The Mark I Didn’t Want-The Mate I Never Expected Chapter 02
But I never expected that when I got to the private suite at Cedars Sinai.
I found Mia Mercer—the campus queen—practically clawing at the door, desperate to get in.
“Just let me in!” she shouted.
“It’s the full moon tonight! How do you know Baron doesn’t need me?”
“Baron, baby, please! Let me in, please!”
I almost laughed out loud.
Shane called Mia not the type to be easy, and yet here she was, throwing herself at his brother.
The guard who’d been blocking Mia spotted me and yanked the door open, teary eyed.
“Ms. Vance! You finally made it!”
“Please, come in—Baron needs you tonight. He needs you badly.”
Jealousy twisted Mia’s face beyond recognition. She shrieked,
“Why does Elara get to go in?”
“Baron’s only hurt this bad because he was saving her!”
“She’s a total jinx! How can you possibly let her in?”
I froze for a second. Again? He saved me again? What does that mean?
The room had descended into total chaos.
Baron lay shirtless on the bed, face flushed bright red, dark hair soaked through.
His fingers were curled into the sheets, gripping so hard his knuckles went white, and thick white bandages wrapped around his back were already soaked through with bright red blood.
The doctor stood beside him, practically screaming,
“For God’s sake, stop trying to tough it out! I’m begging you—get a girl in here to help you! I just changed those bandages and they’re already drenched! How much blood do you think you have left to lose?”
“And on a full moon, werewolf blood becomes ferociously hyperactive, and your clotting factors are shot. I gave you the best hemostatics on the market, and nothing’s working.”
“We have to get that heat under control, or you’ll bleed out tonight!”
“Now where the hell is that girl you keep saying can save him?”
The guards standing by the bed had already spotted me.
They bowed deeply at the waist, gratitude and relief written all over their faces.
“Doctor, she’s here.”
At those words, the man who’d been burning in his own private hell on that bed cracked his eyes open.
Dark red irises, cold and dangerously bright, full of barely leashed desire, landed on me. Shock flickered across his face, then annoyance.
“Who called her here?” he growled. “Get her out!”
One of the guards stepped forward and bowed his head.
“I did, sir.”
“If Elara can get you through tonight, I’ll take whatever punishment you give me.”
“Besides, you nearly died saving her this time.”
“You’ve saved her twice now, and you never once took credit for it. You might not feel sorry for yourself, but we do. It breaks our hearts seeing you like this.”
I stole a glance at the man lying there, his intimidating presence filling the entire room.
I’d grown up with Shane, but I’d always avoided Baron like the plague.
Everyone did. He was a straight up devil.
The most reckless hell raisers in our circle folded the second they got within ten feet of him.
It was pure, absolute dominance—both in presence and in ruthlessness.
I used to cross the street just to avoid him.
But right now, that terrifying man was gripping the sheets, toes curling, body shaking, every inch of him radiating heat, his ragged breathing growing louder by the second. The sheer contrast was almost jarringly endearing—a stunningly beautiful man in agony, impossible to look away from.
Still, I had to ask: “Wait—you’re telling me he got hurt this time because of me again?”
One of the guards opened his mouth to answer, but Baron cut him off.
“Shut up,” he snapped. “Say one more word. See what happens.”
Then he softened his voice—just slightly—and said to me,
“Elara, get out. I don’t need you here.”
The guard, completely fearless, kept going:
“Sir, stop pretending. You’re never gonna get a girl by being that stubborn.”
“The guy’s got the toughest mouth on the planet, but inside? Soft as butter. Elara’s in danger, and you’d run into a burning building for her without a second thought. You think we can’t see it?”
