The Mark Of Fate (The Mark Series) Read online

  “Fergus, I understand what you are saying, but it can’t possibly be real! I can’t accept this,” In the middle of my slightly panicked state my stomach decides at that moment to grumble.

  “On that note and sound, I will have someone bring you food to your room,” Cillian pauses, making sure my attention is on him, and when he is sure that it is, which makes me shiver with the attention he continues.

  “I would like to announce at the Pack dinner here in a few weeks that we are mates,” I go to cut him off but he holds up his hand.

  “I know you might be uncomfortable with that, but with this announced all males will know that you are claimed. Though unmated, but claimed they will not touch you in any sort of manner that will bring up a fight between them and I,” he pauses.

  “Because I'm telling you, little bird, that if I see anyone touching you in a way only meant for me, i will tear their throats out,” his voice a growl as he finishes.

  The tone of his voice leaves no room for argument and, although i know i should be completely livid at the fact that he has just claimed me. Even though we don’t even know each other; liquid heat pools low in my stomach, and I fight the urge to rub my thighs together to relieve the pressure building.

  I swallow past the thick lump in my throat and just nod at him, completely enraptured by his voice and the warmth I can feel from his body just from here… Snap out of it Niamh, I curse myself in my head.

  “Cillian, Niamh, there is something you must know… Royal’s always have more than one destined mate,” Fergus cuts in, bringing me out of my thoughts.

  Shaking free from the thoughts running through my head, I look back up at Fergus. The information swirling in my brain, while I try to process all of it. Deciding to think about that later, I look back over to Cillian.

  “You may announce your claim at pack dinner, and if you feel it necessary, then at that time you may announce that I am the last Royal and have more than one destined mate. Now with this power I'm supposed to have, I would like to do a trial run to see if this is even real,” I tell him. He looks taken aback for a moment but quickly recovers, and nods at me.

  “Niamh, there is the other issue…” he pauses, waiting for my attention. I look over at him and nod for him to continue. He clears his throat, and begins.

  “Niamh, your father used to be Alpha of this pack. You were born here.” I cut him off.

  “Hold up? What?!” I nearly shriek. My heart pounds erratically in my chest, but he continues calmly.

  “You grew up here until you were around 9. Your parents were worried about your safety, so they anointed me Alpha of Adare Pack and went into hiding with you,” he pauses to cough again and Cillian gives him a cup filled with water.

  “The fact that your tracks through the forest to here lead back to the River Maigue Pack is a pressing concern, your memories of your time here before leading up as a second most pressing concern…. Can you tell me how you ended up at River Maigue Pack? And the most pressing, where are your parents?” Fergus asks me.

  I take in a deep breath, and close my eyes. The memories that i have are only my parents murder and after that up until now… just thinking about those memories has me gasping for air.

  I feel a hand take mine and then a gasp. Im shoved into the memories starting with my parents murder. And this time, its like im actually there.

  “Niamh, you need to go and hide, now!” my mother tells me sternly. I see the panic and fear in her eyes and she smiles at me, but I can tell its forced. “Mommy, what's going on?” I ask her, clutching my teddy bear to my chest.

  I look up at her, and she brushes a strand of my blonde hair behind my ear.

  “Everything is going to be alright my little wolf. You just need to go and hide, we’ll make it a game okay? You go hide, and no matter what happens or what you hear, you stay quiet, and stay hidden. If no one finds you, you’ve won. Now go to your favorite hiding spot sweetheart,” she tells me. I nod, and rush off.

  I rush up the stairs, and into the hidden room i found. This room is how i’ve always won my hide and seek games with mommy and daddy. I smile at the fact that i know i will win again, and stay completely quiet. But I don't hear mommy counting, or daddy telling me he’s going to find me.

  All is silent, and then i hear mommy screaming. My body starts trembling, but i remember mommy telling me to stay hidden and stay quiet, no matter what. So i do. Time seems to fast forward as I sit there in my hidey hole; and the screams and yelling go silent.

  As do the footsteps stomping around the house. I wait for what seems like forever, until the sunlight streaming through the cracks in my hidey spot disappear and I crawl out from where I was hiding.

  Remembering that mommy told me to be quiet, I let my footsteps be silent, and I walk through the house, searching for mommy and daddy. The first hallway by the stairs leading to the living room is covered in broken pieces of furniture, and picture frames.

  The first thing I smell is the blood, and mommy and daddy’s scent. My little heart pounding, I rush towards the smell and find mommy on the living room floor, clutching at her stomach. Tears pour down my face and as i choke on a sob, mommy looks up at me.

  “Niamh.. Come here.. My little.. Wolf,” she tells me. I slowly walk towards her, and reach for her hand she has held out to me, my other hand gripping my teddy bear tightly.

  “Mommy..” I break off on a sob.

