Syri cried out in pain as the alpha dragged him through the forest. Jisue had forced him to submit before throwing the zeta on his back and taking him into the wild. The alpha forced Syri to place his arm into his mouth as a means to keep a hold on the zeta should Syri attempt to escape.
"What do you want?" Syri asked when the alpha threw him to the ground in a small grove between the thick trees. The zeta clutched his bitten arm as he watched as the wolf shift to his human form.
"To get what's mine," Jisue growled as he knelt in front of the exhausted zeta. "Tsk tsk tsk. I would have healed you if you hadn't run away." Jisue lifted Syri's shirt and looked at the bleeding wound. By this time, blood was already streaming down Syri's lips and chin. He did not have long to live.
"Just let me die in peace."
"Mmm. No can do, 'cause, you see, I learned something about your kind. Evidently, zetas can make their mates really powerful."
A scoff left the zeta's bloody mouth as Syri glared at his mate with disdain. "That'll never happen."
"I know, I know. You think I'd never mark and mate you." Syri's face turned white when he heard Jisue say, "Well, I am willing to do those things if it means I can be the most powerful alpha. It's not like it hurts me."
"Please, no," Syri began backing away from the greedy alpha.
"Don't worry. I won't mark you on your scent gland. That would make you feel good, and I would hate giving a mutt like you any pleasure." An evil, crazed glint was ever-present in the alpha's eyes as he hungrily looked over the zeta's body.
"No," Syri shook his head as his body was shaking with fear.
"Come here," Jisue growled as he pulled Syri back to him and picked the zeta up. The alpha held the struggling zeta tightly as his eyes turned red and he bared his teeth. A low growl resonated from the alpha as the zeta was forced to submit, exposing his neck to the lustful wolf. Tears swelled in the zeta's eyes. This was the last thing he wanted. To be marked and mated by Jisue.
The sound of running made Syri look the edge of the grove. Tears began streaming down the zeta's face as he felt the alpha near his neck. He could feel Jisue's fangs graze over his skin as the alpha chose the spot where he would sink his fangs into the zeta's neck. Golden eyes appeared in between the trees as Syri saw a black wolf shift into its human form.
Jae ran into the grove to see a bleeding Syri in the clutches of his fated mate. Syri looked at the true blood with wet, brown eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks. Time seemed to slow as Jae rushed toward the zeta. The prince watched as Syri's eyes turned aqua just before the alpha sunk his teeth into the zeta's neck. Aska had taken control to keep Syri from feeling the pain of an unwanted mark. Even though Syri and Jisue were mates, an unwanted mark was unbearable for any wolf.
Aska cried out as the alpha dug his fangs in deeper, greedy to make a deep, lasting mark. Hyuk took over Jae's human form when he saw Aska in pain. The alpha retracted his teeth from the rough, gruesome mark when he heard the roar from the true blood charging for him. The alpha immediately threw the zeta toward the true blood and sprinted into the forest, satisfied that he had marked the zeta. 'If only I could have mated him, too!' The alpha could not care less about his mate. He was just giddy he escaped a true blood.
Hyuk caught Aska as he fell, leaving the alpha to turn tail and run. He would love to tear the wolf into smithereens, but Aska was more important. A tear escaped Aska's eye when he saw Hyuk gazing down at him. Blood dripped onto the ground from the fresh mark as its maker did not lick the mark to set and heal it.
"Is it gone?" Aska asked the true blood weakly. "The wound on my side. Is it healed?"
Hyuk looked at the wound on the zeta to see it closing up. "It is healing."
"Good," Aska sighed. The one blessing that came from the mark was the natural surge of energy. The wound could be healed with the energy since it came from the mate's mark. The zeta closed his eyes as Aska went back to sleep to recover. As long as the wound was healing, Syri could live.
Hyuk also gave control to Jae when he saw Syri's wolf withdraw. Syri opened his eyes to Jae's dark orbs looking down at him.
"Jae," the zeta voiced weakly.
"Hey," the true blood soothed as he pulled down Syri's shirt once he saw the wound vanish.
"Did-did he mark me?" Tears swelled in the zeta's eyes when he felt the hot pain throbbing in his neck.
A slight nod and a tear from Jae broke Syri's spirit. He had been marked by the one he hated most. The zeta felt his heart sink, and his vision blurred.
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you," Jae apologized as he held the zeta.
Syri looked at the crying prince and reached up to wipe a tear from the true blood's face. "You stopped him, though. He didn't get to mate me or take me away...I'm still here...with you..." The zeta's words grew quieter and more strained until his head rolled back and everything faded to black as Syri's exhausted and traumatized mind fell unconscious in the safety of the true blood's arms.