(POV - Marcus)

His entire body pulsed with bloodlust, threatening to hand him over to his baser instincts.

"You have no claim over Aria," Marcus growled into the receiver, low, deadly, his body burning with malice. "You never have."

Aiden growled in response and Marcus cut him off before he could say a word.

"I suggest you make sure you're clear of her because I'm coming to take her," Marcus warned. "And if I see your face, if I so much as smell you on her, I'm going to rip your spine out through your mouth and wear it as a fucking boa."

"I dare you to take my true mate from me," Aiden taunted, and Marcus faltered.

Had Aria let that Alpha pup mark her? Would she have let his filthy hands anywhere near her, allowed him to mark her after promising Marcus she was breaking things off with Aiden once and for all?

"Aiden, please stop this," Aria begged, her voice faint but audible enough for Marcus to hear in the background of the call. She sounded scared and tired, and Marcus felt his rage crescendo. Without another word, he got to his feet and smashed his phone on the ground, seething.

How dare he. How dare that pathetic pup touch her. After everything he'd done to Aria, after all the pain he'd caused, all the thoughts he'd put into her head that she somehow wasn't good enough, how dare he lay his hands on her.

Marcus paced in his office, eyes wild and heart racing. He knew he needed to calm himself down before he left, because if he left with the weight of homicide on his mind, there was no doubt that he would kill through that pack to get to Aria and bring her back.

"Think," he said out loud, lips pulled back in a vicious snarl. "Focus."

He let images of Aria's smile fill his mind, flicking through each memory like a channel and letting it soak up the bloodlust dripping off his every thought. But it only reminded him that Aria was with that little prick, crying and God knows what else, and he found himself at the door of his office in the blink of an eye.

He tore the door off, the hinges creaking in protest, and stalked into the hallway.

"JADEN," he roared, scaring the living hell out of the wolves who had been mingling in the common areas. "MERCUCIO!"

They both appeared at the same time, in an instant, their faces set and eyes wary.

"What's going on?" Jaden murmured, following Marcus out into the yard outside. "Marc, hey, did she call you?"

"No," he growled, shaking Jaden's hand off. "I called her. We're leaving. Right now."

"Yes, Alpha," Mercucio cut in, his submission easing the harsh edge of Marcus' fury. "Is she okay?"

"I don't-" Marcus paused, his hesitance making him falter again.

"I don't know. But I'm not waiting around here to find out. I want her back here."

He marched into the line of trees without looking back to see if they were following him. He didn't need to, though. He knew they'd follow him to the ends of the Earth.

"Round up your best," Marcus said, addressing Mercucio, who nodded and disappeared. "Let Inara know that we're leaving early, and make sure she's ready for anything."

Jaden nodded as well and left. Marcus came to a stop in a small clearing near a creek, the sound of the trickling stream lost in the roar of blood in his ears. His wolf demanded to be let out. He wanted to end Aiden for touching Aria, for thinking he had any right to her, any right to claim her.

Marcus wasn't stupid. He may have been neck deep in his rut when he first met Aria, but he remembered the look of desolation that crossed her face far too often. He knew what Aiden's rejection had done to her, and he knew that there had been more that Aria hadn't been ready to share with him just yet, and that only served to fuel his anger.

Aiden was the reason that Aria couldn't believe in love. In the week after Marcus had brought her back from the banquet, she'd slowly opened up and told him about Aiden and how she ended up at a sex club in the first place.

To say that Marcus had been furious would be an understatement. He'd been nothing short of livid. He'd masked it well enough that Aria hadn't suspected it, but it was a bitter pill to swallow when he faced the reality that he had only found Aria because Aiden had driven her away.

It had made him wonder what might have happened to him if Aiden had accepted Aria as his true mate.

Would he have finally lost his mind during his last rut? Would he have killed one of his packmates? Maybe more? Perhaps he would have given in and turned to Inara for help, but it was unlikely. He couldn't believe he'd been so broken, so stubborn, that he would have risked the lives of the people he was supposed to protect, just because he couldn't deal with the grief of losing his mate and their son.

Amidst his dark musings, he berated himself for not calling Aria sooner. He might have been able to talk to her without Aiden interrupting, and he would have been able to find out exactly what had happened to her. He would have been able to leave knowing exactly what form of cruelties he would inflict on Aiden for what he'd done. As it was, he was still mulling the possibilities over when Jaden returned, keeping his distance and lowering his head.

"Inara is prepared," Jaden informed him. "She and her team are ready and have already left the packhouse to be stationed at the border points."

Marcus nodded stiffly, turning back to wait for Mercucio and his men.

"Marc," Jaden called out quietly. "Please tell me what happened in there."

Marcus squeezed his eyes shut and grunted, pinching the bridge of his nose in an effort to lower his heart rate and calm his breathing.

"I called her," he murmured, not needing to speak any louder. Not really wanting to either. "And when she answered, she was crying. I asked her if she was okay and if that fucker had hurt her, but he took the phone from her."

Jaden growled, a knee jerk reaction. Marcus felt the same way.

"And he dared me to take her from him," Marcus snarled, the fury bubbling in his veins. "He dared me to take his mate away."

"His mate?" Jaden asked, sounding just as confused as Marcus felt. "The hell does that mean, did he mark her?"

"I don't know," Marcus admitted, running a shaking hand through his hair. "But I heard the way she begged him to stop. And the way she apologized to me like... like she hadn't had a choice in the matter either way."

"If he marked her against her will, Marc," Jaden breathed, his scent twisting and turning cold. "Most of the other packs would stand by your decision to kill him. The older packs would contest it, but if you kill him outside of an official challenge, there are ways you're protected."

"At this point, I don't care what the other packs think of my decisions," Marcus growled. "If they want to make outcasts of my pack, that's their problem. I won't be lenient when they come crawling back, feeling sorry for themselves."

Marcus knew he was being arrogant, but his pack was among the most revered, not only for the line of powerful Alphas that had led it, but because Marcus had been a crucial part of drafting treaties between warring packs. His mediation had stopped countless deaths, something that his predecessors and the older packs had failed to do.

"Point taken," Jaden conceded. "So what's the plan?"

Good question.

For Marcus, he had only one objective, a two-part goal: kill Aiden and bring Aria home. Everything else was collateral in his mind. Whether or not he and his wolves would have to put Aiden's warriors down was irrelevant. Marcus only cared about Aria and her safety.

And Aria's safety just so happened to hinge, in his mind, on Aiden's ability to breathe, something that Marcus would very much like to take from him.

"We're going in with the sole objective of getting her out," Marcus said. "We do not attack, and we do not initiate. Our wolves are stronger and more experienced, while Aiden's will be on edge. They won't take kindly to an Alpha who is inconsistent at the best of times. You and Mercucio will come with me, and the rest will stay at the border. If things happen to go south, we can handle it until they arrive."

"Okay," Jaden said, nodding along. "We're going in on the defensive. I can live with that."

"Would you have preferred we go in guns blazing?"

"Yeah," Jaden laughed, sounding far too serious. "That's the future Luna he's threatening. I've killed wolves for far less than that."

"I know," Marcus said, grateful for his Beta. "I just want her back."

Jaden nodded, chewing on the inside of his cheek again.

"You have more to say," Marcus noted, with a grin. "Spit it out."

"What if he has marked her?" Jaden asked, his voice barely audible just then. Marcus looked back at Jaden, sensing his foreboding.

"It's still her decision," he murmured. "She chooses, and I'll respect that choice. Even if it kills me."

***

Wow!!! 16k reads. I'm literally crying. Thank you so much. I appreciate each one of your efforts. Love you!!!