Page 56 of Blood Marked

When he pulled back, his voice was hoarse.

“Goodnight, Selene.”

She stood there long after he left. Because that kiss wasn’t an apology. It waspermission.

To hope.

To fight back.

For once, Selene didn’t have a hard time falling asleep.

But then, in the darkness of the room, of the citadel, she jolted.

She didn’t know what woke her.

Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was the Mark, humming just beneath her skin.

But she sat up in bed without knowing why—her body tensing, heart racing.

Then the windows exploded inward.

Glass shattered. Wind howled. And something dark, fast, and snarling slammed through her balcony like a blade through silk.

Shifters. Not Fenrir.Rogues.

She was already moving.

Barefoot, nightgown whipping around her legs, Selene grabbed the dagger hidden under her pillow—a gift from Nyra, “just in case.”

Two of them dropped into her room. One was massive, eyes glowing gold. The other was lean, wiry, already half-shifted.

Selene didn’t hesitate.

She slashed out, fast, wild, silver catching the edge of the lean one’s cheek. He reeled, but the larger one lunged.

She ducked, rolled, kicked at his legs. Her heel caught bone. He grunted but didn’t fall.

She made it to the door,locked.

A third attacker dropped from the rafters.

Too fast.

Too strong.

They surrounded her.

This was it. They were going to kill her. She closed her eyes, pulse screaming in her ears. But then—somethingshifted. Not in the room.

Inher.

The Mark on her shoulder burned so violently she screamed.

It wasn’t pain.

It wasawakening.

The worldbent.Timepaused.For a moment, Selene stood between seconds.

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