The Mark I Didn’t Want-The Mate I Never Expected Chapter 01
When Shane Sterling, my childhood best friend, went through his first werewolf awakening, his friends called me over to help him through it. But Shane said,
“I really don’t want to give her the satisfaction. Our kind are the most monogamous—whoever we mark first becomes our one and only for life.”
“When Elara gets here, even if she begs to help me, I’m going to hold out.”
But he waited and waited, and I never showed.
What he didn’t know was that his brother’s security guard had already been blowing up my phone:
“Ms. Vance, the eldest Mr. Sterling has already marked you as his one and only.”
“Please, can you come and kiss him?”
It turned out that five years ago, I’d fallen off a mountain while skiing and died. His brother saved me by splitting half his werewolf lifespan through a marking ritual, pulling me back from the dead.
Late that night, I wrapped my arms around his neck and coaxed, “Baron, don’t hold back—tell me, how many years have you been secretly in love with me?”
***
The Sterlings were all werewolves. After turning twenty, every full moon sent them into a rut, and the first person they marked would be their lifelong mate.
I’d always assumed that Shane would mark me.
But when he went through his first awakening and his friends called me over,
I overheard him in the private booth, sounding annoyed:
“I really don’t want to give Elara the easy way out.”
“I want to go after the campus queen, but she’s not the type to be easy.”
“Unlike Elara, who’s like a lapdog that comes running the second I snap my fingers.”
“When she gets here, even if she begs to help me, I’m going to hold out.”
“I’m not about to mess up my whole life over one night and let her have me wrapped around her finger.”
I stood outside the booth, my mind completely blank.
I never imagined that Shane, who’d grown up with me, saw me that way.
His friends—the ultimate fair-weather sycophants—all laughed:
“So in your eyes, she’s just a plaything?”
“Maybe I should call and tell her not to come, so she doesn’t take advantage of you tonight and try to lock you down with sex. You get what you pay for, honestly.”
But Shane stopped him, looking visibly uncomfortable:
“Forget it. If I tell her not to come now, what would she think?”
“Even if she’s just a plaything, she’s one I’ve doted on since we were kids. I can’t stand to see her hurt.”
“When she gets here, I’ll see if I can keep my hands off her.”
“There are things I don’t want to spell out, but this is the perfect chance for her to see where she stands.”
At that moment, I wanted to storm in and scream at Shane:
“You say you can’t stand to see me hurt, but you just compared me to a dog that comes when called, and let your friends mock and belittle me—and you think you deserve my devotion?”
But I held back. There was no point. He wasn’t worth my breath.
I turned and walked away, fleeing the scene in shame, telling myself not to cry.
After a moment’s thought, I called his brother’s security guard:
“That thing you asked me earlier—about helping Shane’s brother—do you still need me?”
“Send me the address. I’m on my way.”
Half an hour earlier, the guard had called to tell me a truth that Shane had deliberately hidden:
“Ms. Vance, do you remember five years ago when the second young master took you skiing at Timberline Peak and you fell into that ravine?”
“Baron led our rescue team and searched for three days before finding you buried in the snow, frozen solid, with no pulse.”
“He told Shane that a werewolf could split his lifespan with his mate through a blood ritual on the full moon.”
“It’s another form of marking—once done, it binds you as their one and only forever.”
“But Shane didn’t want to do it, yet he couldn’t bear to let you die, so he held you and sobbed uncontrollably.”
“In the end, Baron saved you.”
“You were lucky—it happened to be a full moon night.”
“He gave half his lifespan to you through the blood ritual, which also marked you, making you his only mate for life.”
“But Shane begged him not to tell you.”
“For five years, Baron has endured every full moon alone, never bothering you, and strictly forbade anyone from revealing the ritual.”
“But tonight he can’t take it anymore—he’s badly injured, fighting for his life, and with the full moon, without you, he won’t make it.”
“Please, can you come and help him?”
In that moment, my mind went blank.
I never imagined that I’d actually died five years ago.
Shane, who’d always held me in the palm of his hand, wouldn’t sacrifice half his life for me—but it was his brother, the so called ice cold tyrant, who pulled me back from death.
But I still steeled my heart and told the guard:
“I’m sorry, but Shane needs me more tonight.”
I’d rather be ungrateful and still go to help Shane.
Only to be mocked by him as a dog that comes when called—nothing more than a plaything.
Yeah, I really was pathetic.
I had it coming.
But I’m done being pathetic.
I wiped away my tears of hurt and humiliation, gripped my phone, and said to the guard:
“Is it too late for me to repay the life debt?”
“If Baron Sterling absolutely needs me tonight, I’ll go right now—and I’ll give him everything he needs.”
The guard cried tears of joy:
“It’s not too late! It’s not too late!”
“Ms. Vance, I’ll send you the location right now.”
“If it weren’t for Baron being critically injured and the full moon, I’d never dare to go against his orders and tell you this. He’s very strict with family rules.”
I understood. Baron probably just wanted to save my life out of basic decency.
He didn’t want me clinging to him.
And I just wanted to repay his life saving kindness.
It wasn’t about being heartbroken by Shane and running into Baron’s arms.
