Running - Joshler ✓

Chapter 13

I paced around in the space the bathroom gave me, pausing every now and then to make sure what I was seeing was real.

I had a ton of hickeys, and Josh's Mark. It healed into the shape of a full moon, with J.D in the center.

Marks depended on the ranking of the wolf you marked you. Alphas are, of course, a full moon. Betas are two stars, and Gammas have three. Warriors have half a moon, meanwhile omegas have a small crescent with a star. Luna's didn't have a specific mark. It just depended on what the ranking of the wolf was before they were given the title.

His mark showed I was a Luna. That I belonged to him, and if I separated from him it would be hell. That what I felt when I avoided him would seem like heaven. He wouldn't feel the same pain until I give him my mark. But right now, I have his. And that meant when I leave to go back home, I'm fucked.

A knock sounds at the bathroom door. "Ty?" I hear josh's concerned voice on the other side.

I unlock the door and open it, and a tired Josh looks concerned. "Is everything ok?" He takes my head in his hands gently.

"I have your mark." I tell him.

He looks down at my neck, and smiles. "I love it."

I turn my body and face the mirror. Josh wraps his arms around me and kisses his mark.

I couldn't hold back a moan at the pleasure that jolted through my body when he did that.

"Moan again and I'm sure your back will hurt more." Josh growled.

I rolled my eyes at his threat and looked at us in the mirror.

Maybe I didn't have to leave.

Maybe I could stay.

———

"You have something on your neck mommy." Arina tells me.

I quickly shoot my hand up to cover it, and give Arina a look.

My mom and maddy look over to me. "What?" My mom sets down her fork.

"I-I don't have anything on my neck." I stammer.

My mom raises a brow. "Then why is your hand on your neck?"

"It itches."

"Your fingers aren't moving."

I nod. "Yea."

"Remove your hand." She glares at me. I shake my head.

"Tyler." She warns.

I give in and drop my hand, and maddy gasps.

"Oh my goddess, Josh marked you?" Maddy almost yells.

"Shhh, don't let the entire pack hear you." I scold.

"What's a mark mommy?" Arina chimes in.

I groan and put my head in my hands. This seriously can't be happening right now.

"I didn't know you and Josh figured things out to that level." My mom crosses her arms.

"Arina cover your ears?" I instruct her.

"Why?" She questions.

"Just cover them pumpkin." I tell her with a tone that leaves no room for argument. Arina covers her ears.

"I let Josh help me with my heat yesterday." I felt my face heat up.

"How was it? The sex?" Maddy asks.

"Oh my goddess Maddy!" I turn over to her incredulously.

She shrugs. "Just wondering. Is he big?" She continues.

"You can't just ask me these questions!" The pitch in my voice goes a little higher than usual.

"So he is. Nice to know." She concludes.

"Oh my goddess. You two are the death of me."

"Tyler, you know how hard it is to be separated from your mate after they marked you, correct?" My mom joins in again.

"Yeah, I know." I quiet down.

"So what are you going to do?" Her eyes held concern.

I look at Arina and nod, so she doesn't have to plug her ears anymore.

"I'm still on track to leave," I start "but I was thinking that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stay?" I voice my thoughts out loud.

"If you stay, you know you're going to have to tell her. You can't keep this from her forever." My mom refers to Arina and Josh.

Was I ready to let Arina know? I told her yesterday that the situation was hard to understand, and that it would take a while. Not just a day.

I was about to respond, until the door opened and a really good looking man walked in. He had nice blond hair and shining blue eyes.

My mom turned to the man, and smiled. "Good morning Kai."

"Good morning Kelly." He greeted her, and stopped when his gaze came across mine.

For some reason, I don't get a good feeling about this guy. "And you are...?" He asks me.

"Tyler. Tyler Joseph." His eyes widen with realization as I say my last name. "Is this your other son, Kelly?"

My mom nods. "He came back a week and a half ago. Not sure how long he's going to stay."

I start digging back into my breakfast, until Kai asks me a weird question.

"Josh, huh?"

I almost choke on my food. I cough and I'm pretty sure I'm making a fool out of myself.

"What?" I finally ask when I calm down.

He lets out a tiny laugh. "Your mark. It's josh's, right?"

"Mommy, whats a Josh's mark?" Arina asks me again, for the second time today.

"I'll tell you later pumpkin." I shut her down, and she looks upset that I didn't explain to her what a 'Josh's mark' is.

"Is this your daughter?" Kai asks.

"Why do you want to know?" I snap. Honestly, why is he asking me every personal question in the book? We just barely met.

"Woah, calm down. I'm just wondering." I feel my hand clench a knife next to my plate. But he continues, and what comes out next has me lunging. "Is she josh's?"

My chair flies back with a screech and suddenly I have Kai against the wall. My mom and maddy shriek.

"Shut up, you hear me?" I snarl. I could tell my eyes were going between gold and brown.

"Hey so I was think-tyler what are you doing?" Josh stops when he enters the kitchen.

"I'm about to kill this man, what are you doing?" I didn't take my eyes off Kai.

"Ty, drop the butter knife." He slowly approaches me, and my grip on Kai's neck tightens.

"Tyler, remember the story I told you, in the boxing ring that one day?" He begins

I didn't respond and kept my eyes on Kai.

"Ty, he's the guy in the story."

I immediately let go, and Kai gasps for air.

I feel josh's hands on my arms as he pulls me away. "Cmon, let's go for a run." Josh whispers as he pulls me out of the room, and I barely miss Kai giving me a deadly stare.

I didn't notice Kais faded mark on his neck, which signified that his mate was dead.

And I had no idea what I just got myself into.