Goddess Mark

“What?” I gasped.
Dean’s shirt stuck to my skin and my heart was racing. I looked around the room trying to make sense of my surroundings. Where were the rocks?
“What the hell?” Dean asked.
“I don’t know…” I cradled my head.
“You were shaking Layla.”
“It was a dream.”
Dean handed me a half-drunk cup of water. “What about?”
I retold the bizarre dream to Dean. It felt like standing in a vision. I was stripped of my ability to intervene. I wanted to talk to my parents, hug my Mom and tell my Dad how much I needed him these past few months. I couldn’t.
“I have a defective wolf, Dean.”
“You don’t. It was a dream.”
“It felt so real.”
He shook his head. He marched to the window and gripped the frame.
“You’re fine. You have a strong and healthy wolf.”
“Maybe not now. The answer lies in the other half of the vision.”
“You’re having visions now?” He said through gritted teeth.
“I don’t know.” The glass shook in my trembling hand.
He marched to my bedside and scrutinized me. He held out his hand.
“Give me your hand.”
I slipped my palm into his. His nails dug into my skin. I cried out attempting to pull my hand back. Dean’s eyes glowed bright yellow.
“What was that?” I blasted. I stared at my palm the nail marks quickly faded.
“There’s nothing defective about you. Just raw goddess power,” Dean said then marched to the bathroom.
“What did you do?” I followed behind.
It couldn’t be more than five in the morning, but Dean was turning the shower on and getting out of his boxers.
“I searched your wolf. I’m the Alpha I can do that.”
My old Alpha couldn’t do that.
“Fine but I still think it was a vision and I want to know the rest.”
He stepped into the shower and pushed his hair back.
“We can’t do that because the rogue’s dead. Are you coming in?”
I was sweaty and sticky a shower sounded good. I stripped and stepped into the shower with Dean. You could cut the tension with a knife.
“I don’t like dealing with things I can’t see or destroy,” Dean confessed.
“It doesn’t mean it’s bad, Dean. My parents never told me how I got the moon stone’s power. This is the only way I’ll know.”
“Visions lead to more stuff and you can see the future before you know it. Stuff like that gets messy.”
He lathered his masculine scented body wash on his bath sponge and rubbed it on my back.
“Wouldn’t it be cool to have a girlfriend who’s a Seer?” I winked.
He raised his brow. “I like you the way you are.”
He moved the sponge to my right arm and gently stroked it. He stared at my arm before he dropped the sponge.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re marked.”
“You’re not making sense Dean.”
“You have a goddess mark, Layla.” He turned off the water and walked me out of the shower cubical.
In front of the mirror, I was able to see the purple tattoo of a long vine with a blooming flower going around my arm.
“It’s beautiful.”
“If anyone needed confirmation that you had the moon stone’s power this is it.”
“In my vision, the Alpha wondered what would happen if they needed to extract the stone’s power from me. What do you think happens then? If something happens to me does the power just vanish?”
“Nothing’s going to happen to you,” Dean said defensively.
“Hypothetically.”
“We can extract it and if we don’t the power passes to our children. If you die so does the power. But that won’t happen.”
I nodded but in the back of my mind, I knew the Dare pack was gunning for.
***
We still had a ball to plan so falling back asleep wouldn’t work. Dean informed me later that my Uncle Owen and Cousin Eight would be coming for the mating ball. I hoped Eight would find his mate at the ball though he seemed content being the lone wolf.
I went downstairs to check the lists and see the decorations that came in. Mom was an expert at doing this but she was also one of the best warriors in the pack. It was times like this that I needed here. When I remembered she was stolen from me because Killian and the Dare wolves were monsters it fuelled my fire to get rid of them.
Ginger strolled into the kitchen. Her glow was gone.
“That does not look fun,” she commented.
“We’ll be doing this at your mating ceremony.”
“You’re the Luna. They do most of the work.”
I sighed heavily. I did not sign up for this.
“Stop!”
Ginger and I straightened up and stared at the kitchen door. Avery emerged straightening her jeans and muttering something underneath her breath.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t know anyone was in here. It’s just the mating moon it’s making the wolves more unbearable than usual.”
“Shame especially since you’re the help they think they can take advantage,” Ginger said.
I jabbed her in the side.
“What? It’s true.”
Avery sighed heavily but she wasn’t offended by being called the help. “Yeah. In their minds, I should be honoured a beta looks at an omega like me.”
“Who’s bothering you? I’ll kick their ass.”
Ginger rolled her eyes.
“No, no don’t bother. It’ll be over once the moon passes.”
“No one deserves to be harassed, Avery. Are they Dean’s wolves or Gabe’s?”
Heat rushed to her cheeks straining her face and neck red. She retreated into herself. Gabe marched in at the right moment. He stared at Avery, his eyes lingering a moment longer.
“Gabe! Can you tell your betas to back off the omegas?” I asked sweetly.
But his stare at me was less than sweet. He glared Avery down.
“Anyone bothering you?” He demanded.
The dominance in his tone and stance caught me off guard.
Avery shook her head. “No one.”
“You don’t have to be scared,” I said.
“You heard her Layla. No one’s bothering.”
That doesn’t mean it’s true. I wanted to say but Avery ducked out of the room.
Gabe proceeded to the fridge to grab an apple. Ginger just shrugged at me.
She helped me sort and organize everything for a ball in two days. She offered to go dress shopping with me. The last time I let Ginger dress me I ended up a sexy bunny. It wasn’t until Lyle called me that I left the planning to the omegas and followed him to the field where Dean’s office was.
“Your Uncle’s inside,” Lyle said.
“He’s early.”
“And he didn’t bring she-wolves. It’s frankly rude.”
I shook my head at him and then walked into the claustrophobic office. No wonder he didn’t use it often. I expected to see Eight seated beside Owen but it was just the old man sitting across from Dean.
“Little Wolf,” Dean said. “Keep the goddess mark to yourself.” He said through our link.
I gave him a discrete nod. Shouldn’t we trust my uncle? I’d come to realize my mate had trust issues. Owen smiled brightly at me. He had more grey hair than the last time though.
“Good to see you,” he said. “We’ve been talking about you.”
I turned to Dean worry written on my face. This wasn’t about the goddess mark.
“It’s okay Little Wolf.”
Owen turned to me. “Your Father was second to the Alpha, do you remember?”
I nodded my head yes.
“Last I heard he had no heirs. That means your Father was Alpha before he died.”
“Yeah… Dad’s last order was for me to protect the stone.” Before he turned back to fight.
“Layla… this means you’re the Alpha of Ember pack.”
My heart slammed forward.
“What?” I nearly choked on saliva. “Ember is gone.”
Owen rose the calm replaced by a serious storm. “You have to take your place as Alpha.”