I’m ridiculously relieved to be back on pack territory and walking to my house. Normally I hate going back home after being on campus, but today had been a chaotic whirlwind and I honestly barely even remember what classes I went to or even the conversations I had with Fern.

Once I get home, I can finally check myself out and see whatever it is that Fern saw when putting on my necklace. It’s probably just a smudge. Maybe some dirt from when I got dressed in the woods this morning. I’m sure what she thought was a tattoo is nothing more than that and the two of us can laugh about it later.

You keep telling yourself that.

“Margot!”

I recognize the voice immediately and hate how it makes my body tense in a different way than usual.

I turn and find Leo jogging over to me. He’s shirtless, wearing only a pair of shorts and running shoes. His toned chest is slick with sweat even though it’s a bit chilly outside. And I’m fucking pissed off at how good he looks. It’s so damn irritating.

Admit it. You’re glad he’s here.

Regardless of what my beating heart says, no. He’s the last person I want to see right now. Well, one of the three last people I want to see.

He stops in front of me, barely breathing heavily from his obviously exerting run. He’s fit in every sense of the word. Just disgusting.

I cross my arms over my chest. “What do you want, Leo?”

He gives me a hard look, even with his actual eyes before he drops them like usual. “I just want to make it clear.” His deep voice is solid, no emotion leaking through at all. He’s a stone-cold statue. “We’re not going to tell anyone about what happened yesterday. And it will never happen again.”

I try to ignore the pinch of pain at his words. First off, who the hell would I even tell? And second, fuck him.

“What? You’re the one who kissed me, in case you forgot, Leo.” I point my finger at his chest, but then quickly pull it back when I have a sudden urge to press my palm against the bare skin of his toned chest. The hell is wrong with me? “So I don’t know why you felt the need to come out here and say this shit to me. I don’t want anyone to know either. This is clearly a you problem.”

“I don’t really care what you think,” he says. It’s not quite what I expected him to say and for some reason it feels like he’s poured cold water over my head. “You just need to know that I don’t want you. So stay the fuck away from me. Got it? Good.”

And with that he starts jogging away.

Don’t let him get the last word.

I take a step after him, and then yell, “Gladly!” at his retreating back.

And then I can feel my cheeks turning red in embarrassment. That fucking asshole. Kissing him was probably the worst mistake I made yesterday. Ranveer and Apollo were bad enough, but Leo has the special ability to really make me feel like I’m less than the dirt beneath his feet. He’s always been that way. The cold, silent-type. I don’t know how many times he’s made me feel small, but the other night… He’d made me feel seen. Like all of that had been some fucked up game he’d played as a kid and now he was a man…

And he really is a man, too…

Shit, I need to stop thinking about Leo Moreno. He’s certainly not thinking about me—he made that pretty clear just now.

I get home and stomp the rest of my frustrations out on the stairs up to my bedroom. Then I take a deep breath, pushing the whole altercation with Leo out of my mind. I have bigger things to worry about. Potentially. Whatever’s on my neck that I’m hoping is somehow a smudge of makeup or a birthmark I never knew I had. Anything I can explain away.

I head for my bathroom, turn my back to the mirror, move my hair aside, and then twist to see what Fern saw.

I gasp at the sight. There it is. There it fucking is. Just on the left side of the base of my neck is a dark star. It’s not a tattoo like Fern thought, though that’s exactly what it looks like. No, what this actually is is a mate mark.

I have a fucking mate mark on my neck.

What the fuck?

I try to scrub it off with my hand, but it’s not coming off. It’s definitely the real deal.

Suddenly, the urgent, desperate need I felt yesterday all makes so much more sense.

Sure. But don’t you have a problem now?

I actually see my skin pale in the mirror as the realization hits me. I didn’t just kiss one person yesterday, I kissed three. The mate mark could be a result of any one of them.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Saying it out loud makes me feel a little bit better. But this whole thing is wrong, like some terrible joke being played on me by the universe. Especially after Leo said all that shit to me. I can picture his reaction if I tell him about the mate mark. How he’ll glare at me with cold indifference—if he even bothers to look at me that is—before he rejects our connection. Or whatever the hell this is.

I rub my hand over my face. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this is actually something to do with my coming-of-age and not what I think it is.

Downstairs, I hear a door open, followed by Odette calling up that she’s home.

Odette! Maybe she’ll have answers for me.

I take the steps two at a time, almost stumbling on the last few and barely managing to stay upright.

“Dang, girl! Slow down!” Odette scolds. “Why are you in such a rush? Usually you pine away in your room for another few hours before you deign to grace me with your presence. And it’s gotten even worse now that you’re in your twenties. You all are worse than teenagers sometimes, I swear.”

She snorts at her own sarcasm, but I don’t have time for her usual snark. “Are there any side effects to your wolf coming-of-age?” I blurt out.

Odette blinks. “Coming-of-age? Oh shit, that’s right. It was your birthday yesterday!” She at least has the grace to look genuinely shocked and then ashamed. “I totally forgot on account of the, you know, death of Alpha Samuel…”

“It’s fine,” I say, waving her off. It’s not like I expected anyone to remember anyway.

Odette shakes her head. “I should have at least gotten you a cupcake or something… Now, what did you ask? Coming-of-age side effects? No, nothing like that. You’re just now ready for a mate, that’s all. So if you feel any uncontrollable, er, sexual urges, that’s your sign. Well, that and the mate mark of course.”

I clench my eyes shut and exhale slowly from my nose. It’s the only way I can stop myself from screaming at the top of my lungs.

Somehow, I barely manage to mumble a thanks to Odette before dragging myself back upstairs to my room.

I have a deep desire to just crawl into my bed, cover myself with my sheets, and never, ever come out again. That’s an acceptable adult response, right? But I’m pretty sure I’d miss things like food. And maybe X-rated content to deal with the urges. Though I could keep my phone with me, I guess, and hoard some snacks and watch a few videos…

No. I don’t want to be some weird pathetic loser. This was not what I have planned for my life. Margot Solus is going to be someone, and I’ll be damned if those Alpha assholes get in the way. The only ones who’ll be tripping over those dicks will be themselves!

Jesus. Listen to yourself…

It doesn’t matter. All I need to do now is maybe take a shower, wash off this entire day, and begin fresh after. Hell, maybe I can even scrub away that mate mark if I try hard enough. Soap might be the key, right?

This idea gives me a boost of energy and I slip out of my clothes before dashing into my bathroom once more. I’ll show this mate mark who’s in charge and—

I give a small shriek when I catch sight of my naked back in the mirror. The star is still there, of course, but it’s not alone. There are two more stars in a line with that first one. Three mate marks. One for each of the three men I kissed yesterday…

No fucking way.

This can’t be true. It can’t be. There’s no way. It’s not possible for me to have three mates.

Is it?