Chapter 26

• Dahlia felt a chill run down her spine, her hair bristling at his words. She leaned back in her chair and nodded slowly, processing the weight of his statement. Holy hell. There was absolutely no way to rid herself of a mark. A mark that had been forcibly placed on her by a woman—a goddamn woman—while she had come to understand that she was mated to the Alpha.
• She wanted to slap herself for her carelessness and naivety. She had deceived the Alpha in hopes of finding a way to remove the mark, thinking she could present herself to him unmarked and utterly free. She had been trembling with fear then, and now that fear had intensified.
• "What if the mark was forced—without consent?" she asked softly, almost as if the thought was too dangerous to voice aloud.