Page 201 of Unmarked

“Lucian,” I say evenly. “We need to talk.”

His spine goes even straighter, like that’s physically possible. He breathes in like the air might disagree with him, then - finally - turns.

“Aboutwhat?”

“The others are in the sitting room. We need to figure out next steps.”

He gives a clipped nod like he’s doing me a favor. We walk together, but not side by side.

I’m just close enough to count as company, not close enough to catch whatever emotional plague he's warding off.

Kai’s already in the sitting room, barefoot and shirtless, spinning a throw pillow in the air like he's trying to decide whether to toss it or hump it. Ash sits in the corner like he’s seconds from issuing commands to invisible troops.

The second Lucian steps in, the temperature drops three degrees.

“She’s asleep,” I say, without preamble. “But the worst of the heat’s passed.”

Lucian leans against the far wall like it personally offended him. “Talk.”

“She told me everything.”

Kai stops mid-spin. “Defineeverything.”

"Confirmed it all - mostly what we’d already suspected. She’s unregistered. Been on black-market suppressants since she was eighteen. She planned to live out her life as a beta."

Ash’s jaw clenches. “Black-market suppressants?”

“Every day,” I nod. “No breaks. No variance. She planned to fake being a beta forever.”

Lucian’s eyes narrow. “That explains a lot.”

“She never learned how to handle a heat cycle because she never planned on having one,” I continue. “She didn’twantto. She wasn’t just hiding - she was building a life designed to bury what she was. Her heat wasn’t just surprise - it was a complete biological jailbreak.”

“She said all this?” Lucian asks, tone clipped.

Ash’s brow furrows. "Why?"

“Because her mother was killed by a jealous Alpha,” I answer. “She learned early that being wanted isn’t always safe. So she made herself invisible.”

Kai blows out a breath. "Well, now I feel like a dick."

"You usuallyare," Lucian sneers.

“Do you practice that in the mirror?” Kai deadpans. “Because your insults are starting to sound like rejected Batman dialogue.”

“Not the time,” I cut in. “She’s scared. About the OMB, about what it means to be bonded to four alphas, about being…this.”

Kai’s brows lift. “This?”

“She’s not normal,” I say, and Lucian’s eye twitches like I just insulted his bone structure. “She scent-bonded all of us in a single cycle. That doesn’t happen.”

"It’s not supposed to be possible,” Lucian says, the frustration in him audible. “It doesn’t make sense.Not unless you’re a walking biological anomaly.”

“She called it static,” I say, forcing myself to stay calm, to stayrational. “That hum? That’s a multi-bond. She’s tethered to four alphas. That doesn’t happen unless -”

“She’s a Rare-pack Omega,” Ash finishes.

The words land with a thud.

---