-Maya’s POV-


    All day, I’d been trying my hardest to act normal around Ivan when we got to work but I had to figure out what the hell had happened so second the clock


    C0pyright ? 2024 N?v)(elDrama.Org.


    Natalia suggested we meet at a bar as I havee to realize that there was something absolutely wrong with my best friend.Thankfully, Ms. Edwards w


    though maybe “thankfully” wasn’t the right word. Sarah ended up grounded, which for her, was a fate worse than detention. To drown her


    sorrows, she craved ice cream, so here we were, at a brightly lit ice cream parlor that looked like it belonged in a cartoon, filled with overflowing bowls of


    Natalia frowned, her perfectly manicured nails scraping against the rim of her ice cream bowl. “Okay let me see if I understand this straight. It just vanish


    you even check for it before, like yesterday or something?”


    “The truth is, I hadn’t really even noticed if it was there or not. I don’t even know


    why I did this time, but something made me check, a sudden urge I couldn’t exin. And then…poof, it was gone, like it never even existed.”


    Riley, who had been unusually quiet the whole time, finally spoke up, her voice hesitant. “Hold on a sec, you guys. I’m a little lost here. How exactly doe


    to take s


    Natalia, Sarah, and I exchanged nces. Riley wasn’t a werewolf, so exining the intricacies of the mating bond was going to tak needed to break it d


    some time. We


    “Okay,” I started, taking a deep breath, “Imagine two wolves who are destined to be together, like soulmates you know? When they find each other, and t


    “A mark? Like a tattoo


    or


    something?” Riley asked again, her brow furrowed in confusion.


    “Not exactly,” Sarah chimed in, wiping a stray bit of chocte ice cream from her cheek. “It’s more like a birthmark, but it appears out of nowhere. It’s usu


    point of the mating mark is to create a connection between the two wolves. They be attuned to each other’s


    Natalia continued. The Dep


    emotions. They can feel what the other person is feeling, almost like they’re sharing the same mind.”


    “Whoa, that’s intense,” Riley muttered, her eyes wide with wonder. “So, basically, you can tell what the other person is feeling?”


    I nodded, “Pretty much. So Ivan marked me, I haven’t marked him back but it isn’t ground for the mark to just disappear. Mating marks don’t just disappe


    Silence stretched on, heavy and suffocating.


    ing. Each of us was lost in our own thoughts, grappling with the implications of the vanished mark. Suddenly, Natalia broke the stillness. “Hold on a minu


    coming back and then you don’t exactly know when it cleared off but it was there just before the g and


    during the g which only meant it must have disappeared after.”


    My eyes widened in understanding. “It was definitely there then and after the fight but I never checked after that.”


    A low murmur escaped Sarah’s lips. “Oh, Goddess.”


    Riley threw her hands up in exasperation. “What? What is happening?” she whisper–


    yelled, her voiceced with frustration. “You guys are talking in riddles! Exin this whole werewolf telepathic bond thing to me because I’mpletely l


    Taking a deep breath, I tried to piece it all together. “My wolf,” I said slowly, the dawning realization hitting me like a punch to the gut. “My wolf wiped off t


    As the words left my lips, I felt a presence bloom in the back of my mind, a familiar echo of my own thoughts and emotions and it felt like she’d been wai


    “What is wrong with you?” I demanded, the frustration bubbling inside me threatening to boil over.


    en dring


    There was a long pause, a sense of resistance in my head. Then, a defiant image flickered through my mind –


    my wolf, sitting with her shoulders puffed up in a nonchnt shrug. It only served to further fuel my annoyance.


    you clean it off?” I pressed, my voice tight with anger.


    “Why did


    Silence. She was ignoring


    1. me.


    “I’m talking to you!” I yelled in my head, my


    ice echoing in the emptiness. “And you better start answering me or else…”


    10:39


    “Or else what?” My wolf’s growl reverberated within my skull, raw and powerful.


    I clenched my jaw, the sound grating against my teeth. “Why did you take his mark away?” I repeated, forcing myself to stay calm. “Because he is not ou


    my blessing to mark us.”


    “Well, in case you forgot,” I ground out, my voiceced with bitterness, “our mate” – the word felt like a p in the face –


    “is an asshole who rejected us, Ivan is a good man.”


    “Or maybe you’re seeing what you want to see,” she shot back, her words like a twisted logic that only made me angrier.


    “What does that even mean?” I demanded, my head spinning with confusion. “Scratch that. You have no


    right toe back here after you left me for four straight years, turned your back on me only showing up when you felt like it, and now trying to control w


    “You seemed to be doing just fine without me, she echoed, her voice tinged with a bitter amusement. “I’ve only been fully back with you for a week now,


    “Alex is gone.” I growled, the memory of his rejection still a raw wound. “Now, return the mark to me.”


    There was a long beat of silence, thick and heavy with tension. Then, she did something unexpected. She turned away from me, a mental image of her b


    “You damn asshole!” I roared, the mental scream echoing in the emptiness of my head seeping into reality.


    The sudden outburst startled everyone at the table. Heads whipped around, eyes wide with surprise and confusion. A blush crept up my cheeks, burning


    “What just happened? Where did you just go?” Riley asked hesitantly..


    “My wolf is damn right annoying. That’s what happened,” I grumbled through gritted teeth. “She erased the mark and won’t give it back because Ivan is n


    Riley’s eyes widened in surprise. “So you can talk to your wolf?” she blurted out, her voiceced with wonder.


    Natalia chimed in with a knowing smile. “You are closer to your wolf than anyone else in the world, Riley. You’re two halves of a whole. So yeah, she und


    the silent treatment.


    Stuck between frustration


    and confusion, I mumbled the question hanging heavy in the air, “So what am I supposed to do? I can’t exactly tell Ivan my wolf doesn’t want him, that’s


    Sarah sighed, swirling her melted ice cream, “So what does she suggest you do?”


    A groan escaped my lips. I had no idea. It was only a matter of time before Ivan noticed the mark was gone. It was a miracle he hadn’t already. Just as d


    a rey of the moment Alex and I had imed each other as mates, the bond solidifying with a glowing mark. Then, a single word echoed in my head, g


    The connection mmed shut again, leaving me with a chilling realization. Two things were crystal clear. One, my wolf was definitely back, and judging b


    well,