  My mother gently but weakly caresses my cheek before she looks me directly in the eyes. “Survive Niamh, promise me you’ll… do.. Whatever it takes to.. Survive,” She wheezes out.

  My eyes turn to steel as i know i need to promise this to my mom, so she can let go and move on. Even though I don't want her to. I take her hand and press it to my cheek.

  “I promise momma.” I tell her. She smiles at me one last time, before her final breath leaves her and the light fades from her eyes. One last tear falls down my cheek, as I sit there on my knees, holding her limp hand.

  I return from the memory with a gasp, my heart pounding, and tears streaming down my face. I close my eyes, and try to center myself. Then i hear a sob. My eyes pop open and both Cillian, and his father Fergus have tears streaming down their face, holding both of my hands.

  I gently remove my hands from theirs and wipe my tears away. “What the hell just happened?” I ask, my voice hoarse as if I had been screaming. Cillian takes in a deep shuddering breath and Fergus tries to still his shaking hands.

  “I believe you just shared your memory of your mother's death with us…. It was a legend that the Royal’s could do that, but now we know that it is true... “ he pauses and looks up at me, tears falling from his eyes.

  “My dear, I am so sorry…” he trails off, knowing that nothing he could say could repair the damage of having to see my mother die in front of my eyes at 10 years old. I smile shakily at him, nodding. Nothing I could say would help him either at having to see that.

  “Little bird..” Cillian goes to speak.

  Clearing my throat, I look over at Fergus still sitting in the other armchair, smiling at us with sadness. I shake my head at him and speak.

  “I don’t know how I ended up at River Maigue Pack, whenever I try to think back to that… The only memories I have is the one you just saw, and then it just flashes forward to being at River Maigue Pack a few years later. I just assumed it was trauma doing that to my brain, but lately I’ve become convinced that somehow someone messed with my memories…” I trail off, realizing that sounds absolutely crazy, and that I am also rambling.

  Fergus clears his throat. “Niamh, some witches than can do a spell like that… A spell to remove memories. But the question we need to ask ourselves… Is why and who? Why would someone remove memories from your brain, and who did so?” Fergus says.

  I rub my temples with the tips of my fingers, trying to disperse the aching that has started. The aching always starts when I try to remember the memories I seem to be missing.

  The longer I th
ink about it, the more it starts to hurt. At least I know that I’m not crazy, but that just sends me back to what Fergus just said. Why and who?

  The questions and suspicions fly back and forth through my brain, and the pain starts to increase. I grip my head in my hands and try to think of something else, anything else to get the pain to go away.

  A warm hand touches my shoulder and it distracts me enough to make the pain recede. I glance up and see Cillian looking down at me. My breath catches in my throat and I watch his eyes rove over my face concern etched in his.

  “Are you okay?” he asks, his tone soft. I swallow roughly from the attention and then clear my throat and nod.

  “Yes, it's just that… that every time I try to think about the memories I’m missing… My head pounds in pain.” I confess to him. His eyebrows furrowed together in further concern and he glances over at his father.

  “Is that normal? If it is a spell done by a witch, is it normal that she feels pain when trying to remember?” he asks him. Fergus rubs his chin thoughtfully and then nods.

  “Yes, it is in fact very normal,” he pauses, clears his throat and then continues after looking at me.

  “Our family has a witch that helps out from time to time. She was actually best friends with your mother Niamh, so we need to call her and update her on what happened to your mother anyhow…” he trailed off, realizing that, that particular subject is a sore spot for me.

  Looking down at the ground, I nod in understanding. “You want to bring this witch in to see if she can remove the spell that is hiding my memories.” I stated as fact, but he nods his head in confirmation anyhow.

  My hands start shaking from my anxiety, but I clench them into fists.

  “Okay, so what we need to do first is recover your memories. It is most likely why you haven’t marked anyone to find their mate yet. And there is a lot that you need to learn. How it works, the process and the ritual of it.” Fergus tells me.

  A thought pops into my head, and before I can second guess myself I ask the question. “You said Royal’s have more than one mate… Since I only remember one father, where are the others that my mother was supposed to mate with?”

  Fergus looks uncomfortable but answers anyhow. “Your mother’s other mates are scattered around here in Ireland. When your mother decided it was best to go into hiding, she didn't want all of you together… It would have been easier to track that power.”

  “So you’re mother sent them to different locations… Besides me, your mother is the only one who knows… knew where they are,” he pauses, then looks back up at me.

  “You need to know something Niamh… Every Royal has more than one destined mate, so with that said because of politics and what not, it is found throughout history and experience with your mother that we know that each of your mates will be a different species,” he stops to take a drink of water and watch cautiously for my reaction.

  Surprisingly, this information doesn’t bother me. It feels… Right. I shake away those thoughts.

  “So, what species are my mates going to be?” I ask him. He rubs a hand down his face and rubbed his temples.

