be some explanation.

"Cian, my blood is purple. I'm not normal," I remind him.

My mate's posture deflates, but his defiance is still evident in the way his jaw clenches and his eyes remain stern. If it weren't for the crackling fire behind us, the silence in this room would be deafening.

"You can stay here until the wound heals. I can protect you if Stace comes back," Noah offers gently. My memories of Stace are foggy, but it's almost like he appeared out of nowhere, making it unlikely to protect me regardless.

"No, she isn't staying here. She needs to be in the immortal realm, where my powers can protect her," Cian cuts in.

Noah's attention shifts. "Didn't this problem start under your watch?"

I can tell Cian wants to retort, considering the mark on my leg, but at least he has the decency to shut his mouth. Sighing deeply, I shift in my seat, but the pain that lances up my leg has me wincing. This will take days for me to recover from, which means I may not even be able to walk. And once it's healed, I want to know if Noah and I share a similar mark.

Cian kneels down in front of the ottoman, clearly disregarding Noah, grabbing my hands between his own. "Come home with me. I'm your mate, you can trust me to protect you from whoever this guy is. What happened that night will never happen again, I promise."

Looking into his eyes, my heart sinks deep within my chest. This is my mate, the one I'm supposed to love, that I'm supposed to put all my trust in.

But I can't help but feel doubtful.

Maybe it's because he's a Sin, and I'm still apprehensive about his morals, his motives. Or maybe it's because I feel safer here, with Noah, who I know would never overstep boundaries, who I know understand this situation better than anyone. But I still care about Cian, and I want to make things work because he is my mate, and I want that bond.