3 MARKED

Dianne had to climb back to her room through the window. She collapsed heavily on her bed, totally drained; not only from her run, more so from the effort it took to resist her urges. . .

Dianne tried to get up, to go soak in cold water; it would soothe her, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

She lay in bed thinking she had forgotten something important, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Dianne was soon asleep.

She awoke before dawn, shivering violently. Her temperature was quite high. She managed to get out of bed and got herself a bottle of water. After swallowing the pills she had gotten from the pack doctor, Dianne laid back down on her bed.

The pills were something developed by the pack doctor to lessen the effects of one's heat. It did assuage one's craving, but not for very long.

Dianne fell asleep again.

Tawny blonde hair stuck to sweat covered, but fair skin. Her limbs ached, but it was like Dianne didn't notice.

Because Dianne had finally remembered what she had forgotten last night. He had seen her shift, Tristan had seen her shift into a wolf. She hurriedly sat up, ignoring her protesting body.

The Lycanthrope- better known as werewolves, have had a secret existence for centuries. It was unknown how exactly they came to be; there were many variations of the truth.

Some believed the werewolf was as a result of evolution, even mutation. While others believed that a human was cursed with Lycanthropy: the ability to turn into a wolf every full moon, whilst still retaining human intelligence.

Despite the controversy regarding the Lycanthrope's origin, the one certain thing was the need to keep their existence a secret from humanity. It was absolutely forbidden for anyone to reveal the existence of the Lycanthrope.

If anyone did expose their identity to a human; the punishment for the human would be death. The punishment for the werewolf usually varied: it depended on the circumstances, but the worse punishment was banishment from the pack, forced to go rogue. There were exceptions of course, that of when a werewolf had a human mate. Human mates were quite rare, but their were rules in case one had a human mate. Some requirements had to be met.

Dianne's college was quite close to her pack's territory. Although the humans were greater in number, there were quite a number of werewolves in the college. And if anyone got wind of her exposing her identity, Tristan's life could very well be in danger.

Dianne had to find him now. She had to find him before he told anyone, before he exposed himself to danger.

She quickly got out of bed and freshened up. She took the shortest shower ever, making sure to use scent masking soap.

Just like regular wolves, female werewolves had heat cycles, in which they had a very compelling desire to mate. It would be like being under the effects of an aphrodisiac, one would feel immense torture unless assuaged by their mate. It usually occured four to five times a year; depending on the person, and lasted for about a week. When in heat, a female emits a stronger scent which any unmated male werewolf would find tempting and totally irresistible.

Usually during heat, a female would be kept far away from other males, apart from her mate.

Ideally, Dianne shouldn't be going into school, especially when people would be roaming about. But Dianne was too anxious to sit and think things through.

Dianne zipped up her hoodie and went out, she was covered from head to toe. She had taken every precaution she could think of.

But life was too unpredictable, not even Dianne could predict the events that would occur.

It was a breezy autumn day, the beautiful coloured leaves dancing with the wind, students milling about, all dressed for the cold. They walked around, each going for their respective lectures, all except Dianne, who was going to Tristan's office.

She walked alertly, making sure not to get too close to any male werewolf. The scent masking soap wasn't exactly a 100% effective on werewolves.

Dianne trudged on, feeling relieved because she was almost there, and she hadn't met with any mishap.

But as luck would have it, she did meet with a mishap, despite her being alert and wary.

As Dianne turned a corner, someone bumped into her causing her to stumble backwards from the force. A long arm grasped hers, preventing her from falling. But instead of letting her go, that person pushed her against the wall.

Dianne hissed in pain, when her back made contact with the wall.

"What do you think you're doing?"

She looked up. She could tell he was a werewolf at first glance, him sniffing her and the changing colour of his eyes just confirmed it. Dianne felt her heart sinking, she tried to move away but there was nowhere to go. His hand still held hers in a tight grasp and his other hand slid to her waist, holding her in place.

"You smell amazing," his head dipped to her neck breathing in her scent.

