Could You Also Mark Me

Tessa's POV

I stirred the sauce one more time, the scent of rosemary chicken filled the kitchen . Eric's favorite dish, I'd memorized every ingredient, every step, just to see that satisfied smile cross his face when he took the first bite.

He should be home any minute now. My husband, Eric.

Eric is the Alpha of the Ironclad Pack, the man who'd pulled me from the depths of despair three years ago and somehow convinced me I was worthy of being his Luna.

Three years. Sometimes it felt like a lifetime, sometimes like the blink of an eye. Three years since I'd found something I thought I'd never have, peace, safety and love.

I touched my neck absently, the spot where his mark should have been. But because of my insecurity, I refused his request for permanent marking after our marriage. I keep thinking that when I've figured it all out, when I have the courage to spend my whole life with him, I'll take the initiative and let him complete the bond. Eric never pushed, never demanded. He just waited, patient as always.

He saved me. Pulled me from the wreckage when everyone else had given up on me. Made me his Luna.

I wasn't someone who said "I love you" easily, the words felt too dangerous, too much like giving someone the power to destroy me. But Eric... Eric was my everything. The center of my world, the reason I could sleep peacefully at night. Even if I couldn't always voice it.

"When I get back, we'll talk about the marking," he'd said that morning, his hands cupping my face with that gentle touch that never failed to make my heart skip. "No pressure, Tessa. Just... talk."

I glanced at the clock on the wall. Seven-thirty. The diplomatic negotiations with the neighboring packs always ran long, but Eric had promised to be back by eight. He never broke his promises to me. Not once in these three years.

The crystal pendant on my wrist caught the kitchen light as I reached for the wine glasses. Teardrop-shaped and perfectly clear, it had been Eric's gift to me on our first anniversary.

"A witch I once saved gave this to me," he'd explained, fastening the delicate chain around my wrist. "She said it would protect the wearer. I want you to have it."

I hadn't really believed in magical protection, still didn't, if I was being honest. But the way Eric's eyes had shone when he gave it to me, the careful way he'd secured the clasp... That was the real magic. Someone caring enough to want to keep me safe.

I shook my head, pushing away the old thoughts. That was the past. This , our little house, the smell of dinner cooking, the sound of Eric's key in the door any moment, this was my present. My future.

The phone rang.

I wiped my hands on my apron and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Luna?" Marcus's voice cracked on the word. He is Eric's beta.

My grip tightened on the phone. "Marcus? Why are you calling? Where's Eric?"

Silence. Then a sound that might have been a sob.

"Marcus?" My voice was sharper now, fear creeping up my throat like ice water. "What's happened? Where is he?"

"Luna, I..." His voice broke completely. "Alpha Eric... he wanted to get home to you early. The weather turned bad, but he insisted on taking the helicopter instead of waiting until morning."

No! The word screamed in my mind, but I couldn't voice it.

"The storm was worse than predicted. There was lightning, and the wind..." Marcus was crying now, harsh sobs that tore through the phone line. "The helicopter crashed, Luna. Alpha Eric is... he's gone."

The wine glass slipped from my numb fingers, shattering against the kitchen. The sound seemed to come from very far away.

"No." The word finally escaped, "No, that's not... he promised he'd come home. He promised we'd talk about the marking. He wouldn't leave me. He wouldn't—"

But Marcus was still talking, something about recovery efforts and funeral arrangements and pack protocol. The words washed over me like white noise as I slid down the kitchen cabinet to the floor, the phone falling from my grip.

He's gone.

The thought hit me, stealing what little breath I had left. Eric, my Eric was never coming home.

I stared at the shattered wine glass, watching my reflection fragment in the scattered pieces.

Why? The question tore from somewhere deep inside me, a scream that never made it past my lips. Goddess, why? Why give me something beautiful just to rip it away?

I'd lost everything once before. My family, my pack, my place in the world. But Eric... Eric had found me in the wreckage of my old life and somehow convinced me I was worth saving.

And now he's gone too.

I closed my eyes and let the memories wash over me, not just of Eric, but of everything that had led me here. The family who'd thrown me away like garbage. The years of wandering, of trying to find somewhere I belonged. The crushing loneliness that had nearly destroyed me before Eric's pack found me, broken and half-dead, on their territory.

How did I end up here? The thought was bitter, edged with the kind of despair I thought I'd left behind. How did I go from being abandoned by my own family to losing the only person who ever truly loved me?