Marked by the Alpha

During the tribe’s annual banquet, Astraea’s fate was sealed without her realizing it in that very moment. It was not a deliberate act nor an open provocation, but her words—misinterpreted and laden with a sincerity that was considered dangerous in that place—wounded the pride of Selene Varkas, a woman accustomed to no one daring to challenge her. That night, amid forced laughter, music, and raised glasses, Selene decided that Astraea would pay for the offense. The problem was not merely personal; the tribe was going through a silent crisis, a failed harvest that had left their reserves on the brink of collapse and a debt to the Alpha Kingdom impossible to repay. That was when Selene found the perfect solution, one that blended vengeance and convenience: to offer Astraea as a “pacifier” to the Alpha King, Valerius Mordrake. The rumors about him were not mere stories meant to frighten children. They spoke of a man consumed by a curse, of a beast barely restrained by invisible threads, of a king whose rage needed to be unleashed upon others—bodies that never survived. Astraea refused from the very beginning, her voice firm even as everyone present avoided looking at her, even when Kael Draven, influenced by Selene, declared the decision as if it were a necessary sacrifice. She was thrown into the dungeon for defying the order, but the true prison was not the walls—it was the threat that followed: the Omega maids, those Astraea had protected, would pay with their lives if she did not accept. And Astraea, her heart silently breaking, gave in. Not out of fear of dying, but because she could not allow others to die in her place. The day she arrived at the kingdom, she felt no resignation, only a strange calm, as if something within her already knew that this would not be the end everyone expected. And when she saw Valerius Mordrake for the first time, the world seemed to freeze in an inexplicable moment. No words were needed at first. A certainty struck them both with force: destined mates. The bond formed instantly—deep, undeniable, primal. And with that recognition came something even more unexpected: Astraea’s presence silenced the storm within him. The rage that consumed him, the curse that had turned him into legend and monster, stilled as if his soul had finally found something to anchor it. From that moment on, the dynamic between them ceased to be what everyone had expected. There was no brutality, but rather a restrained tension, a dangerous closeness neither of them knew how to handle. He protected her even from his own court, eliminating threats before they could reach her, and she, with an ability she did not fully understand, healed wounds that seemed impossible to mend. Trust grew in small gestures, in lingering glances, in silences that spoke louder than any confession—until everything shattered in the simplest and cruelest way. Astraea overheard him without his knowing she was there. There was no intention to hurt her, but that did not lessen the impact of his words. He spoke of her as a tool, something useful, necessary to control his curse. Nothing more. In that instant, everything Astraea believed collapsed. She had thought he saw her as his mate, that what they shared held meaning beyond necessity—but suddenly she saw herself as just another woman, another body meant to be used until it broke. Her fear was not of dying, but of meaning nothing. That same night, she fled. She vanished without a trace, without giving him a chance to explain, without facing what she felt—because staying would have meant destroying herself. Valerius, upon discovering it, did not understand her decision. He did not see the pain behind it. To him, it was betrayal. He felt manipulated, as if she had played with the bond they shared, and in his fury, he ordered her to be found and brought back at any cost. But time passed, and Astraea was never found. And though he would never admit it, her absence became a constant wound—one that ne

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