She pushed against his chest, desperate to get away, but he didn't even budge. Her eyes welled up with tears when his tongue made contact with her skin, ravaging her. She struggled vehemently, clamoring for help, the knot in her chest tightening.

Rip

Her hoodie was torn leaving her in a black vest. His hand roamed over her body as she cried out in despair. She continued struggling, hoping desperately for someone to come to her aid.

Dianne felt the urge to throw up, she felt repulsed and even felt disgusted with her own body.

Help came in the form of a tall and very muscular guy, but even he wasn't enough to pull her assaulter from Dianne. Seeing the situation, he called several other guys to help; thankfully all humans.

Her assaulter growled menacingly and struggled against them. While Dianne on the other hand, ran away as soon as she got the chance, not even bothering to thank her rescuers.

She didn't get far.

The noise had alerted Tristan, whose office was nearby. Taking in Dianne's disheveled state, and the scene of her growling and still struggling assaulter being held back by ten guys, Tristan quickly surmised what had happened.

He barked at the gathered spectating students to get back to their various classes before pulling Dianne with him, but not before removing his coat and putting it on her. The still trembling Dianne made sure to stay close to him as he walked with fast strides to his office.

Once inside, Tristan locked the door before turning to look at the girl clutching tightly at his coat. Her deathly pale face, her shaking form and wet eyes all gave off the image of a defenseless and vulnerable girl, which invoked a strong desire to protect.

Tristan took a step towards her when he heard her sniffle, but he stopped his movements immediately upon seeing her subconsciously take a step back after noticing his approach. He sighed helplessly and did not approach her anymore. He poured her a glass of water, and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. He stepped backwards afterwards.

Dianne let out a sigh of relief when he moved away, she could hardly keep herself from pouncing on him. She took the glass of water and drank it all in one go.

Dianne's room back at the packhouse was sort of in an isolated area where no one frequented, so she was relatively safe during her heat. And she would always keep herself holed up in the dormitories if she were in school, coincidentally she had never had a roommate. An incident like this one had never happened to her before, naturally, she was a bit shaken. Being in the presence of her mate helped calm her down considerably.

But then her heart rate spiked for a whole different reason. Dianne had taken precaution against other wolves- which had turned out to not be so reliable after all, but she had totally forgotten about her mate. What had made her think she would be able to calmly have a conversation with him without her given in to her cravings?

No, she hadn't been thinking at all.

Dianne knew she had very strong self-control, but even the strongest of willpower would break under the pressure of the mate bond, and everything was amplified because of her heat.

Her eyes were tightly shut; as though not seeing him would stop her from thinking about him, but the office was filled with his scent. Dianne breathed in deeply, unable to stop herself. Her hands were clenched into fists, her extended claws punctured skin, but Dianne didn't feel the pain nor did she notice the blood dripping on the floor.

But Tristan did.

The sight of blood startled him into action. He was beside her in seconds, uncurling her hands and wiping the blood from them.

"What do you think you're trying to do?" He asked harshly.

All strength seemed to leave Dianne the moment she felt his touch. She fell against him, a small purr like sound leaving her lips.

Tristan turned rigid.

He had to use his hands to hold her up, "Are you alright?"

He was intoxicated by the soft rosy fragrance coming from the girl in his embrace, it lit a fire in him. It started with a flicker, but the feel of the soft body pressed against him, the roaming hands, all seemed to add fire to the flames. Any semblance of rationality left him, it was just the two of them.

Their lips sought each other's in a fervid kiss, greedy hands exploring one another. Dianne thought; this was what heaven would feel like. Everything was misty, as if it were a dream.

Her movements were guided by pure instinct..

It was instinct that made her break away from their kiss, and it was that same primal instinct that made her canines extend and pierce into his skin; the point where his neck met his shoulders.

It was too late by the time Dianne realized what she doing, he had already been marked. She hurriedly stepped back, appalled by what she had allowed herself to do. That action of hers managed to bring them both out of their trance. Dianne watched as his cerulean eyes gained clarity, and then his features morphed into horror.

"Sorry," Dianne said. Even though no amount of apologies would be able to take back what she had done.

She said the last part to herself before she fled.