Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by his Brother
Chapter 167: _ How Could You Bear His Mark?!

Chapter 167: _ How Could You Bear His Mark?!

Rosa’s fingers brushed against my scarf, and I flinched so hard it was as if she had set fire to my skin.

For a moment, she didn’t react. Just stood there, tilting her head ever so slightly, like a cat toying with its prey. Then, slowly, it made my stomach churn.

Her lips curled into a sinister smirk.

She had seen it. The mark. Of course, she must have. I should have known when she stood behind my door that she would have used her elevated hearing to eavesdrop on us.

Panic surged through me like lightning striking the same spot twice. I jumped forward, trying to yank the scarf back over my neck, but Rosa was faster. Her grip clamped around my wrists like an iron shackle, pinning them in place.

"Ah-ah," she tutted, shaking her head as though I were a disobedient child. "Now, why would you want to hide something so... scandalous?"

I thrashed against her hold, but it was useless. Rosa was stronger, fueled by her fury and whatever twisted pleasure she got from watching me squirm.

"Let go," I hissed, my voice rasping from the earlier choking.

"Why? So you can pretend this never happened?" She yanked me closer until I could see the glint in her eyes. "I already overheard everything, María José. Everything."

I clenched my jaw, refusing to whimper. I had given her enough satisfaction tonight.

"Leave me alone, Rosa," I warned, struggling to blink as one of my eyelids was already swollen and bruised.

Her eyes gleamed with triumph. "Oh, you stupid, wolfless little thing." She released me suddenly, only to take a step back and snap her fingers.

The maids lurking in the hallway flinched at the sound, their eyes darting between us. Just a little snap of Rosa’s fingers was enough to make them squirm.

"All of you, out," Rosa ordered in a voice that was as sharp as a whip. "Not a word of this to anyone."

The maids scrambled away as if the devil himself was on their heels, shutting the door behind them with a heavy thud.

And then, it was just the two of us.

Alone. With nowhere for me to run.

I swallowed hard, pulse hammering against my throat.

Rosa turned back to me, tilting her head, the amusement in her eyes becoming something uglier and darker.

"I heard everything," she murmured again, sighing like it was a little piece of work that needed taking care of.

The room began to tilt, and I was dizzy. Was this the highlight of my life?

Was this how I’d end up until old age? Someone needed to do something real quick. I had thought Axel was the one, but I was wrong.

Who exactly was my... savior?

My stomach twisted into a violent knot.

Rosa sighed dramatically, running her fingers through her hair. "Oh hermana, I heard the way you were begging him to come take you. How you whined about your precious little kiss." She pouted mockingly. "How he marked you." Her eyes snapped to mine, and the malice in them sent ice down my spine. "Like you were his to mark."

I clenched my fists, breathing through my nose and trying to steady the roaring panic in my chest.

She leaned in and her breath was warm against my ear. "You’re pathetic," she whispered. "A desperate, wolfless Omega trying to sink her claws into something she doesn’t deserve."

I turned my face away, refusing to let her see the way my throat burned with unshed tears.

I wouldn’t cry. Not in front of her. Not for him.

Her fingers wrapped around my jaw, nails digging into my skin as she yanked my face forward.

"Look at me when I’m talking to you," she seethed.

I was about to tell her to go have him for all I care when I felt a sharp, blinding pain slashing across my face.

For a second, I didn’t understand what had happened. What I heard at first was a crackling sound that echoed in my ears, and something warm splattering against my skin.

Blood and it was mine.

My vision blurred as my knees wobbled. My hands shot up to my cheek, but Rosa snatched my wrist midair, holding it in a bruising grip.

She... she just slashed my face. She just scarred me on the face. My beauty—it was all I had now. Now...

I gasped. "What did you..."

"You don’t listen," she hissed. "You never listen."

The scent of blood filled the air as it gushed out of me. A slow, burning sensation crawled across my cheek, and then the pain exploded.

I staggered as the room spun even faster now. Oh, by the Moon, she... she had slashed me.

With her fangs.

She had marked me.

Not in the way Axel had, not in a way that signified anything other than pure, seething hatred.

"You think you can take my place?" Rosa spat. "You think you can take what belongs to me and walk away unscathed?"

Blood trickled down my chin in a hot and sticky way. My fingers trembled as I touched my cheek. The wound was deep. I could feel the skin hanging, raw and torn.

I turned wide eyes to her, and she smiled. It wasn’t a smile of satisfaction. It was a smile of possession.

"Consider that my gift to you, little sister," she crooned. "Something to remember me by."

She stepped closer, brushing her thumb over the fresh wound and smearing the blood across my cheek.

My stomach twisted violently.

"This is for daring to kiss him." She whispered in the most loving voice I’d ever heard from her.

I trembled when she shot her hands in the air once again, bracing myself for impact. It did come in the form of a slap on my other cheeks

"This is for daring to bear his mark."

She squatted to meet my height, gripped my shoulder, and dug her fangs into it.

"And this—is for making me regret not killing you sooner." She twisted her fangs in my shoulder, tearing my flesh successfully and spilling blood over my dress.

I could feel the energy rushing out of my body along with the blood. My eyes were barely holding together from shutting finally.

Very soon, I’d die in the hands of these people. I just could tell and feel it deep within my bones.

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