Marked Twice by the Alpha King

Ava's POV

"Please sit, Alpha King, Morgan Luna." The headmaster yanked out chairs for us, bowing so low I thought he might fall over.

Blake guided me to a chair, his fingers brushing my knuckles as I sat. A jolt shot up my arm, and I couldn't tell if it was panic or something I didn't want to

name.

The headmaster laced his fingers together. "About Lucas's incident-we have strict fighting policies, even for Morgan cubs."

Under the table, Blake's hand found mine and squeezed. My pulse skipped-was this just playing house, or something else? His warm grip anchored me when I was about to float away on a sea of panic.

"Cut to the chase," Blake said, lounging back. "What exactly happened?"

"Yesterday, Lucas attacked an older student named Tobby. Witnesses say Lucas threw the first punch and injured the boy's face."

Blake's muscles tensed against my arm. He glanced sideways at me, one eyebrow up. "You knew about this?"

Crap. I only knew Lucas had mentioned someone trash-talking his mom.

"Just bits and pieces, I hedged. 'Lucas said a kid said something nasty, but no details."

Blake's focus swiveled back to the headmaster. "My son doesn't start fights without a good reason. What did this Tobby say to him?"noveldrama

The headmaster tugged his collar. "We didn't actually ask... we were focused on the injury-

"So you're telling me, Blake's voice dropped to that scary-quiet level, you slapped blame on a seven-year-old without getting the whole story? That's how this fancy school operates?"

The headmaster's face went the color of old paper. I assure you, Alpha King, we'll investigate fully-"

"Get Lucas. Now." Blake didn't raise his voice, which somehow made it worse.

Heavy silence fell. I snuck glances at Blake-jaw tight enough to crack nuts, eyes flickering with something fierce. Why was he backing my crazy lie instead of busting me on the spot?

"That wrist still hurt?"

I blinked down at the purple fingerprints on my skin. "It's nothing."

His eyes dropped to my neck where Jackson's mark sat. "Interesting."

"What?" My hand flew up to cover it.

"You." His voice dropped to a murmur. "You could've come clean when I showed up, begged for mercy. Instead, you doubled down."

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I met his gaze head-on. "Pot, meet kettle,"

I whispered back. "You could've exposed me in two seconds flat. Instead, you jumped in like we've been rehearsing this play for weeks." I don't know what's wrong with me, but I

Our eyes locked, something electric crackling between us. His mouth quirked up at one corner, like he was impressed I'd called his bluff.

A soft knock broke our staring contest. The headmaster barked, "Come in!"

Lucas peeked through the door, fear written all over his face. Hunter slipped in behind him. When Lucas spotted Blake, he froze like a rabbit who'd just seen a hawk.

"Dad?" His voice barely carried as his eyes ping-ponged between us. "Ava's here too?"

Blake held out his hand. "C'mere, kid."

Lucas inched forward like the floor might bite him. Hunter stuck to his heels, tail hanging low.

"Park it," Blake nodded to the chair beside me.

Lucas climbed up, looking like we'd grown extra heads overnight.

"Heard you decked a kid yesterday," Blake said, voice neutral.

Lucas's face went tomato-red as his eyes dropped to his sneakers. "Sorry, Dad."

"Not looking for sorry. Looking for why."

Lucas shot me a desperate glance. "It wasn't that big a deal..."

I touched his shoulder. "Hey. Just tell us what happened. For real."

He looked up with such trust it made my chest ache.

"This kid Tobby," Lucas finally said. "He's always on my case about not being Morgan material. Yesterday he started talking about... about Mom.”

Blake's face hardened. "What exactly did he say?"

Lucas bit his lip. Blake's voice softened just a fraction. "It's okay, son. Let it out."

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