  “From what we know, you will have 5 mates, werewolf, vampire, fae, mermaid and last but not least, angel. What your mother was taught, was that your mates are different species because it is supposed to bring balance and peace to Supernatural kind,”

  “That since you have a mate with each species, you are not going to be judgemental nor will you ignore one species in favor of another.” he explains to me.

  I nod, trying to wrap my brain around this. I need time to process all of this, but first we need to discuss what we are going to do first. I look up at Cillian and then his father and run a hand through my hair. Well, this got really serious, very fast. I chuckle and run a hand down my face.

  “Alright, so the first thing we are going to do is get this witch you know, to see if she can remove the spell blocking my memories, correct?” I ask. Fergus nods so I continue.

  “Okay, the second thing we are going to do is go find my mother’s other mates, and bring them back here. They would know more about what is happening and help me through it, not to mention they might know what happened to my memories and how to recover them in case your witch can’t.” I tell them.

  Cillian nods and then clears his throat. “Niamh, I know you just found we were mates, but before your mother left with you… I knew that you were my mate,” I cut him off with just a raise of my hand. I look deep into his eyes, but before I can fall into the depths of his eyes, I speak.

  “I don’t mean to be rude Cillian, but I need time to process everything before more gets thrown my way,” I pause, and swallow past the lump in my throat.

  “I’m going to get cleaned up… When will dinner arrive at my room?” Fergus opens his mouth to speak but Cillian beats him to it.

  “I will have one of our wolves that work in the kitchen come bring you some food,” I look back at Cillian and bite back a chuckle. He looks positively flustered that i asked his father the question and not him.

  Well he is in for a big surprise. I've had to learn the hard way to rely only on myself. It will be a cold day in hell before anyone changes that.

  “Before you go, there will be a pack ranking at the pack dinner for you. It is most different than what i am sure you are used to, but I will give instructions at that point in time. This pack ranking will determine where your dominance, and pack ranking is in the pack without the violence and bloodshed.” Cillian tells me. I give him a curt nod and walk out of the room.

  Chapter 3

  Visions

  3 weeks later

  Niamh

  Finding my room was quite hard in this monstrous house, but I finally did. I sink down onto the mattress and lie down, letting my muscles and body relax. I know I need to take a shower, but now that I'm lying down I can’t quite gather the energy to get back up.

  I’m bone tired, and even though I'm relaxing, my muscles still ache from another workout this morning. Though I know I need to workout and exercise for my healing to speed up, it always hurts like a bitch.

  Sighing, I close my eyes and think of Cillian. I don’t even know him, but the feeling I got when I touched him… Jesus. It wasn’t just physical either. The warmth invaded my heart, and has left me feeling vulnerable and too.. Open.

  I’ve been watching him from the shadows these past 3 weeks, how he moves, his smile, reading him and learning his personality. But to be honest, I believe I won’t truly know Cillian until he lets me in. Where I will be able to know him fully… Know the deepest parts he hides within himself where no one can see.

  Everytime I watch him, I find myself drawn to him even more than I was before. And my wolf howls in my mind and soul for her mate, sorrow and heart aching at the distance between us.

  I’ve worked years to close myself off from my emotions so I could survive the beatings I received, and all in one fell swoop he broke down that impenetrable wall I had put up.

  To be honest, it unnerves me that he was able to do that…. What else is he going to be able to do? That's the ultimate question.. And I’m not sure I want to find out the answer to that.

  Not to mention, that I’m going to have other mates that will most likely do the same… Damn, what the hell am I going to do? I chuckle and shake my head. What i always do, survive and make a joke here and there.

  There’s a knock on my door, and I gingerly get up to answer, but find my muscles protesting more than they should. I grunt in pain and the knock comes again.

  “Niamh, are you okay?” I hear Cillian ask. I go to answer but as I try to push myself up into a sitting position, pain radiates from the knife wound that Crónán gave me.

  I gasp in pain, and a shout comes out that I couldn't hold back. Black spots dance in my vision and I fall back to where I was lying on the bed.

  I grip my skin where the wound is, and hunch over, trying to fight the pain overwhelming me. I hear the door fly off its
hinges but i can’t pull my head up to see who it is.

  “Niamh!” I hear Cillian yell. I grunt in response and then warmth fills me through his touch. The warmth fights the pain, but I can hardly breathe. “More,” i gasp out. I force my head up to look up at him.

  I find his bright green eyes looking at me in confusion. “She needs more of your touch Cillian. Touching your Mate when you are injured pushes away the pain and heals your injuries faster,” i hear Fergus say from the doorway.

  I ignore Fergus and grip Cillian’s hand. “Please,” I ask him. He nods, his mouth agape. I pull his hand to my wound on my side, right above my left hip. The minute his hand lands there, my back arches and I gasp in relief.

  Heaving breaths, I focus on trying to relax my body. After a few minutes of complete relaxation, I feel Cillian push my hair back from my forehead. My eyes pop open, and catch his watching me.